A MUM'S ORDEAL *Son and girlfriend, wanted by police, vanish
*Fugitive son calls 5 months later, saying he's in Johor Bahru
*He announces that girlfriend is 7 months pregnant
MISERY was not knowing what had happened to her son for five months.
Mrs Goh is taking care of her grandson while her son and his girlfriend are in jail.
Was he dead or ill in a hospital? Had he been kidnapped?
Then last November - relief - her runaway son called.
Only to drop a bombshell: His girlfriend was seven months pregnant with their baby.
Glen Goh Han Loong, then 20, refused to return home from Malaysia despite his mother's pleas.
He and his girlfriend, Kam Oi Ling, then 21, had fled Singapore while on police bail for drug offences in May last year.
After more than a year, the pair showed up in court last Thursday.
They were sentenced to seven months' jail each for drug offences.
Goh's mother, 40, a businesswoman, described her ordeal when Goh and Kam went missing.
She said: 'I was so worried about their safety. I even wondered if they had been kidnapped while on the run.'
She said she had sleepless nights and lost her appetite.
'There was no indication that they were missing. They didn't take many belongings with them,' she said.
'It was only when I found their passports gone the next day that I suspected they had run away.'
Calls to Goh's handphone were futile as it had been turned off.
The anxious parents then tried calling his close friends, but got no news.
Still, they hoped the young couple would return after a few days.
When they did not, the Gohs had to report Goh and Kam missing. They were required to go to the police station two weeks after their arrest.
FAITH KEPT HER GOING
Mrs Goh said: 'I was Glen's bailor so I had to tell the police they ran away.
'But I didn't tell the rest of my family until a few months later when they kept asking where Glen was.'
For the next five months, the Gohs were 'miserable' as they had 'no news' of the young couple.
But Mrs Goh, a devout Buddhist, said faith kept her going.
Finally, her son called.
Mrs Goh said: 'I cried when I heard his voice. I was happy that, at least, they were safe.
'But I was shocked when I heard about the baby.
'They were already in great trouble, and they were going to have this child with no proper place to stay.'
She and her businessman husband, 43, tried to persuade the young couple to return to Singapore.
She said: 'I told them they have to face up to what they've done. They can't escape forever.
'We told them not to worry, we will forgive them.'
But she said her son insisted he did not want to go anywhere till after the baby was born.
Mrs Goh said: 'They didn't know about the baby when they left.
'They just didn't want to face the music (the drug offence charges).'
When Goh and Kam returned, Goh's parents finally found out what happened.
The couple had fled to Kuala Lumpur, where they stayed with different friends, moving on every few days so as not to trouble anyone.
Mrs Goh said: 'They told us they were afraid they would be traced by the police, that's why they never called.'
They were desperate. Goh had found a part-time delivery job, but it did not pay much.
Mrs Goh said the couple 'suffered a lot' while on the run.
She said: 'They didn't have money so they depended on bread for food.
'Oi Ling told me she ate every single variety of instant noodles on the shop shelves in those few months.'
But it took the couple a few more months after their baby's birth to find the courage to surrender.
Mrs Goh said: 'Glen loves his son very much. He decided to surrender because he wanted to give his son a proper place to live.'
But because the baby had no valid passport, mother and son ended up in a Malaysian detention centre on 14 May.
VIRAL INFECTION
Goh was released on a 'special pass'.
Mrs Goh said: 'We were very worried about our grandson. We tried all means to get him out of the detention centre.'
Seven days later, the baby was released and taken by Mrs Goh to the KK Women's and Children's Hospital to be treated for a viral infection. He stayed for 10 days.
Kam was released three days later.
Mrs Goh said: 'We've accepted Oi Ling and treat her like our own daughter. We don't mind her past as long as she and Glen are happy.
'If we don't help them, we'll be pushing them away from us.'
Kam, who met Goh when she was working as a hairstylist, was estranged from her family.
She is married with a daughter.
She gave up custody of her daughter to her in-laws after her husband was jailed, court papers said.
The Gohs engaged lawyer Anthony Lim, to handle her drug offence case and settle her divorce proceedings.
She and Goh plan to marry once the divorce is finalised.
The baby received his citizenship on 6 Jun after a DNA test showed that Goh and Kam are his parents.
The 'healthy and cheerful' baby is being looked after by a maid.
Mrs Goh said she and her husband also help to look after him as they have 'flexible hours'.
She has no regrets giving her son and his girlfriend another chance.
She said her son was doing well in the Express Stream until he fell in with 'gangster friends' in Secondary Two.
He got tattoos and was asked by the school to remove them surgically.
He refused and stopped school instead, according to court papers.
Mrs Goh said: 'The more parents nag, the faster the children will run. Now we know to treat them as friends so they'll open up to us.
NEVER GAVE UP
'Glen is a very different person now. He thinks of his son and Oi Ling and his parents.'
She said proudly that he has stood firm and refused to meet his old friends while out on bail.
Mrs Goh said: 'We never gave up on them. They paid a very high price, but we're glad they've learnt their lesson.
'When they come out, Glen wants to set up his own pet shop and Oi Ling wants to upgrade her skills by taking beautician classes.'
taken:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...40940,00.html? 
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