PENANG,  3 Apr 2009

The two top stipendiary stewards in Malaysia are temporary out of action following a second attack in four months near here yesterday.

In January, David McGillivray, 52, the chief stipendiary steward, was set upon outside a restaurant in Ipoh and had his left arm almost severed. The Scot is recovering.

Yesterday, Soo Lai Kwok, the deputy chief stipendiary steward, was attacked by a group of men when he stopped at popular seafood promenade Bukit Tambun for lunch on his way to Kuala Lumpur for this weekend's races in Kuala Lumpur.

"I think there were eight people who ambushed me and they hit me using several kinds of weapons like knife, sticks and baseball bat. Almost all parts of my body are now in pain," Soo, 35, said from his hospital bed.

Soo, who was travelling with his wife in car, was initially warded at the Sungei Bakap hospital but later transferred to a private hospital in Penang.