Latest news with #Ampang
Free Malaysia Today
6 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Man jailed, wife fined for abusing daughter with durian husk
At the Kuala Lumpur sessions court today, Bunyamin Sukiman and Yorlini Abdullah Umar pleaded guilty to a charge of causing injury to their daughter using a durian husk. PETALING JAYA : A man has been sentenced to five years in jail, while his wife was fined RM18,000 for abusing their eight-year-old daughter using a durian husk. The Kuala Lumpur sessions court handed down the sentences after Bunyamin Sukiman, 42, and Yorlini Abdullah Umar, 32, the girl's biological mother, pleaded guilty to causing injury to the child at a house on Jalan Ampang at 6pm on July 16. Judge Zaki Salleh ordered Bunyamin, the child's stepfather, to begin his sentence from the date of his arrest on July 18, while Yorlini faces three months' jail if she fails to pay the fine. He also placed both on a three-year good behaviour bond and ordered them to perform 12 months of community service. According to the facts of the case, the abuse came to light after the assistant head for student affairs at the girl's school called her in over a complaint that she had cut another student's headscarf. When questioned, the child revealed she had been beaten and punched by her stepfather, and also had her ear twisted by her parents. The child further disclosed that her hand had been placed on the floor and a durian husk had been dropped onto it. She said that her hand was later soaked in warm salt water and left bandaged with tape overnight. Deputy public prosecutor Ravindejit Kaur had earlier urged the court to impose a heavy sentence, saying that the abuse was 'extreme and cruel'. 'Parents should be protectors, not people who vent their anger on their children. A harsh sentence is needed to serve as a lesson to society,' she said. Defence lawyer Simret Singh appealed for leniency, saying that Yorlini was unemployed and dependent on Bunyamin, a car sales adviser. He added that the couple has two children, including the victim, and had cooperated fully with police throughout their seven-day remand.
Malay Mail
11-07-2025
- Malay Mail
Influencer ‘CEO Batu' charged again, this time with pornographic content possession
KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 — After being charged in the Ampang Sessions Court for alleged sexual assault, a social media influencer, known as 'CEO Batu', was once again brought before the court today, on a charge of possessing pornographic videos and images on his mobile phones two months ago. Muhamad Iqbal Muhamad Nor, 22, pleaded not guilty at the Selayang Magistrate's Court on the charge that he allegedly committed at 11.39am on May 22 at the office of the Investigating Officer from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Gombak District Police Headquarters. The charge, framed under Section 292(a) of the Penal Code, is punishable under the same section and provides for a maximum sentence of up to three years in jail, a fine, or both upon conviction. Deputy Public Prosecutor Birr Zamier Abu Bakar led the prosecution, while lawyers Nabil Ashraff Ridzuan and Muhammad Zulhaniff Mohamed Anas represented the accused. Pleading for a lower bail, Nabil Ashraff argued that his client had lost his source of income as an influencer after many content-related contracts had been terminated. 'He also supports his father works as a factory worker. My client lives with his family, including his grandparents who are 74 and 77 years old, respectively,' said the lawyer. Magistrate Chai Guan Hock granted the accused RM3,000 bail with one surety and set September 30 for case mention and submission of documents. Yesterday, Muhamad Iqbal was charged with committing sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl in May, under Section 15(a)(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017. — Bernama
Malay Mail
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
La Risata maintains its longevity in the Italian food game with a curated menu of classic Italian dishes peppered with a few new ones to reflect current trends
KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 — Approaching its 30th birthday next year, La Risata is much-loved by many for its hearty Italian fare. In a world of uncertainty for the F&B industry with rising costs and fickle diners who prefer fads, the restaurant has remained steadfast with its values, as driven by owners Lissa Yeoh and Yuen Sze. Their story starts in November 1996, at a time when the Italian restaurant scene here was very much in its infancy. You had Ciao Ristorante near the Royal Selangor Golf Club and L'Osteria in Ampang Point, while Ristorante Bologna in Istana Hotel and Scalini's along Jalan Sultan Ismail focused on the fine dining scene. Till today, Ciao Ristorante is still in business, albeit in a different location but in the same vicinity. Yeoh recalled, 'Back in those days, the Italian restaurants were run by Italians with red table cloths and Chianti bottles'. That was busted at La Risata which sported blue coloured walls and jars of pickles as decorations. Yeoh added, 'We were the first Italian restaurant that didn't look like an Italian restaurant'. Yeoh had partnered with two expatriates to open the restaurant but an overseas posting saw them leaving the business. Left to handle La Risata on her own, Yeoh pulled in her childhood friend Yuen to help her, 'cradle the baby'. The duo, both in their 30s then and novices to the F&B industry, enthusiastically pushed on with their Italian chef, Claudio Cucchiarelli. The menu includes various salads like this Insalata Di Zucca E Ruccola (left) best paired with the Petto Di Manzo Con Vino Rosso (right) with its melt in the mouth wood fire roasted beef rib. — Pictures by Choo Choy May Located at the row of shophouses along Persiaran Ampang, they were neighbours with Ma Maison, one of the bastions of French food. At that time, Ampang was a haven for expatriates who became La Risata's fervent customers. 