Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the “88888” rules meant that they should avoid overindulging and practise healthy eating during this festive season when they were likely to be tempted by delicacies like yee sang and nian gao.

“The 88888′ rules mean that you stop eating 80% before you are full, have dinner before 8pm, drink eight glasses of water per day, sleep at least eight hours and walk at least 80,000 steps daily,” he told reporters at the launch of the Eat Healthy During Chinese New Year campaign here yesterday.

Malaysians, he added, should also insist on taking smaller portions and quantity of food during this holiday.

“If they continue to consume an extra 500kcal daily for a week, they will gain some half kilo to one kilo.

“It is easier if they control themselves from taking rich, calorie-laden food like peanut puffs. Five puffs are equivalent to 500kcal.

“It will take about an hour for an adult to burn 500kcal through cycling. By watching the exact amount of calorie intake, you will lose weight much faster,” he said.

Liow added that the Government was increasing its efforts in combating and reducing the number of cases relating to non-communicable diseases like obesity and diabetes.

“Factors contributing to obesity can be easily controlled by simply taking care of a person’s diet,” he said.

Liow also said the public could get health and nutritional advice from the ministry’s nutrition information centres nationwide.

“We have published booklets in Chinese, English and Bahasa Malaysia to promote healthy eating and an active lifestyle during the Chinese New Year celebration,” he added.

KUALA LUMPUR: The number 18 in Cantonese has a similar meaning to “Guaranteed to prosper”.

That was not the case for a 31-year-old businessman who was driving his Lamborghini Gallardo bearing the registration number 18.

It suddenly burst into flames near Bukit Damansara at 11.50am yesterday.

Luckily, he managed to escape unhurt.

The same, however, could not be said of the car which was destroyed. A brand new Lamborghini car is worth about RM1.6mil.

The owner who declined to be identified said he had taken his car for a warm up drive near Jalan Beringin when he noticed smoke coming from the bonnet.

“I was driving up a slope at Jalan Beringin when I noticed smoke coming out from the engine bay.

“I stopped the car and got off and then it suddenly burst into flames,” he said, adding that he has owned the car for three years and was heartbroken to see it go up in flames.

The businessman believed a fuel leak could have caused the fire.

He said he last took the car for a spin about a week ago and decided to drive it yesterday to ensure the car was maintained properly.

Hartamas Fire and Rescue Department senior officer Shahrul Azizi said the car had caught fire easily because it was made of composite carbon fibre materials.

The Gallardo is powered by a V10 engine and is capable of reaching speeds of 300kph

The man who claimed to be a British citizen had told her he needed her account to bank in money from his contract with Petronas, which he claimed amounted to RM4.6mil.

However, he told the woman he needed her help to pay stamp duty charges and insurance fees before he could get his contract sanctioned.

The suspect claimed he could not afford the fees at the time.

“The victim paid RM1.1mil via several transactions to the man between March 29 and April 19,” said Federal Commercial Crimes director Comm Datuk Wira Syed Ismail Syed Azizan yesterday.

He added that following a police report lodged by the victim, six suspects were arrested in Kepong on Tuesday.

Police also recovered RM15,000 in cash, 18 ATM cards, seven cellphones and a laptop.

“Of the six, two were Nigerians, two were Bangladeshis while the others were locals,” he told reporters.

Comm Syed Ismail said the victim had been sympathetic when she read about the man’s predicament.

“She caved in when she heard his sob stories,” he added.

Comm Syed Ismail urged people using popular social networking websites like Facebook to be very careful.

“These unscrupulous people prey on gullible girls through these websites,” he said. “Revealing your personal information on your Facebook ‘wall’ is not a good idea.”

The public, he said, had been warned several times not to respond to e-mail from seemingly rich people offering money for safekeeping, yet a lot of them still become victims

KUALA LUMPUR: A 30-year-old man spent RM80,000 on a weight loss programme but ended up having 30 open wounds, with one as big as a fist, around his waistline.

The man, who only wanted to be known as Lim, said he got to know about the “needleless injection” treatment when a friend suggested that they enter into the cosmetics business in October 2009.

“Initially, I was not interested, but after much persuasion by the friend, who guaranteed a monthly RM50,000 profit, I decided to try the treatment first,” he said at a press conference organised by the Cheras MCA here yesterday.

The former real estate marketing executive said he felt unwell immediately after the injection.

“I started developing blisters at the areas where I was given the jabs. The situation became worse after that,” he said. “When I told my friend about the problem, he told me that it was normal.

“However, after three months, my condition deteriorated,” he added.

Lim said he started having inflammation, though the beauty parlour owner told him that the product was a “bestseller” throughout the world.

Not convinced, Lim decided to seek medical treatment.

“I saw five doctors but none had any idea what caused the wounds. All they could do was to prescribe antibiotics,” he said.

Lim said he started bleeding and there was also discharge from the wounds.

Subsequently, he went to a hospital for an operation, which required him to have his wounds cleaned every day for six months.

“Because of that, I could not work and eventually lost my source of income,” he said, adding that he recovered only in July last year.

Lim said he had come forward to warn others of such a treatment and to prevent them from becoming victims

The 19-year-old SMK Convent Datuk Keramat student, who experienced blurred vision at that time, expressed surprise at her results.

“I did not expect this, although I put in a lot of effort,” she said.

Hui Linn said that she did not go to school to collect her results slip yesterday to avoid media attention.

 “I’ll only go to school to get my results slip later,” she added.

After completing her final paper in December, Hui Linn had said that she wanted to continue her studies in Form Six and was keen to take up Accountancy or Psychology in university.

Principal Cheng Lye Sen said that she had informed Hui Linn of her results over the phone.

“Hui Linn’s determination is admirable and she is a role model for all our students here,” she add-ed.

