Death messenger irks family - The family of a 26-year-old accident victim who died at the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital (TJH) here is upset that they...

Death messenger irks family
By CHITRA S. NATHAN
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

SEREMBAN: The family of a 26-year-old accident victim who died at the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital (TJH) here is upset that they had to learn of his death from a funeral parlour operator.

Karaoke centre manager Chin Hee Soon was on his way home from work in Kuala Lumpur when he was involved in an accident on the North-South Expressway near Nilai.

It occurred at 7.50am on Monday.

Chin, who became a father only a week ago, was taken to the hospital but his family was not informed of the accident.

His father-in-law, who wanted to be known as Lee, said his daughter Kah Mun, 25, had called him on Monday night when her husband failed to return home.

“She was frantic as Chin had called her earlier that day at 7am to say that he was on his way home.

“Fearing the worst, I contacted the TJH to enquire if he had been admitted there.

“But I was told by the hospital that they had no patient by that name,” he told reporters yesterday.

A funeral parlour operator showed up at their doorstep at 6.30am the following day, informing them that Chin had died at the TJH three hours earlier.

Lee said he was upset that the news was not relayed by either the police or the hospital authorities.

“My daughter, who had just given birth, is grief-stricken and so are Chin’s parents and siblings,” he said.

“They feel that they had been denied a chance to say their goodbyes.”

Lee claimed that a TJH clerk told him off when he called to enquire why he was not informed of Chin’s admission earlier.

Chin’s father Pak Leong said the family might have had the chance to comfort or bid him farewell.

“I wish I could have held his hand while he was still alive but instead I only got to see his dead body.”

The family also claimed that RM1,000 was missing from Chin’s wallet.

Not only that, a newly-installed hi-fi system in his car had been removed.

Chin’s mobile phones had also gone missing.

Pak Leong said his son’s Toyota Vios had been towed away by a private operator.

Temiang Barisan Nasional service centre co-ordinator Jason Lee said he wanted answers from the authorities soon.

“I hope that the matter will be investigated and that no one else will have to go through the same ordeal,” he said.

When contacted, TJH director Dr Jaafar Che Mat said he would look into the case.

“I cannot comment on it at the moment.

“However, I can confirm that it is not hospital procedure to pass on a patient’s information to a third party like a funeral parlour operator,” he said.

“In cases like this, we will try to trace the patient’s family first.

“If that fails, we will contact the police,” he added.


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