A Chinese woman who woke up after being in a coma for eight months has claimed that her boyfriend who took care of her was responsible for causing her injuries.

According to the New York Post, Lin Yingying, 24, alleged that her boyfriend, Liu Fenghe, 25, had caused her coma after he beat her with a rolling pin in Sept 2014.

She said that Liu beat her after she burned 20 loaves of bread in the bakery they co-ran in the province of Liaoning, China. She also said that he had physically assaulted her before.

Lin added that the last thing she remembered about the incident before losing consciousness, was hitting the floor and hearing her boyfriend call for an ambulance.

She spent the next eight months in a vegetative state, only regaining consciousness in May last year. 

During her coma, local media reported that Liu had not only tended to Lin but had also spent 200,000 yuan (S$42,508) on her medical care, declaring that he would take care of her for the rest of her life.

According to a report by The Independent, Lin said that she gained the courage to speak up after her father told her that she had already “died once” and that there was nothing more for her to be “afraid of”.

The doctors in charge of Lin’s case also said that the injuries she suffered were akin to one sustained in a fall from a five-storey building.

Lin’s father has reportedly informed the local police of the alleged abuse.

prabukm@sph.com.sg

On Feb 6, just two days before Chinese New Year, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan around 4am. .

The death toll hit 116, with many of the casualties coming from the collapse of the Weiguan Golden Dragon high-rise tower in Tainan. But if you expected the quake to put a dampener on the most important family holiday in the Chinese calendar, you would have underestimated the resilience of the Taiwanese.

A great example of this was the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2016, in Shifen Sky Lantern Square, New Taipei City, north of Tainan.

Mr Cheng, 29, a Taiwanese who has been to the festival a few times and was among the thousands who turned up, said: “Although the earthquake happened, it is a very sad and unfortunate incident, but whatever happened, happened, and it is time to move on.”

The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival’s final event is always held on the 15th day of the lunar new year to celebrate the first full moon.

WISHES

People write their well wishes on the lanterns and release them into the sky.

The wishes are usually about health and wealth. Once released, the lanterns gradually rise and float away. Some 200 sky lanterns are released over the course of eight sessions. During the intervals between each session, there are music and dance performances.

The festival dates back more than a hundred years and signifies sending one’s wishes to God..

Mr Zhao Yuhsin, a Taiwanese, said: “Even though I’m local, I don’t come to this event every year. But since it coincided with my holidays this time, I wanted to come and experience it because it’s really fun to light the lanterns.”

Miss Theresia Shanel from the Solomon Islands, who has been studying in Taiwan for four years, was at the festival for the first time. She said: “I just wanted to come to the festival to write a wish, soak in the atmosphere and experience the culture.”

Pingxi is the only place in Taiwan where sky lanterns can be released legally due to its sparse population and high altitude.

I just wanted to come to the festival to write a wish, soak in the atmosphere and experience the culture.

– Miss Theresia Shanel, 23, from the Solomon Islands, at the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2016

jlong@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 8, 2016.
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