KUALA LUMPUR - A Singaporean businessman and two colleagues were about to go for lunch in a restaurant on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur when a man armed with a knife grabbed his sling bag.
But Mr Alan Wong Jing Kai, 38, refused to let go of the bag and put up a struggle.
His male colleague tried to help, but after they overpowered the robber, another man - also armed with a knife - joined in the fray.
During the fierce struggle that ensued, Mr Wong managed to wrest a knife from one of the robbers and stabbed him in the thigh, Malaysian newspaper Sin Chew Daily reported.
But another Malaysian daily, China Press, said the man could have stabbed himself during the melee.
The man, 23, later died of excessive blood loss, Lianhe Wanbao reported on Wednesday.
The incident happened at about 1pm on Tuesday as Mr Wong, a metal facility repair company director, and two subordinates - one male and one female - were heading to lunch at a dim sum restaurant in Bandar Puteri Puchong, Selangor.
They had just got out of their car when a white hatchback drove up. A man holding a knife got out from the hatchback and grabbed Mr Wong's sling bag, reported the Chinese evening daily.
Another man in the white sedan, seeing that his accomplice had been overpowered, came down the car with one more knife.
As the scuffle expanded to four men, Mr Wong's fingers were cut and he was stabbed several times in his chest.
His male colleague also suffered cuts, Lianhe Wanbao reported.
Despite his injuries, Mr Wong continued resisting the robbers and managed to snatch a knife from one of them before stabbing him deeply in the thigh.
The bleeding robber's accomplice then dragged him back to their car before it sped off. It is believed that there were one or two other men in the car.
Although many people saw the robbery and heard Mr Wong's loud cries for help, they did not intervene out of fear of the armed robbers, Shin Min Daily News reported.
Serdang OCPD (officer-in charge of police division) Assistant Commissioner Abdul Razak Elias told reporters that the badly injured man was taken to a private hospital, where doctors tried in vain to save his life.
He died at about 1.45pm, reported Lianhe Wanbao.
After leaving their injured accomplice behind, the other men abandoned the hatchback at a badminton hall about 150m from the hospital and fled.
Fake plate
Serdang police found the hatchback, which had a fake licence plate, reported Lianhe Wanbao.
Mr Abdul Razak told Shin Min Daily News that a special team has been formed to trace the whereabouts of the other men who are still at large.
He said police found two knives in the car - one of which was bloodied. There were also spots of blood on a car seat.
He told Lianhe Wanbao that police could not ascertain who had stabbed the man as they have yet to interview Mr Wong.
But even if Mr Wong did stab the man, Mr Abdul Razak said he would not have committed an offence as it was in self-defence.
The police are also checking closed-circuit television footage taken from the badminton hall, he added.
Mr Wong was taken to Serdang Hospital, where he was warded.
His wife told Lianhe Wanbao that his injuries were not serious and he would be discharged in two days.
The paper also reported that when Malaysian media visited Mr Wong in hospital on Tuesday, he looked alert and was able to chat with the nurses in Cantonese. He declined to be interviewed.
Shin Min reported that Mr Wong owns a company in Singapore and another in Malaysia. When Shin Min reporters visited Mr Wong's home here on Wednesday morning, neighbours said that his mother used to live there.
But the home is now being rented out after Mr Wong's mother went to live with her daughter, Shin Min reported.
When The New Paper contacted Serdang Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, a nurse said Mr Wong had been transferred to another hospital.
