Stray bullet ends professional entertainer’s life, wedding

GEORGE TOWN: Professional entertainer Choi Hon Ming was looking forward to his wedding with his sweetheart in December next year.

As an entertainer, his acts included as ‘God of Prosperity’ during the Chinese New Year festival; ‘Santa Claus’ during the Christmas season; and even as clown to entertain children at funstions.

Early this year, the 32-yearold was engaged to the woman who currently works as a nurse in Saudi Arabia, and the two were counting the days to blissful matrimony.

On Thursday night, Choi was in a car enroute to meeting a client in Butterworth. However, the meeting never took place.

That night, the big day he was looking forward to, was ‘shortcircuited’ by a stray bullet, killing him on the spot in Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.

The stray bullet came from a Datuk’s personal bodyguard, believed to be mentally unstable, who went on a rampage, firing in the direction of his boss and another bodyguard in the incident at 7.15pm.

The other deceased were identified as Datuk Ong Teik Kwang, 32, and Senthil Murugiah, 38. The injured were Lee Hong Boon, 56, Nurul Huda Aziz, 38, Arivarni Krishnan, 33, Lim Boon Leng, 32, and RTM cameraman Mohamad Amirul Amin Mohamed Amer, 28.

It was reported that Ong, who was driving a BMW car, sustained a gunshot wound in the neck and died on the spot. Senthil was shot at a road-shoulder about 50 metres from the Datuk’s car.

In an interview with Bernama yesterday, Choi’s mother, Khoo Saw Hean, 68, said her son had been engaged early this year and was looking forward to the wedding scheduled in December next year.

“There is no wedding for my son now ... he is gone,” she said, fighting back tears at the Batu Gantung funeral parlour here yesterday.