Singaporeans have seen their fair share of tragedies. Even so, some of these incidents still shock the public to an excessive degree due to the nature of the violence involved.
Last December, the case of a Singaporean man murdering his wife in a Newcastle hotel made the headlines — local authorities charged him with murder after his arrest. The man has since pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
As the trial for the case is ongoing in the UK courts, the eldest son of the couple has broken his silence on the tragedy, describing his father as caring and soft-hearted.
In March, 50-year-old Fong Soong Hert pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his wife, Mdm Pek Ying Ling, last December.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reports that on Tuesday (2 Aug), Fong’s eldest son Alonso Fong took the stand during the ongoing trial.
During his testimony, the prosecution made him recount the texts he sent on the morning of his mother’s demise.
On the day of the incident, Alonso sent his girlfriend a text after 7am saying, “My dad just called me and told me he accidentally killed my mum.”
He then arrived at the County Aparthotel in Newcastle, sending the following message to his girlfriend:
I’m so confused – he told me they fought and he covered her mouth and now she’s unconscious. Don’t tell anyone I still don’t know what happened.
During a police interview, Alonso also stated that his parents “showed each other love every day.” He furthermore described his father as a “very caring and soft-hearted guy.”
The testimony apparently made the older Fong emotional, as CNA reported that he wiped his tears with a tissue behind a screen.
Prior to the tragedy, Mr Fong reportedly suffered some health issues of his own.
According to CNA, the 50-year-old was in a hospital just days before the incident, having fallen off a 15-metre ledge on the Isle of Skye.
Source: Google
When questioned, he told the hotel staff that he tripped over a pipe in the dark while attempting to snap a picture of the harbour.
Peter Makepeace QC, who was representing the prosecution, said that Fong was in a lot of pain and was transported to MacKinnon Memorial Hospital where he received pain medication.
After reaching Inverness and Newcastle, Fong experienced several more falls, two of which caused Mdm Pek to suffer injuries to her arms.
His third collapse caused Fong to be taken to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary. Fong then arrived at the hotel in Newcastle in the early morning of 6 Dec with Mdm Pek. According to CCTV footage, they entered their room at 12.17am.
Emergency services arrived at the hotel the next morning and found Pek in the room with a blood-stained pillow over her face. Medical staff pronounced her dead at 7.32am.
The trial for the case is currently ongoing.
It feels almost too heartbreaking to consider the fallout for the family of those involved in this tragedy.
During this tough period for the couple’s children, we can do our part by respecting the family and refraining from speculating on the case.
As the trial continues to unfold, hopefully, they will receive some form of closure for the tragedy they had to go through.
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Featured image adapted from Northumbria Police on Facebook and Google Hotels.
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