Saturday June 10, 2006

By G.C. TAN

GUANGZHOU (China):“I want to become an action movie star, like Jet Li and Wong Fei Hoong.” These were the first words Tan Kia Khim uttered hours after a successful four-hour operation to remove a large tumour on his face.

ALL IS WELL: Kia Khim and his father, Seong Meng, showing the thumbs-up sign to journalists during an interview after his operation at Fuda Cancer Hospital in Guangzhou yesterday.

The 25-year-old coffeeshop assistant joked with journalists who were allowed to interview him at his bedside in the intensive care unit of Fuda Cancer Hospital here.

“I am still strong, and I amvery happy that the operation has been a success. Thank you to all Malaysians for the moral support,” he said. Doctors here reconstructed Kia Khim’s face after the surgery to remove the tumour and resized his mouth, lips, eyes and nose to make him look better. Today, he will get to see how he looks like once the bandages are removed.

His father, Tan Seong Meng, was beside him, all smiles and holding his hands.

Seong Meng said the first thing Kia Khim enquired upon waking up from the operation was whether his mother had been informed about the successful operation.

“I told him I had already done that and that his mother was happy,” said Seong Meng. Fuda Cancer Hospital vicepresident Assoc Prof Niu Li-Zhi said Kia Khim showed no abnormal complication after the operation.

“His condition is stable. The surgical portions of his face were swollen but (his face) will return to normal after three days, and the bandages will then be removed,” he said. On the condition of Kedah lass Hong Siew Hui, who also has a tumour on her face and underwent surgery at the hospital, Prof Niu said she was still weak and could not get down from her bed.

Prof Niu said there were swellings on her tumour but that her situation would return to normal in a week or two. Hong underwent the first stage of surgery four days ago. She has been given liquid food and milk to help her recover her strength.