Compiled by ZAKIAH KOYA, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
A GUAVA farmer claimed that he suffered losses amounting to RM100,000 after wild elephants raided his orchard.
Chin Chee Keong, 56, appealed to the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) to take action and prevent the animals from entering his orchard in Jalan Renggam, Kluang, Johor, Utusan Malaysia reported.
In the past two weeks, he said, up to five elephants would break into his 6.5ha farm at night to eat guavas.
“More than 500 trees have been destroyed by the elephants.
“The animals would return at around 5pm to eat the ripened fruits.
“An electric fence was put up around 18,000 guava trees but this did not deter the elephants.
“They would topple the electric poles or press down on the wires to force their way in,” said Chin.
He estimated that the herd had eaten 24 tonnes of guava from 270 trees and destroyed 200 banana trees.
“What is more worrying is the risk of the herd reaching the workers’ quarters in the middle of the orchard and causing something bad to happen,” he added.
Chin said drains could not be built as a deterrent around his orchard as the land is private property.
> Actor Shaheizy Sam has put on 20kg for his role in an unnamed movie, Harian Metro reported.
It took the actor four months to balloon from 70kg to 90kg.
“I forced myself to eat non- nutritional food that was high in fat, sugar and oil, as well as burgers and ice cream.
“I felt an unpleasant change when my weight shot up.
“I tire quickly, am lethargic and always sleepy, and I sweat easily,” he noted.
The 42-year-old added that this was not the first time he had put on weight for a role, having previously done so for the psychological thriller Indera.
Shaheizy declined to reveal the title of the upcoming production.
“I am passionate about acting and I am willing to increase my weight to reflect the character. Once this movie is completed, I will lose weight.
“I have also just launched a weight loss product and it is important for me to slim down so as to convince consumers to buy it,” he said.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.
