ONLY REGRET FOR PILL-POPPER

PENANG: Former Ecstasy pill-popper Grace (not her real name) woke up in
hospital one day to discover that her two-year-old son had been found dead
with his wrists slashed.

The 26-year-old housewife was also horrified when told that she had
attempted suicide by slashing her own wrists at her home in Perak.

"All I can recall is being told that my only child is dead and I was found
next to him,'' she told newsmen at the Penang Prison during a special
interview arranged by the state MCA yesterday.

Present were state MCA chairman Datuk Dr Sak Cheng Lum, Jawi assemblyman
Tan Cheng Liang and state prison director Haji Yahaya Salleh.

The woman was admitted to Hospital Bahagia for two months before being
taken to the prison for remand to help in investigations into her son's
death on Nov 26 last year.

During the one-hour session, she broke down and cried out, Wo Ter Hai Zhi.
Dhung Khu (My child! Painful!) in Mandarin.

Grace claimed that her husband took her to a disco to celebrate her 25th
birthday on Aug 31 last year where she took her first Ecstasy pill.

"It was my first visit to the disco where he introduced me to the pill.
From then on, one pill led to another and I began to frequent discos twice
or thrice weekly,'' she said.

Under the drug's influence, Grace said she would often hallucinate that TV
shows were telling her to "go and die.''

"Sometimes when I am alone at home, I can hear disco music even without
switching on my music player,'' she said.

Grace said that after popping the pill, she would only gain consciousness
in the afternoons while the mornings would be a blank in her memory.

"I hope my story will help spread awareness to all to stay away from
Ecstasy pills,'' she said.

She added that her husband had agreed to stop taking the pill.

Dr Sak said the case showed the extent of the Ecstasy menace which could
even destroy the life of an ordinary housewife.

"This can happen to anyone's daughter. And it is a misconception to say
that the pill is a lifestyle pill and does not have the effect of hard
drugs like heroin.''