A TEENAGE entrepreneur from Ipoh was surprised to find out that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had bought several of his Siamese fighting fish, Sin Chew Daily reported.

       Cheng Jia Yung posted a photo on Twitter of the former prime minister holding a handwritten letter and showing two fighting fish in the jars on his desk.

       “Wehh ikan laga saya ada peluang duduk dalam office Tun Mahathir (my fighting fish got to sit in Tun Mahathir’s office),” he tweeted.

       The student from SMK Seri Ampang Ipoh said one of Dr Mahathir’s aides contacted him on Aug 14, asking about his fish.

       “The aide told me that Dr Mahathir informed them that they must support hardworking and young local entrepreneurs,” Cheng said, adding that he then wrote a letter thanking the elder statesman for his support, as well as his past contributions to the nation.

       The fighting fish sold to Dr Mahathir was of the plakat variant, native to Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, and costing between RM15 and RM40 each.

       Cheng, 17, said he started the business with his brother two months ago and did not expect a prominent leader such as Dr Mahathir to be his customer.

       > Hong Kong actress Jacqueline Wong surprised fans by appearing in a photo online after not having posted anything on social media for eight months, Sin Chew Daily also reported.

       Wong, who has kept a low profile since she was caught kissing married actor Andy Hui, was tagged in a photo by ViuTV host JJ Lim on Instagram. Wong appeared to have lost weight but was in good spirits, fans commented.

       It was later revealed that Wong and her sister were attending a religious event at the Tsz Shan Monastery in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district.

       Wong had abruptly “disappeared” from social media with her last post being a photo of her birthday in January.

       In April 2019, Wong, who was then in a relationship with actor Kenneth Ma, was caught kissing Hui at the back of a taxi.

       The scandal grabbed headlines for several months, forcing Wong to take a six-month hiatus in the United States.

       Her roles in ongoing TVB dramas were replaced by colleague Roxanne Tong, who also started dating Ma in April last year.

       > Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang had to receive emergency treatment at the hospital after contracting a severe form of tonsillitis, Oriental Daily reported.

       The 37-year-old was recently seen attending an online event on August 17 but revealed the next day that she caught a bad cold.

       Yang later reassured her fans on social media that she was fine but is still undergoing treatment.

       “It has been many years since I had to be placed on an IV drip.

       “I’m beginning to question my life!” she wrote.

       ● 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.