GEORGE TOWN: It has been Girlie Yong's daily routine to read crime news. But reading the news of her brother's death online was not part of the script for the former The Star employee.

Yong, who retired in 2010 after working as an advertising graphic artist in Petaling Jaya for 33 years, said it was a shocking way to find out about her brother's demise.

Her brother Chin Boon, a lok lok hawker, was said to be a robbery-cum-murder victim after his body was found in some bushes near the seafront of a Chinese restaurant in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah on Wednesday.

“It's really hard for me to come to terms with my brother's death.

In grief: Girlie (centre) and other family members in tears during the funeral of Chin Boon (inset) at Khoo Kongsi funeral parlour in Bandar Baru Air Itam.

“As a graphic artist, I had to check the advertisement pages. I also read a lot of crime news after retiring,” said a teary-eyed Yong at the Khoo Kongsi funeral parlour in Bandar Baru Air Itam here yesterday.

On Wednesday, Chin Boon, 52, was bludgeoned to death and his wallet containing cash and personal documents, house keys and handphone were stolen.

Police have not ruled out the possibility that the suspects could be drug addicts as the area was their favourite haunt.

Yong, from Shah Alam, said her sister-in-law had since changed all the locks in her house.

“We do not want to take any chances as the suspects may know where my brother lived,” she said.

More than 50 family members, relatives and friends sent Chin Boon on his last journey to the Batu Gantong crematorium yesterday.

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