Knocked out by sleep disorder, not drugs

Compiled by BENJAMIN LEE and C.ARUNO

ACTRESS Alya Iman, 22, denied talk she took illegal substances that caused her to be unable to wake up in time for a shoot, reported Harian Metro.

It was apparently alarming enough that the Fire and Rescue Department was dispatched to her home after the production team failed to reach her.

Alya, daughter of renowned actor Azmil Mustapha, however, said her no-show was caused by a sleeping disorder she has suffered from since young.

“There were people who criticised me for causing trouble for the production team when I woke up late to go to the filming location … I can honestly say it was not intentional.“It was really caused by a sleeping disorder. When people knocked on the door repeatedly, I still couldn’t wake up.

“I have had incidents in the past where people actually broke down my house door when they couldn’t contact me,” she said.> Around 200 farmers in Kampung Sungai Rek in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, are at their wits’ end after their crops were either eaten or destroyed by wild elephants over the past week, reported Berita Harian.

Rosdi Mohamad, 64, said he suffered losses of almost RM40,000 after the animals encroached upon his 5.6ha oil palm plantation, despite him having installed fences and barbed wire around his fields.

“They damaged the 850 oil palm trees that I had just planted at the end of January.

“During the day, these wild elephants hide in the nearby forest.

They enter the fields at night and destroy the crops cultivated by the residents here,” he told the daily.He added that the fear of losing their lives to the animals’ rampage has resulted in many farmers being hesitant to return to their fields, losing their livelihood as a result.

Farmers Manshor Mahmood, 70, and Fauzi Abdullah, 52, said the wild elephants had also destroyed their fields.

Having lost RM35,000 and RM10,000 respectively as a result, Mansor and Fauzi both called for the Wildlife and National Parks Department to take action immediately before the situation worsens.

> A senior citizen had a close brush with death after he was nearly crushed by an overturned lorry while on his way to Kuala Klawang at Jelebu, Negri Sembilan, Kosmo! reported.

Mohamad Husin, 69, who was riding his motorcycle along Jalan Seremban-Simpang Pertang, said he was only 5m away when the lorry turned turtle right in front of him.

“The lorry crashed into an electric pole and overturned as it tried to avoid a car from the opposite direction.

“I was stunned and in shock. Thankfully, I am safe,” he said.

Jelebu police chief Deputy Supt Maslan Udin said the lorry driver did not suffer any injuries despite the severity of the accident.

● The above article is 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 this ‘ >’sign, it denotes a separate news item.