On Oct 24, 2009, Hui Linn and her mother Chong Swee Lin, 50, were asleep in their home at Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim when they were splashed with acid.

Chong, who was badly burnt, died about 10 hours later. Hui Linn sustained 60% burns on her face and upper torso. She had to undergo several operations to restore her sight.

Her father Tan Teik Swee, 53, has been charged with murdering Chong and causing grievous hurt to her.

During a recent trial, Hui Linn’s doctor Dr S. Chandramalar from Sungai Buloh Hospital testified she was legally blind’ in her right eye despite undergoing four surgical procedures.

The first thing A. Nageswara (pic) did, after Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera ordered Adven­tist Hospital and Clinic Services (M) Bhd to pay him RM100,000 for medical negligence and RM50,000 for defamation, was to call his wife.

“I finally contacted my wife and our daughter, who is now 25 years old.

“My daughter was happy to hear from me but my wife was initially cautious, wondering why I was calling her after staying away for so long.

“I told her that I was finally at ease as my court case was nearing its end, and that various blood tests had proven that I was not HIV positive,” he said, adding that he had yet to speak to his four sons aged between 17 and 22.

The High Court yesterday found Penang Adventist Hospital negligent in conducting the unnecessary HIV test on the 54-year-old, who was warded for a chest injury in 2001.

It also found that the hospital had defamed him when it wrote to his insurance company informing them that he was HIV positive.

The court also ordered the hospital to pay costs amounting to RM10,000 but did not grant Nageswara, who was represented by counsel K. Kumarathiraviam, any special, aggravated and exemplary damages.

Outside the courtroom, a relieved Nageswara said he would be giving the bulk of the money to his family.

“I will be spending it on them as I have not given them anything for more than nine years,” said Nageswara, now unemployed.

In his claim filed on Jan 31, 2005, Nageswara, from Sungai Petani, said he was warded at the hospital on April 19, 2001, for a chest injury due to a fall.

He said two doctors informed him that his blood tested positive for HIV. Miserable and humiliated, he ran away from the hospital on April 21.

Nageswara said he lived in misery in Kuala Lumpur for more than six months before he underwent further blood tests at two medical laboratories which confirmed that he was HIV negative.

He wrote to the hospital on Jan 3, 2002, and it replied on April 8 that his blood sample was tested by Gribbles Pathology (M) Sdn Bhd using the Western Blot Assay method.

Nageswara said he underwent four more blood tests from July 28, 2002 to Nov 18, 2003 and was found to be HIV negative.

He said the hospital had informed third parties, including his family, friends and employer, that he was HIV positive, and had libellously written to Great Eastern Life Assurance (M) Bhd on Oct 9, 2001.

In its defence, the hospital said Nageswara’s blood test was conducted by Gribbles Pathology, which was an independent contractor, and not the hospital’s agent or employee.

It said it was carrying out its responsibility as a concerned hospital by informing Nageswara’s family why he had run away.

Taxi driver Mohd Wan Jaafar, 60, said he was ferrying two passengers from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya at around 1.30am yesterday when he noticed a man crossing the highway.

“At that moment, a white Perodua Viva overtook me.

“Most likely, the driver could not brake in time and slammed into the man.

“The man’s body was hurled onto the opposite side of the highway where a Toyota Hilux ran over it and dragged it for some 50m before crashing into the railing,” he said.

Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed said the man crossing the highway was later identified as Myanmar national Dong Sian Sing.

He said that when the Toyota Hilux crashed, two passengers sitting in the back seat were thrown out of the vehicle and died on the spot.

“The driver and two other passengers in the Hilux suffered only light injuries and were sent to the University Malaya Medical Centre.”

KUALA LUMPUR: A bank employee was killed after a 5m-long tree branch fell on him in Jalan Raja Chulan here.

Mohd Helmi Hussin, 37, had dropped off his wife Hayati Hussain at work barely five minutes before the incident at 8.30am.

He was riding his motorcycle when the branch suddenly dislodged and fell on him.

A horrified Hayati witnessed the incident, which occurred about 500m from where she was standing.

Witness Shamsul Liani Abas said a distraught Hayati was heard uttering to her dead husband “nak ikut” (I want to follow).

“Her colleagues who heard about the incident consoled her,” he said.

A police spokesman said initial investigations revealed that Helmi suffered injuries to his abdomen and hip. “The branch was rotten and shallow inside.”

The Fire and Rescue Department, together with City Hall, cleared the branch within 45 minutes.

Mohd Helmi’s body was sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for post-mortem.

He was buried in his hometown in Ipoh yesterday evening.

Bleeding from the nose and ears, Mohd Khairi Iskandar Onzek was rushed to the district hospital by a teacher and later transferred to the Penang Hospital for further treatment.

He succumbed to head and internal injuries on Wednesday, two days after the incident

Shahizan Mohd Said, 29, said just a few days before the incident, his nephew had returned home in a cheerful mood because he had obtained second place in the school examination.

He told the paper that the accident occurred on Monday afternoon when his nephew fell in front of the goal post, which also toppled at that time and fell onto him.

“He lost a lot of blood and the doctor treating him said his death was due to damage to his brain and nerves,” said Shahizan

SEREMBAN: A 66-year-old man was killed in a bizarre accident along the North-South Expressway near the Rasah exit after a python landed onto the windscreen of a trailer.

The driver of the trailer then braked in shock and swerved onto the road divider along the expressway before crashing into the guardrail during the 4.15am incident.

A car travelling behind the trailer then collided into the vehicle, killing one of the passengers inside, known only as Subramaniam.

The victim, who was travelling with three others, died on the spot.

The others in the car escaped with light injuries and were sent to Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital here for treatment.

The python was also killed in the accident