Locals express sadness over loss of 'building full of memories'
GEORGE TOWN: Many Penangites have expressed sadness and regret over the loss of the iconic Boon Siew Villa.
Checks by the New Straits Times in Jalan Batu Ferringhi near here on Saturday found that it had been completely bulldozed.
Hoarding has been erected around the site, shielding it from view and rendering its disappearance almost invisible to those travelling along the road.
A nearby trader, who identified himself only as Mohamed, 67, said he was saddened by the news. He claimed that the demolition began more than two weeks ago.
"It is sad because it was an old building full of stories. There are many memories attached to it," he said.
The Boon Siew Villa had stood on Shamrock Beach since the 1930s. It was once the seaside retreat of self-made magnate Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew, the legendary motor tycoon who introduced Honda cars and motorcycles to Malaysian roads.
Mohamed said the locals had always known who the owner of the bungalow was.
"We have heard of how great, yet remarkably humble, (Tan Sri) Loh (Boon Siew) was. The locals have regarded this bungalow as a landmark but now, that has been wiped out," he told the NST.
The mansion was also the site of a tragedy for the Loh family.
On Feb 25, 1987, it became the site of one of Penang's most chilling unsolved crimes.
Loh Kah Kheng, Boon Siew's second son and designated heir, was found dead in his bedroom with his hands bound with telephone wires.
His body was also left in an eerie pose — legs tucked behind his back — while a phone cable also coiled around his neck. He was just 39.
According to the police report, Kah Kheng, his wife Shirley Yeap, brother-in-law Jeffrey and a bodyguard returned from dinner around 9.45pm.
Shirley later departed to the airport for a flight to Kuala Lumpur.
The next morning, when Kah Kheng failed to appear at work, Jeffrey went to the villa and found the bedroom door locked.
It was reported that he had to force open the door before finding Kah Kheng's body.
Two suspects were detained, including Jeffrey. But both were later released with no charges ever filed.
The case remains unsolved to this day.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
15 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Malaysian diver's body repatriated after fatal Aceh trip
JAKARTA: A Malaysian diver has died during a trip off Indonesia's Aceh province, with his body repatriated to Kuala Lumpur, officials confirmed on Sunday. Malaysia's Consul General in Medan, Shahril Nizam Abdul Malek, said that the remains of Haikal Rafie Halim, 33, from Selangor, were flown home on Sunday evening. "The flight departed Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport in Aceh at 4.55pm local time for Kuala Lumpur International Airport," he told Bernama. Haikal was part of a group of three Malaysian divers, accompanied by a local dive guide, when they encountered strong undercurrents near the Canyon dive site off Pulau Weh, near Sabang, on Saturday. "Haikal is believed to have panicked and was instructed to surface. Upon reaching the surface, he was found unconscious and reportedly foaming at the mouth," Sabang police chief Sukoco said. He was transported by speedboat to Iboih Beach and rushed to the health centre, where he was pronounced dead at 10.50am, before being sent to Sabang Hospital for a post-mortem, he added. The incident occurred near the Zero Kilometre Monument, a popular dive site frequented by domestic and international tourists.– BERNAMA
Malaysia Sun
15 hours ago
- Malaysia Sun
Goldman Sachs banker gets two years for international bribery scheme
BROOKLYN (CN) - Tim Leissner, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs, received a sentence of two years in prison after pleading guilty to federal bribery charges - and helping U.S. prosecutors secure a conviction - tied to a multibillion-dollar scheme to rob the fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, otherwise known as 1MDB. Leissner admitted to his role in bribing officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi so that 1MDB would execute lucrative bond deals with the global investment bank. He was ordered to forfeit $43.7 million under his guilty plea. Goldman Sachs itself also faced criminal charges. The bank's Malaysian subsidiary pleaded guilty and the bank paid $5 billion in penalties, according to court documents. Leissner was the government's star witness in the trial and conviction of Ng Chong Hwa, who goes by Roger, the only banker to face trial over the scheme. Ng received a 10-year prison sentence while the plan's purported mastermind and his co-defendant, "playboy" Malaysian businessman Jho Low, remains at large. Malaysia created the 1MDB fund in 2009 to stimulate economic growth, but the project was quickly infiltrated by a vast embezzlement scheme in which proceeds were laundered around the world. The money flowed through art auctions, luxury New York City real estate and Hollywood production companies, one of which produced the Oscar-nominated Martin Scorsese film "The Wolf of Wall Street." Described at trial by another Goldman employee as an aggressive businessman, Leissner admitted he didn't tell the firm about the bribes paid as part of the three bond transactions with 1MDB. He also said he hid the fact that at the center of the bribery scheme was Low, an exceedingly well-connected Malaysian businessman who had already gained tabloid fame for extravagant parties in Las Vegas and New York City. Low, whose full name is Low Taek Jho, paid celebrities, models and musicians to attend the multimillion-dollar blowouts, a marketing executive testified. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Kim Kardashian, P. Diddy, Fergie, Pharell, Ke$ha and Paris Hilton all appeared on guest lists. Leissner was previously married to Kimora Lee Simmons, a model and TV personality with whom he has a son. At Ng's trial, Leissner said the two men were "best friends" who worked closely to obtain and carry out the illicit business: Ng as former head of Goldman's business in Malaysia and Leissner in charge of all of Southeast Asia. Ng meanwhile argued he was made the fall guy, one of about two dozen co-conspirators implicated by the government, many of them high-up government officials or senior to him at Goldman, like Leissner. His trial attorney urged the jury not to take Ng's former boss-turned-cooperator at his word. Leissner, after all, admitted to lying to the FBI in early interviews; said he was married to two women simultaneously - two separate times - and accordingly forged divorce documents; and testified he created a fake email address in his ex-wife's name and used it to communicate with his then-girlfriend for more than a year. Leissner's family supported him in the lead-up to his sentencing, writing letters asking Chief U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie for leniency. Goldman, however, skewered its former employee in its own filing: "Mr. Leissner's serial lies, fraud, and deception at Goldman Sachs continued from the day he first brought the transactions through the firm to the day he left the firm." Source: Courthouse News Service
The Sun
17 hours ago
- The Sun
Police have identified man who fought at Bukit Tambun Toll Plaza
NIBONG TEBAL: Police have identified one of the men involved in a fight at Bukit Tambun Toll Plaza here, South Seberang Perai district police chief Supt Jay January Siowou said. He added that they were in the midst of tracking down the suspect, who is a local man. 'The case is being investigated under Section 323 and Section 506 of the Penal Code,' he said when contacted by Bernama today. The police was reported to have received two reports about a fight between two men at the toll plaza after a video recording of the fight went viral on social media. ALSO READ: 'Silat vs Boxing' - Two Malaysian men confront each other near toll booth in viral video