'There was no marketing and it was all by word of mouth from the day we opened and we were packed probably because there was no competition. 'We had regulars who came 2 to 3 times a week, treating the place like it's their second kitchen,' Yuen explained. What touched them was their customers' faithfulness even after they were repatriated home, arriving the moment they got off the plane with a suitcase in tow, eager to tuck into a meal at La Risata, even before checking into their hotel. Three years later after opening in Ampang, a second outlet opened in Damansara Heights. In the beginning, Yeoh admits, it wasn't smooth sailing as they juggled the business as novices. The menu, she recalled, was handmade using a Manila card, decorated with a tomato, stamped using a carved potato dyed red and hand drawn with leaves. 'That was how inexperienced we were basically as it was a bunch of friends without any F&B experience and all from different backgrounds who just decided to give it a go.' Their pizza oven that took prime location right in front of the restaurant was an epic journey for the two of them. Building their own pizza oven was an adventure for La Risata's owners but they persevered until they succeeded. — Picture by Choo Choy May 'The construction of the pizza oven was a whole adventure on its own as we didn't know how to do it,' said Yeoh. Back in those days, no one bought pizza ovens from Italy nor could they rely on the internet for knowledge on how to build a pizza oven from scratch. It was all trial and error. With their drawings, the contractor constructed a 'chicken cage' with cement and bricks, raising doubts if that structure was solid enough. True enough, despite the contractor's gung-ho attitude professing its sturdiness, the moment he tested it by sitting on the contraption, it collapsed. Bewildered over how to proceed, they even ordered a pizza oven but it didn't work either, leaving them to go through three ovens in one year. Eventually, they found an engineer to help them; he recommended the use of fire bricks which finally worked. Tweaks have been made to their present firewood ovens by adding gas piping, allowing them to rely less on firewood as the cost has escalated tremendously. In the beginning, the menu was kept simple, punctuated by classics like spaghetti vongole, grilled mushrooms, antipasti misti, lasagna and creme caramel with orange peel for dessert. Cucchiarelli, who hailed from a seaside town near Rome, preferred simple dishes, insisting on adherence to a string of endless rules like white wine sauce cannot be combined with black pepper or cheese. He stayed true to his fundamentals as he worked with local produce, swapping out chilli peppers with bird-eye chillies or cili padi, with one rule, which is never to use it with black pepper. A signature dish was his Zuppa Di Pesce, a soup brimming with fresh seafood, where he once added cockles and bali tong, keeping to his style of cooking with the freshest seafood. Zuppa Di Pesce has been a mainstay of the menu from almost 30 years ago, as introduced by their first Italian chef Claudio Cucchiarelli. — Picture by Choo Choy May Those add-ons were vetoed by Yeoh who felt locals wouldn't be able to accept those ingredients in an Italian setting. The soup stands together with the Ravioli Pesce, also a dish from day one, where stuffed fresh pasta is filled with salmon mousse and served with a creamy salmon sauce. The big surprise is the origins of Spaghetti Alla Risata, a firm favourite of many. Wrapped in foil, there's a theatric feel to it as you open the packet to find spaghetti tossed in a hearty tomato sauce with a mix of seafood. Yeoh is the one who brought this dish on board, thanks to watching an episode of the cooking show Biba's Italian Kitchen, hosted by Italian chef Biba Caggiano based out of America. Spaghetti Alla Risata is a long standing favourite for its hearty tomato sauce studded with fresh seafood. — Picture by Choo Choy May Throughout the years, the menu has expanded to include more salads, carpaccio and their pizza Bianca that uses white sauce rather than the conventional red sauce. 'Every time we come back from a trip, we will add something and at that time there wasn't much influence of the internet on what's trending. It was just from our own observations and what we enjoyed eating.' Yeoh's preference is fresh pasta that led to the Tortellini D'Anatra E Porcini using a smoked duck and porcini filling, served with a sage butter and truffle oil. On their menu, it's a mix of dried pasta and a few handcrafted items like their pappardelle and the Lasagna Di Carne, which uses fresh pasta sheets. Keeping their menu fresh are their specials, usually running for one or two months, where Yeoh insists there must be a fresh pasta element. It could be anything from a Tuscan style gnocchi using sweet potato paired with duck ragu or fregola paired with fresh seafood. In 2011, the restaurant moved from its premises further down the road to a bigger space that sports an open courtyard and a refreshed look. It also came with a massive rebranding of their menu with the use of whimsical logos. La Risata in Ampang brings Italian home vibes with its magnificent courtyard in the middle of the restaurant. — Picture by Choo Choy May One of the toughest challenges has been keeping the food consistent as sometimes even the same ingredient like chillies or their mainstay brand of canned tomatoes will have a different flavour profile, requiring them to adjust the recipe. With longstanding chefs in the kitchen like Chef Ho Chee Ming before he retired to pass the reins to Chef Kumar Karu, the cooking in La Risata is innovative and mindful of getting the basics right, like slowly cooking the tomato sauce until it is caramelised. La Risata owner Lissa Yeoh (middle) with her faithful chefs Kumar Karu (left) who is the present 'chef de cuisine' and Ho Chee Ming (right) who steered the restaurant for many years until his recent retirement. — Picture by Choo Choy May Regulars can pick up differences as they regularly taste the same dish. 