Medium, 13, 'locates Penang storm victim's body'

A 13-year-old medium has claimed to have ‘located’ the body of hawker Lim Chin Aik, believed to be trapped in a crater more than six metres deep after a lightening rod on the Penang Umno building struck his car along Jalan Macalister last Thursday.

About 9pm yesterday, Foo Jia Mint (right)and his mother Susan Goh visited the site of the incident, together with Chin Aik's family-members.

Foo said the body is located towards the front of the crater, closer to the iconic Pakistan Mosque.

"I saw the spirit standing on the mud and sands. He was crying and pointing out his body to me. He looked very sad. He could not speak. He was voiceless, and I felt very bad for him" said Foo.

"At first, I could not see the spirit. But he appeared when the family brought his 18-year-old son (Chia Oon, who has Down Syndrome) whom he loved very much.”

Chia Oon was crying when brought to the scene.

Chin Aik’s wife - Lee Chai Song, 48 - said tearfully: "We have come to accept the possibility of his death.”

The couple have two other children - a 20-year-old son and a daughter aged 13, who he had failed to pick up from school last Thursday, after the 50m-long lightning rod crashed onto his car during the gale.

Foo, a student of SMK Bukit Mertajam, he said he has had the ability to see spirits from the age of 10.

"At that time, I was scared. But after the Nine Dragon Gods came into me, I was no longer afraid," he explained, adding he is a devotee of the goddess Kuan Ying.

Describing his skill as "catching ghosts", Foo has been assisting families and individuals for three years now. He is providing his services free of charge to Chin Aik's (left)family. 

Foo's mother, a practising Feng Shui master, said they had volunteered to help after reading newspaper reports on the incident.

"We had to come forward. We felt so sad for the family as they were looking for the body of their loved ones," said Goh, 50.

Foo is not the only famous member in his family - elder brother Cody or Coex, 21, is a popular beat box star and is among CLEOmagazine's top 50 most eligible bachelors for 2013.

Earlier, two other mediums had approached the family at the site but had their services rejected.

One was a Chinese man in his 50s, who describes himself as "Mahathir's Man", saying he has the ability to "communicate with God" to locate the body.

"I have a kind of Internet where I can connect with the spirit," he told journalists, while showing off some amulets and causing a little stir around the search and recovery activities.

The police later told him to leave in order so as not to disrupt the work of the Special Team Operations Rescue Management.

Possible closure?

About 9.45pm, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng arrived and spoke to Chin Aik’s family over possible ways of finding closure.

"There is no deadline yet (on when the operations will be called off) but we cannot go on like this. We will decide after discussing with the family," Guan Eng told reporters later.

"The crater is too deep. We have to add 40 more sheet piles which are each nine metres long to ensure that the surrounding areas are safe.

"However, we are upset that a Sungai Petani supplier ischarging an exorbitant fee of RM50,000 for the sheet piles.It is inhumane."

Guan Eng said the team has had no choice but to use the supplier as companies in Penang do not have sufficient quantities of the material.

To expedite the task, other than engineers from the Penang Municipal Council, the Institute of Engineers Malaysia has volunteered the services of five members.

Deputy Health Minister and Penang Umno secretary Dr Hilmi Yahya was also at the scene to comfort the family.

Accompanying Lim were Deputy Chief Minister I Rashid Hasnon, Tanjung MP Ng Wei Aik, state executive councillor Phee Boon Poh and assemblypersons Teh Lai Hing (Padang Kota) and Lau Keng Ee (Pengkalan Kota).

Incidents connected to the same storm also took the life of lorry driver Jahir Hussain Sulaiman, 46, and Wong Tze Chow, 33.