Compiled by C. ARUNO and LIEW JIA XIAN

       DESPITE having spent RM150,000 on renovations, the homestay in Kuala Lumpur owned by Michael Wong was unable to open for business due to the Covid-19 pandemic, reported Sin Chew Daily.

       Wong, 51, who hails from Ipoh, bought the house near the Petronas Twin Towers and decided to turn it into a homestay.

       Complete with a swimming pool, furnished kitchen and a dining area, the house was left empty throughout the pandemic.

       Wong, who partnered with friends in opening restaurants and music studios, had yet to try running a business by himself until he bought this old house in Kuala Lumpur.

       Unfortunately, his plans were delayed by the pandemic.

       Wong, who debuted as a singer in the 1990s, revealed he had once thought of retiring.

       “I want tourism to not only be about shopping and hotels, but to allow tourists to experience local culture,” he added.

       Wong was appointed as one of the tourism ambassadors for Perak in 2006 and continues to serve in the same capacity until today.

       > Renowned Chinese pianist Li Yundi is believed to have been arrested for being involved in prostitution, reported China Press.

       According to the Beijing police, a 39-year-old man surnamed Li was detained to assist in the investigations.

       The man was held along with a woman who was suspected of soliciting.

       Both of them later confessed to their crimes.

       Li is a Chinese concert pianist popularly known as Yundi and formerly Yundi Li.

       Born in Chongqing, he is well known for being the youngest pianist, at the age of 18, to win the XIV International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000, and for judging it in 2015.

       > A toddler in China’s Heilongjiang province suffered from severe burns after he sat in a pot filled with boiling soup at a kindergarten on Sept 30, reported China Press.

       The three-year-old was rushed to hospital and was found to have second-degree burns over 22% of his body.

       The boy has recovered but doctors revealed that the accident will leave him with scars.

       A large part of his skin will have lost its ability to perspire as his sweat glands have been damaged, according to his doctors.

       The boy’s parents are upset that the kindergarten has yet to apologise for the accident.

       According to the kindergarten spokesman, the boy’s grandmother was a cook at the kindergarten.

       As the grandmother and the boy were in the kitchen during the accident, the grandmother should shoulder part of the duty towards her grandson, the spokesman said.

       However, the kindergarten has agreed to pay the boy’s medical costs and reported the incident to the education department.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.