At least four S'poreans in hospital

Being a big fan of music festivals, she had been looking forward to partying at the Future Music Festival Asia in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

But a 24-year-old Singaporean might have partied too hard.

She was one of those from Singapore who were hospitalised for suspected drug overdose. The other, who is believed to be from Indonesia but lives in Singapore, is in critical condition and in a coma.

The festival was cancelled on Saturday after it was reported that six concert-goers had died from overdosing on drugs.

One died on the festival grounds on Friday night, two died on the way to hospital and the remaining three died in hospital. The New Straits Times quoted Kuala Lumpur police chief senior deputy commissioner Mohmad Salleh as saying that three of those who died were women.

"The six who died were locals and they were aged 19 to 28. They were pronounced dead on the way to the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (PPUKM) early this morning," he said on Saturday.

Three men are also in critical condition in the two hospitals. Two of them are Singaporeans, he added.

Mr Mohamad Salleh said the nine concert-goers had collapsed at the music festival after consuming drugs at about 1.30am yesterday. He said they had high body temperatures and were believed to have overdosed on methamphetamine, better known as "Ice".

"All tested positive for high levels of drugs and the deaths have been classified as (drug) overdose," Mr Mohamad Salleh said. He added that during the two days of the concert, police arrested 19 people - seven locals and 12 foreigners from Singapore, Australia and Indonesia - for drug possession.

When The New Paper on Sunday visited the UMMC on Saturday, hospital staff said there are at least four Singaporeans in the hospital, including the 24-year-old woman, who are suspected to be suffering from drug overdose.

At about 10.30pm, the Singaporean woman's father was by his daughter's bedside.

Just five minutes after he arrived, he told TNPS that he was not quite sure about his daughter's condition, but knew that it was drug-related.

He had just touched down at Changi Airport after a work trip to Australia when he got a call from his wife to go to Kuala Lumpur.

"My wife just called me and I came down. I'm not quite sure what happened," he said, adding that he knew his daughter was in hospital for something drug-related.

On her hospital bed, the Singaporean woman who works in her mother's real estate company, was hooked up to an oxygen tube. She was drowsy and unable to speak, though she knew that her father was with her.

A big music fan, she had been looking forward to attending the festival and had told her father about it two weeks ago. Her father said: "She likes going for this sort of things... She's a big fan of big events, and a big fan of music."

The parents of one of the other Singaporeans, who were by their daughter's bedside, seemed anxious and declined to speak to the media.

They were accompanied by relatives and friends and later went to visit one of the other women whose parents were also with her.

As for the Indonesian, she had eight friends waiting outside the intensive care unit, where she was believed to be in critical condition. Under the Misuse of Drug Act, it is a crime for Singaporeans and permanent residents to take banned drugs, even if they do it in other countries.

When they return to Singapore, they can be subjected to a urine test to detect any illegal narcotics, which can stay in the body for weeks, or sometimes months. Those found guilty of possessing or consuming illegal drugs face a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail or a $20,000 fine, or both.

tnp@sph.com.sg

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