'Over the years, we have been fortunate to have customers that care so much that they will tell and give feedback about the food,' Yuen said. Without a central kitchen, the two outlets have their own kitchens and even for the owners, they recognise slight differences, as they eat at those outlets all the time. In order to cope with changing habits, their gnocchi is now gluten free. Even the regular spaghetti can be swapped for a gluten free version upon request. Mindful of the trends, Yeoh also experiments with new items like their recent add-on of Italian sandwiches, designed as a grab-and-go item for lunch time. Yeoh is strict about keeping to their standards rather than pandering to customers' preferences like adding more sauce or overcooking the pasta. 'We also vetoed Tabasco sauce for pizza because it changes the taste so we give them chilli peppers or chilli oil,' Yeoh explained. Gnocchi Ai Gamberi (left) is different from other places as the gnocchi is sauteed in herb butter while their Ravioli Di Pesce (right) is a dish served in their first menu with a salmon ravioli complemented with a creamy salmon sauce. — Pictures by Choo Choy May As veterans who have thrived and survived the tumultuous F&B scene, Yeoh's advice to those who want to enter this world of uncertainty is knowing this hard truth: 'Good luck! Don't follow trends and do something you like and are passionate about.' She admits it may not sit well with the younger generation as those who chase trends are doing well. What she observed is nowadays the perspective has shifted as 'people don't necessarily mind if the food is not very good as long as the environment is nice for them to take photos.' Yuen added, 'There's also a lot of competition out not only fighting over food but also how good the food looks and how the place looks'. For those who like to feed their social media constantly, you don't even have to eat at the same restaurant again, as one has so many choices to select for their next meal. Yeoh added, 'I think if I had to start a restaurant now, I wouldn't know how to play this game. It's so different as the patterns like consumer habits and spending power have all changed. 'What we have enjoyed when we opened La Risata was the community, the family atmosphere and every time we come, you see the same regulars and we build relationships with them'. However, the pandemic shook things up and now many have moved away, making things different. Yeoh elaborated too, 'If I do a new La Risata, the look will be brighter with a scaled down menu with more fresh pasta options.'. Here's to another 30 years further of good, honest Italian food that has fed multi-generations of diners. La Risata Bar Pizzeria Ristorante 16 Persiaran Ampang Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-42526269 128 Jalan Kasah Medan Damansara Kuala Lumpur Tel:03-20959572 Facebook: @laristarestaurant Instagram:@laristakl
Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Man fined RM500 for negligence leading to friend's death
Oon Tien Yue being brought to the Ampang sessions court this morning. KUALA LUMPUR : A 36-year-old man was fined RM500 for failing to seek medical treatment for his friend, an act that ultimately led to the latter's death. Oon Tien Yue was charged in the Ampang sessions court with acting negligently by failing to obtain medical attention for Law Mun How, 37, thereby endangering Law's life. Investigations revealed that Law had been sleeping in a car parked in front of Oon's house in Taman Pandan Perdana, Ampang, from June 14 to June 20, during which time he appeared to be in a weakened state. Instead of taking him to a medical facility, Oon brought Law into his home and left him in the living room, where he died two days later. According to the facts of the case, a medical assistant alerted the police after Law was found dead in the house on June 22. The case was initially classified as a sudden death, but later reclassified as murder after a post-mortem revealed signs of foul play. The autopsy showed that Law had died from a bacterial infection resulting from untreated skin and bone injuries. A forensic examination also found multiple fractures – including on the left arm, right collarbone, and ribs on both sides – as well as bruises and abrasions on the face, arms, legs, and torso. Oon was charged under Section 336 of the Penal Code with endangering the life or personal safety of another, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of three months' imprisonment, a fine of up to RM500, or both. Magistrate Amalina Basirah Top imposed the fine after Oon pleaded guilty to the charge. The court also ordered the self-employed man to serve one month in jail if he fails to pay the fine. Deputy public prosecutor M Ramanathan led the prosecution while Oon was represented by a lawyer from the National Legal Aid Foundation.
Malay Mail
10-07-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Got rats? MPAJ offers to pay RM3 for each at Pekan Ampang market
KUALA LUMPUR, July 10— The Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) has launched a campaign offering cash rewards to those who catch rats at Pasar Pekan Ampang and surrounding areas. The initiative, held in collaboration with the local Zone 8 Residents' Committee, is part of efforts to curb the spread of rat-borne diseases such as leptospirosis. Under the 'Kempen Basmi Tikus MPAJ', participants will receive RM3 for each rat caught during the campaign period. MPAJ said the effort aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically goals on good health and sustainable communities. Cash redemption counters will operate from 9.30am to 12.00pm between July 8 and 25 at the Pasar Pekan Ampang compound. Participation is open to traders operating in and around the Ampang market area.
