STORY TO BE TOLD

Man jumps to death onto stage at US concert

SARATOGA, California (AP): A 32-year-old man jumped at least 20 feet (6 meters) to his death onto the stage of a Northern California concert in front of hundreds of horrified music fans, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

The Swell Season was playing an outdoor show at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga in front of a crowd of about 1,900 when Michael Edward Pickels of San Jose jumped Thursday night.

Authorities are treating Pickels' death as a suicide, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Rick Sung said.

Sung said the man left a friend in the audience and soon appeared on a roof that covers the stage. Witnesses say he jumped off the roof and landed on stage near the band's lead singer, Glen Hansard.

Witnesses said Hansard removed his guitar and walked over to the man's body.

The jumper was pronounced dead by a doctor in attendance who spent an hour trying to revive him.

The band extended its sympathies in a MySpace post Friday.

"Our hearts go out to the victim who decided to take his own life at last night's gig ... and to his friends and family," the statement said.

Hansard and singer-songwriter Marketa Irglova are known in part for the alt-rock band's role in the 2006 movie "Once." The group wrote and performed the movie's theme song, "Falling Slowly," which won the Academy Award for best original song.

Credits to and source taken from: http://thestar.com.my

Jay Chou blows RM4.6mil in Singapore casino in two days
Other News & View
Compiled by ZUHRIN AZAM AHMAD, BEH YUEN HUI and A.RAMAN

TAIWANESE pop star Jay Chou lost nearly S$2mil (RM4.6mil) at a casino in Singapore, Nanyang Siang Pau reported.

The superstar had visited the Marina Bay Sands Casino during his con­­­­­­­­­­cert tour in the republic last month.

He gambled off between S$100,000 and S$200,000 (RM232,000 and RM463,000) per bet. In just two days, Chou lost almost S$2mil (RM4.6mil) playing bacarrat.

A customer of the casino said Chou was accompanied by his manager and male friends.

According to the customer, Chou had good etiquette on the gambling table and he only wanted to be served by “aunties”.

> China Press reported that a pedestrian who was allegedly knocked down by a former Roma­nian diplomat to Singapore has won the civil suit.

The Singapore court, in default judgement, ruled that diplomat Dr Silviu lonescu has to pay Bong Hwee Haw for damages and the amount would be decided later.

Bong had earlier sought more than S$639,000 (RM1.5mil) in damages.

Ionescu was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident last December in Singapore that killed Malaysian Tong Kok Wai, 30, and injured Bong, 24, and another pedestrian.

The diplomat is currently being detained in Romania.

> The daily also reported that a coroner’s court in Singapore has ruled the death of Vernon Leong Jun Wei, 31, as misadventure.

Leong fell off the rooftop of the Hilton Singapore hotel on his wedding night in November last year.

A forensic report revealed that the alcohol level in Leong’s body was 161/100ml — double the legal limit.

Evidence and closed circuit television footage showed that the drunk and disoriented Leong had got lost in the hotel’s fire exit stairway.

He could have stumbled in the dark and accidentally fall to his death.

Thirty-five weeks later, his wife Kerin Peh, 27, leapt to her death from her flat.

Credits to and source taken from: http://thestar.com.my/

Actress's boyfriend out on bail

KUALA LUMPUR: A 36-year-old freelance photographer, believed to have been the boyfriend of the actress who fell to her death from a condominium here early this month, has been released on police bail.

Brickfields district police chief, ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid, who said this yesterday, added that police had ruled out the possibility that the woman, Julia Chuah Sheau Yen, was pushed from the building.

However, he said, police were still trying to find out the cause of the 31-year-old actress's death.


She fell from the balcony of her home on the 12th floor of the Pantai Hill Park condominium on Aug 7. Her body was found in the parking lot.

Her boyfriend was earlier reported as being present at the parking lot of the building at 5.05pm on the day of the incident.

It is learnt that Chuah grabbed on to an Astro satellite dish on the 10th floor, calling for help before she fell.


The post-mortem report showed that she died of multiple injuries, but there were no signs of struggle on the body.

Chuah, a student who apparently just returned from England a month ago after completing her studies, was said to be a talented actress and model, and her drama credits date back the 2001 local sitcom Getting Together, which co-starred Elaine Daly.

Read more: http://www.nst.com.my

Credits to and source taken from: http://www.nst.com.my/

Video clips of "Getting Together" - starring Julia Chuah

Credits to and source taken from: mrgettingtogether Channel