83-year-old Penangite dies of heart attack after landslide
GEORGE TOWN: Businessman Liew Hock Beng had always wanted his parents to move away from their house near a slope in Paya Terubong, which is prone to landslides.
However, his father Liew Ah Kiew preferred to stay at his family house of more than 50 years in Jalan Buah Jambu, although he had witnessed several landslides in the past.
On Sept 15, Ah Kiew, 83, suffered a spinal injury near his neck while escaping from a rain-triggered landslide which destroyed his house. He died of heart attack at a private hospital on Thursday.
Hock Beng said he had told his parents to stay with him in Solok Tembaga, Island Glades.
“But my father always cherished his privacy and didn’t want to move out,” he said when met at the wake yesterday.
Recalling the devastating floods and downpour which hit the state on that fateful day, Hock Beng said his father had rushed out upon hearing sounds of tumbling rocks at the back of his house.
“But he slipped and fell, injuring his neck,” he said.
Hock Beng said he could not rush his father to Penang Hospital due to the floods and traffic jam on that day. Ah Kiew was sent to a private hospital in Bayan Baru instead.
“My father was recovering well from a surgery but died of a heart attack.
“It saddens me as my father had never suffered from any diseases. He was a strong man,” added Hock Beng’s sister Ching Moay.
Meanwhile, the Penang Front Party was mulling over legal action against those responsible for failing to solve the state’s serious floodings.
Its president Datuk Patrick Ooi said a discussion would be held with the party’s legal bureau chief to discuss the matter further.
A group of PAS members also lodged a report at the Patani Road police station over the flood problems in Penang.
Its Tanjung division chief Yacoob Omar, who represented the group, said the report was to show their dissatisfaction.