Most Singaporeans have their schedules packed to the brim with work or school. In our busy lives, we barely find enough time to spend with loved ones, much less with strangers.
However, one woman somehow manages to find time between balancing work and her family to volunteer with Crime Library Singapore (CLS).
There, she helps those affected by cold cases. At the same time, she keeps memories of the victims alive by raising awareness for crimes long disregarded.
Joanna Khoo is a Human Resources (HR) professional by day and a community servant at other times. Much of this mother-of-two’s life revolves around helping others to the best of her abilities.
Ms Khoo’s work with CLS is probably the most visible of her community service.
Visit its Facebook page, and you’ll realise that she is the one helming the bulk of their live streams and community outreach sessions.
CLS is a non-profit organisation established in 2000 by ex-policeman Joseph Tan. It aims to support and raise awareness for victims of crime, specifically cold cases.
This piqued Ms Khoo’s interest as she has been a documentary and true crime enthusiast since she was eight.
She was still a student when she discovered the old CLS website and quickly became a fan.
“I found that there is a harmonisation between their cause and my interests, and it’s a cause that I care a lot about,” she told MS News.
At that point, the organisation was working on several prominent cases. These included the murder of eight-year-old Huang Na in 2004 and the attack on polytechnic student Wong Dao Jing in 2003.
“The way that CLS appealed for help and provided support for the families was what inspired me to come forward to help.”
Sometime around 2018, Ms Khoo reached out to Mr Tan to see if there was any way she could help with their efforts after years of following CLS’ activities.
And the rest, as they say, was history.
Through sheer coincidence, Ms Khoo found out that a personal friend was related to a murder victim that the organisation had helped.
As the victim’s family never met the founder of CLS, they never had the chance to thank him.
That was until Ms Khoo came into the picture and helped them to connect.
She saw firsthand the hope and closure that the work of CLS can bring to grieving families, which stuck a chord deep in her heart.
Although it’s impossible to bring the dead back to life, we can still provide closure for the living who still need to move on with their lives despite the tragedies they’ve been through.
Ms Khoo’s community volunteer role within CLS is flexible — she will contribute wherever possible.
Among them are, of course, assisting with social media broadcasts.
Even though CLS started as a standalone website amidst the dot-com advent in the early 2000s, its presence is now heavily reliant on social media.
As with many others nowadays, CLS relies upon the broad reach of social media for their cause.
At the same time, they also utilise it to draw attention to the importance of crime prevention.
On the cold cases front, the potential for virality means that there is hope that someone with a lead can come forward to help close them.
While Ms Khoo acknowledges that many of these cases are decades old, it is still important to keep them alive, as you never know when a lead might emerge.
For Ms Khoo, her drive to help the disenfranchised fuels her engine.
In the wake of these cold and tragic cases is a group of families and people that have been adversely affected.
“To put it bluntly, if we give up, what’s going to happen to this group of vulnerable families?” Ms Khoo mused.
They’ve been waiting for closure for so long — if we give up, where’s the hope for them?
As an advocate for women’s empowerment, Ms Khoo strongly believes in her work for CLS.
She highlighted the fact that many of these crimes target women or children. Thus, the work of CLS hits exceptionally close to home.
She hopes that all the attention raised towards the cold cases will play a part in preventing more from falling victim to crimes.
Most of Ms Khoo’s weekends are spent on CLS and community outreach efforts.
Typically, she and Mr Tan will visit the families of crime victims to provide a listening ear and render assistance where possible.
During these visits, they conduct their live broadcasts, where they discuss the cases with the families present.
Of course, not every family is willing to open up immediately about issues that are so sensitive.
What viewers don’t see on screen are the many hours that Ms Khoo puts into just getting to know these people and their concerns.
Ms Khoo credits her ability to get people to open up to her experience as an HR professional.
Often, it takes several visits for these families to open up to CLS and its volunteers. But after some time, Ms Khoo feels that they don’t just view her as a volunteer but also as a friend.
One such person is Mr Or, the brother-in-law of murder victim Ng Bee Phoe.
Ms Ng was six months pregnant when she was reportedly raped and murdered in 1967. The case was never solved.
Mr Or was still in his youth when he took part in the search for Ms Ng.
Now in his 80s and barely able to go anywhere on his own, the disappearance and subsequent murder of his sister-in-law still weigh heavily on his mind.
Ms Khoo said CLS visits families like Mr Or’s to keep them going. The case happened over 50 years ago, and they know that there is nothing much that can be done besides talking about it.
And that is what the broadcasts are for — providing the families with a voice to make their case for themselves.
“What keeps us doing what we do is the belief that there are still families who are waiting for us to reach out,” said Ms Khoo.
We should never give up, because if we do, these people will never get any help at all.
Besides her work with CLS, Ms Khoo’s day job is also very people-centric.
She oversees a fintech company’s HR and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.
Even with her corporate job, Ms Khoo desires to give back to the community. As HR, her team offers volunteer leave for employees to take time out of their jobs to give back.
“I truly believe that it is very important for a company to give back and create a culture that allows their employees to do so,” she explained.
Additionally, she hopes to set a good example for her two children with her community service work. She also wants her work with CLS to instil a sense of vigilance and crime prevention in her kids.
In fact, she has already gotten them involved in CLS. For instance, her older son sometimes assists with video production for the non-profit.
“It’s very important to start them young and to instil in them the value of giving back,” she explained.
“They know that I spend a lot of time outside work to do my community service. By bringing them in, that is also how I try to spend more time with them.”
If you want to find out more about CLS, visit their website or Facebook page.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
All images by MS News. Photography by Emilyn Cheng.
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