KUALA LUMPUR: New Straits Times Press journalist Abdul Halim Said, 37, died at the Ampang Hospital today.
The Johor Baru-based journalist died at 2.40pm of a viral infection to his liver and brain.
His sister, Faridah Alias, said he had been warded at the hospital since last week.
“During Aidilfitri, he had contacted me saying he wanted to spend the raya holiday with us in Beranang, Selangor. However, he then had terrible stomach pains and cancelled his plans. Instead, he spent Raya in Selayang with an adoptive family.
“I did not suspect that he may have other chronic problems until I heard that he had been hospitalised. When I went to visit him, he looked really weak and could not respond to us.
“Halim was always a very cheerful person and never showed any outward signs of being sick. Of late, though, he did not have a good appetite and seemed to be losing weight quickly,” she said.
Halim was single and had been looked after by the adoptive family when he was born.
He will be buried later at the Bukit Kepong Muslim cemetery in Beranang.