SEVERAL Malaysians are believed to be stranded in Myanmar after being cheated by an employment agency there in January, Utusan Malaysia reported.

       Kulim assemblyman Yeo Keng Chuan said the matter was revealed by Lim Sew Siam, 53, whose son is one of the victims, as she sought assistance from the government to bring him back.

       According to Yeo, Lim told him that her son Ang Poon Guan, 27, applied to work as a security guard in a Myanmar company.

       “Her son was told to assemble with seven others in Kuantan on Jan 2 for departure.

       “The company then brought them to Myanmar illegally,” he added.

       On March 8, Ang informed his mother via WeChat that he was not working as a security guard as expected. Instead, he was forced to work as a scam operator using a computer.

       “The victim said he was not given enough food and rest while his actions were being monitored and controlled all the time,” Yeo said.

       The victim also informed his mother that he wanted to quit but was told he would need to pay RM40,000 to stop working and return to Malaysia.

       “I have requested assistance from the Foreign Ministry to rescue the victims,” said Yeo.

       > A damaged road sign is in urgent need of repair as many users rely on it, reported Kosmo! in its online edition, citing a post on the Kelantan state Facebook page.

       Part of the sign has detached and may fall off and injure road users, said the post.

       The road sign is located at Jalan Utama Persekutuan Kota Baru, in front of Mydin Mall, Tunjong, Kota Baru, Kelantan.

       Local authorities have been urged to take prompt action.

       > Singer Syeera Aziz said she has learned from experience and will now avoid getting criticised, reported Harian Metro.

       Syeera, 24, whose real name is Nur Syaheera Abd Aziz, was body-shamed, leading her to stop using gimmicks in promoting her music.

       “At the beginning, I didn’t know the best methods to promote a song. After some trial and error, I am using TikTok to promote my new songs now.

       “I have no wish to be criticised again. The previous experience was terrible and my emotions were affected badly.

       “So, I don’t want to go through it again. I’m afraid of getting into a much more uncontrollable situation if I use a gimmick again,” she said.

       She added that she could not control people’s comments, but she could manage her own matters.

       ● The above article is 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 this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.