A MAN bought a first-class ticket and used it to have free meals and drinks at the airport’s VIP lounge almost every day for nearly a year, Kwong Wah Yit Poh reported.

The itinerary for the ticket was found to have been changed more than 300 times within a year, and the owner of the ticket used it to enjoy the facilities at the airport’s VIP lounge in Xi’an in Shaanxi, China.

The rare case was discovered by a China Eastern Airlines staff member, who then decided to investigate.

When the ticket’s validity was almost up, the passenger cancelled it for a refund.

An airlines spokesman said there were no means to stop this act, even if it was done on purpose. However, many netizens lauded the passenger for being smart, rather than condemning him.

> China Press reported that 10 elderly persons were seen holding placards at a park to remind youngsters of the need to spend time with their families during Chinese New Year.

The senior citizens from Zhengzhou of Henan, China, also sang about family bonding and called on the younger generation to return home for the new year celebration.

Group leader Liang Yong Xiang said they decided to take to the streets to remind those who have been working away from their hometowns to return home to visit their ageing parents, especially during the festive season.

> The daily also reported that five Somali pirates, who were jailed after hijacking the MV Samho Jewelry, a South Korean-operated chemical tanker, preferred life in Korean jails than to return to Somalia. They also reportedly put on some 10kg of weight since they were brought into jail in 2011.

Quoting South Korean media reports, it said that the prisoners had expressed willingness to stay in the country, even if it is done through the refugee application process.

A prisoner, who used to be a warder back in Somali, said prisoners back there were prohibited from washing and trimming their nails in the cell. “The facilities and treatment in Korean jails are really good,” he said.

Another prisoner said that he enjoyed prison meals, and would cry every meal time when he thought about his starving children back in Somalia.

Found in translation is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.