Boy kills himself to "become a ghost"

Kuala Lumpur, Dec 14, IRNA -- A 12-year-old schoolboy, who wanted to be a ghost in order to see the world, leapt to his death from the 8th floor of an apartment block in Lip Sin Garden in Malaysia's northern Penang state early Friday, a report said.

The Standard Six (primary six) pupil from a Malaysian Chinese ethnic group family had left a brief suicide note addressed to his parents and elder sister.

The note, written in Chinese, stated: "I am a ghost without strength. I want to become a ghost so that I can see the world."

According the Star newspaper on Saturday, the sister, who declined to be named when met at the Penang Hospital mortuary, said that in the suicide note her brother also asked his parents to burn his collection of horoscope books which he was very fond of.

"My brother spent most of his time in the apartment reading the horoscope books which he had used his pocket money to buy.

The boy was found sprawled on the ground floor with multiple injuries on the head and body by a general worker at about 5 a.m. (Malaysia Time).

The mother, who also declined to be named, said the boy had not been himself lately as shown by the fact that when his father asked him to go for a haircut recently he took out a scissors and cut his own hair.

"The whole family had just came back from an outing in Kuala Lumpur several days back.

"He would spend most of his time in the bedroom and when his father asked him to go out with his friends, he would say that he had nothing in common with them," she added.

I am going out on a limb here, but this story reminded me of something that happened this summer in Korea. I think this become a ghost thing might have something to do ith the common belief among chinese and some other asians in the spirit life of their ancestors.

I think it is quite mainstream to beliefe in an afterlife as a "ghost" over there. An ethnic chinese friend of mine Malaysia, even though she identifies herselves as a Catholic also have the more traditional belief in ghosts and spirits.

"South Korean fan in World Cup suicide

A man in his mid-twenties died Friday after setting himself on fire and leaving a chilling suicide note saying he wanted to be "a ghost and the 12th player" for his team in the World Cup, police said.

"I'm choosing death because South Korea has to go far to compete with the Latin American and European teams. I will be a ghost and the 12th player on the pitch and do my best for our team," police in the southeastern city of Pusan quoted the note as saying.

The man was found badly burned at a beach resort in Pusan on Friday and died en route to hospital, hours before South Korea takes on Portugal in a match it must win or draw in order to avoid elimination from the World Cup, a city police officer said.

"Reading the suicide note, it seems it was because of the World Cup. But we are not sure, so we will have to investigate," the Pusan policeman told Reuters.

The identity of the man, who had doused himself with paint thinner and set himself on fire around noon (0300 GMT), was not immediately clear, the officer said.

The suicide note starts with "Dear Red Devils in the world" and ends with "From a Red Devil in the next life," he said.

Red Devils is the name of the South Korean supporters' club that has mobilized hundreds of thousands of fans -- both at the stadiums where the home team has been playing and to watch matches on giant outdoor television screens."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/2002/world_cup/news/2002/06/14/korea_suicide_rb/

Talk about being dedicated to your team...

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