Modifiers misplaced

Eighteen years old and fresh out of school, the day I set foot in what was then known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang, Selangor, was an eye-opening experience.

The above is a sentence taken from an article written by a columnist in a popular national English daily of December 11.

The sentence has the connotation that the day was eighteen years old and fresh out of school resulted from such modifiers having been misplaced; and a reconstruction is necessary : When I was eighteen years old and fresh out of school, the day I set foot in what was then known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang, Selangor, was an eye-opening experience.

While sorting out a bundle of old documents recently, I have also chanced upon an older issue (June 30, 2008) of the same newspaper containing a news item bearing the following headline, "Groups stage protest against costly petrol in Ipoh", which is a complete sentence.

Owing to the modifier in the sentence having been misplaced, it has had the tendency to lead readers to understand that because of the costly petrol in Ipoh (which is in the state of Perak), groups stage protest (against such costly petrol).

In actual fact, costly petrol was then being sold not only in the state of Perak but also in all other states of the country; and the headline should have been "Groups stage protest in Ipoh against costly petrol" to reflect the correct situation.