Taking steroids backfires on gym owner
Compiled by C.ARUNO, FARIK ZOLKEPLI AND R.ARAVINTAN

HE wanted to get muscular, so gym owner Mohd Shahirul Afidzi Hadarawi decided to take steroids seven years ago which later caused a hormone imbalance, Metro Ahad reported.

It led to him developing gynecomastia, a condition which causes the enlargement of breast tissues in males.

Mohd Shahirul, 31, ended up feeling uncomfortable as he appeared to have breasts like a woman.

Ironically, he used to be very much against those who took steroids.

“I felt they were taking a shortcut to having a muscular body,” he said.

So he spent three years trying to build up muscles naturally through training and healthy eating.

“However, I became disillusioned especially after seeing other men entering body-building competitions.”

He decided to try steroids then.

“My friends did not know about it but soon they noticed a change in my body. Even then, I never admitted it to them,” he said.

Besides changing the shape of his body, Mohd Shahirul said the steroids also gave him strength to train.

“But one day, as I was about to sleep, I felt a sharp pain on my nipple and I noticed a change in its shape. As the feeling worsened, I went straight to the hospital.

“Doctors confirmed I was suffering from gynecomastia and recommended that I go for surgery,” he said.

The surgery went well but it took two weeks for the wounds to heal, he said.

> Malaysian actress Pauline Tan is keeping her fingers crossed that her latest movie Rain Town, which is in Cantonese, will further expand her career in Malay dramas and movies, Sinar Ahad reported.

“I acted in some Malay dramas and tele-films but my character was not significant,” said Tan, who was the runner-up in the Miss Universe Malaysia 2015 pageant.

“Honestly, I dreamt of starring in more Malay dramas and movies, though I still have to polish speaking Malay as I studied in Taiwan and South Korea, thus my Malay is not that good,” said Tan, 33.

She said she was not choosy about roles in films or dramas.

To her, one should not miss the opportunities that come along the way.

So when director Tunku Mona Riza offered her a starring role in the movie Rain Town, Tan did not think twice about accepting the offer.

But for now, Tan is taking a break till May as she is due to give birth to her first child soon.

The Klang-born actress is married to fellow actor Henley Hii, who appeared in movies such as Wira and Paskal.

The above articles are 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.
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HE wanted to get muscular, so gym owner Mohd Shahirul Afidzi Hadarawi decided to take steroids seven years ago which later caused a hormone imbalance, Metro Ahad reported.