Revisiting the highest profile crimes in Singapore
It is hard to imagine that cruel crimes could ever pierce the tranquillity of Singapore — a small nation deemed as one of the world’s safest countries.
The Lion City has nonetheless witnessed some shocking and heart-wrenching crimes in its modern history.
While some cases have been left frustratingly unsolved, many others have been cracked wide open thanks to the relentless work of authorities.
Here are the four most shocking crimes that have gripped Singapore but were solved by law enforcement in the past 15 years.
1. Downtown East fatal slashing (2010)
In October 2010, 19-year-old Darren Ng Wei Jie was attacked and slashed 28 times by 12 members of a rival gang in broad daylight at Downtown East.
Ng was attacked with screwdrivers, choppers, and knives, after crashing into a glass door while fleeing the scene.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
The student from Republic Polytechnic suffered a total of 28 slash wounds, primarily on his left limbs and below his right rib cage.
He succumbed to his injuries in Changi General Hospital five hours later.
Eventually, the 12 perpetrators were arrested by the police.
Six of them, including the gang leader, Stilwell Ong, were charged with murder, while the rest were charged with rioting.
Ong had then confessed to starting the fight and slashing the victim using a chopper.
However, the murder charges against the five main culprits, including Ong, were reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
In 2012, Ong received 12 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane.
2. Death of a toddler at Chin Swee Road flat (2014)
On 10 September 2019, a gruesome discovery was made in a rental unit on Chin Swee Road.
Human remains of a girl slightly older than two years old was found in a metal cooking pot.
The people responsible for the girl’s death turned out to be her parents, who concealed her body for five years.
In September 2023, the gag order on the victim’s name was lifted and she was identified as Umaisyah.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
Umaisyah, who was one of the couple’s seven children, died after her father repeatedly and forcefully slapped across the face in March 2014.
The toddler was believed to have suffered a traumatic brain injury from the assault, said prosecutors.
Instead of seeking medical help, Umaisyah’s parents burnt her body in a melting pot before hiding it in a box.
They then sealed the box with masking tape and cling wrap, hiding it below the kitchen stove in their flat.
It was later revealed that Umaisyah’s father had taken methamphetamine the morning of her assault.
Source: The Online Citizen
Their crime came to light to when a family member opened the box.
He then showed its contents to his sister’s friends who subsequently alerted the police.
The couple, who had been imprisoned for unrelated offences, were initially charged with murder.
In September 2023, the father was convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other offences including child abuse, rioting and drug use.
He was sentenced in September 2023 to 21.5 years’ imprisonment and 18 strokes of the cane.
Meanwhile, in February 2024, the mother was sentenced to 14 years’ jail in February 2024 for ill-treating her children and perverting the course of justice by helping to conceal her daughter’s body and lying about her whereabouts.
3. Lovers’ quarrel turned awry at Gardens by the Bay (2016)
Gardens by the Bay was once turned into a crime scene when a 48-year-old laundry shop manager, Leslie Khoo Kwee Hock, strangled his lover, Cui Yajie, in a car before burning her body in a remote area.
In 2015, Khoo, who was married with a son, began a relationship with Cui, a 31-year-old Chinese national.
The man had told her that he was single and the owner of a laundry business.
When Cui found out he had a family, Khoo only continued spinning his web of lies.
The man claimed that he was divorced but would spend the weekends with his “former wife”.
During the course of their relationship, Khoo also tricked Cui into giving him S$20,000 for a gold investment.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
However, their relationship soured to the point that Cui threatened to expose the his lies to his boss.
On 12 July 2016, Khoo offered to drive her to his office but instead took her to a secluded location at Gardens by the Bay.
In his parked BMW, he tried to dissuade her from meeting his supervisor, and both got into a heated argument.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
Khoo decided to strangle her to death and took the body to a forest in Lim Chu Kang, where he burnt her body over several days until there was nothing left but her hair.
Khoo was arrested on 20 July 2016 after Cui’s colleagues lodged a police report saying they had not seen her since 11 July.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2019.
4. Orchard Towers murder (2019)
An altercation at Orchard Towers led to the death of a man whose final hours were captured in CCTV footage.
At around 5am on 2 July 2019, a group of seven individuals arrived at the Naughty Girl Club on the second floor of Orchard Towers.
The group had been drinking at other pubs since the previous night.
At 6.20am, a fight erupted between the group and another group of patrons as they were leaving the club.
Things spiraled when the victim, 31-year-old Satheesh Noel Gobidass, confronted Tan’s group alone near the ground-floor entrance.
Source: Dayah Rizqah on Facebook
Tan Sen Yang, who would later be charged with murder, punched Satheesh repeatedly in the head and face region while holding a karambit knife.
His companions also joined the assault, punching and kicking the victim.
Satheesh sustained multiple knife wounds, including the fatal stab wound to the neck.
Tan and some of his acquaintances then fled the scene, but police  would arrest the seven suspects within 12 hours at various locations across Singapore.
Source: Night Life Singapore NLS on Facebook
Tan eventually contacted the police to surrender after hearing the news and was arrested around 2.35pm near the Toa Payoh South Community Club.
On 25 April 2024, Tan Sen Yang was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, along with 12 strokes of the cane.
The other six suspects were also sentenced after pleading guilty to reduced offences, including assault, consorting with an armed person in public, unruly behaviour in public and obstruction of justice.
Also read: 5 biggest unsolved cases in S’pore, from missing boys to ruthless attacks by unknown assailants
5 biggest unsolved cases in S’pore, from missing boys to ruthless attacks by unknown assailants
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Featured image adapted from Singapore Police Force on Facebook and Lianhe Zaobao.
