Man on the run for 10 years haunted by guilt over flatmate's death
HE was jailed yesterday for killing his flatmate, but Malaysian Chan Soi Peng was a relieved man.
For more than 10 years he was on the run, he was haunted by the memory of Mr Tiew Yit Heng, a freelance plasterer, lying in a pool of blood.
Chan, then 31, had stabbed Mr Tiew, 24, with a fruit knife and left him to bleed to death in their flat. He then fled.
His 71-year-old mother and five siblings lived in constant fear that the law might catch up with the bachelor.
Finally, he decided to turn himself in to the Malaysian police on 11 Jan this year. He was extradited to Singapore on 16 Jan and charged with murder two days later.
Yesterday, Chan pleaded guilty to one charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Justice Woo Bih Li jailed him for three years and nine months.
Chan's eldest sister, Madam Chan Yuet Hua, 46, who works in Malaysia, was in court yesterday.
The secretary told The New Paper in Mandarin: 'Since he surrendered, the heavy load on his mind has been lifted. He may be going to jail but he seems so relieved now.
'We're all happy that we can finally get some closure on this issue now. I told him to behave himself in jail and to reflect on his mistake.'
The court heard that Chan had come to Singapore to work as a tile layer to earn more money so that he could marry his girlfriend in Malaysia.
He rented a three-bedroom flat at Block 78, Yong Siak Street with 19 other Malaysians, including Mr Tiew.
But on 20 Dec, 1996 - just a week after arriving here - he ended up killing Mr Tiew.
At about 8.50pm, he, Mr Tiew, and other flatmates were in the living room watching television. Mr Tiew, who was holding a bottle of liniment and reeking of alcohol, walked towards Chan and pushed his head twice.
Court documents stated that Chan moved to the side to avoid Mr Tiew, who then said that he was 'stuck up' and 'arrogant'.
Then, when Chan was leaving the flat for dinner, Mr Tiew struck him in the face with the bottle of liniment.
A fight then broke out which ended in Chan stabbing Mr Tiew in another room. Chan took the knife and left, never to return.
Another flatmate, who saw Mr Tiew lying on a blood-soaked mattress, called the police. But by then Mr Tiew was dead.
Court documents did not state what the other flatmates were doing at the time when the fight broke out.
That night, Chan left for Kuala Lumpur, but did not go to his family home there. He later found a job as a tile layer and kept in touch with his family occasionally.
He also approached another sister, Madam Chan Yuet Ngoh, in Malaysia for help. She consulted a Singapore lawyer, who said that if he was convicted of murder, Chan would be sentenced to death.
Chan's lawyer, Mr Francis Ow, said in his mitigation that Chan was a victim of Mr Tiew's violence and that he had retaliated after being provoked. Given the circumstances that led to the crime, he could not 'reconcile himself with a death sentence'.
That was why he did not turn himself in.
The younger Madam Chan then sought the advice of another Singapore lawyer in December last year.
The lawyer told her that there was a possibility of a conviction under culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Seeing a glimmer of hope, she persuaded him to surrender.
The charge was later reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine.
source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...43993,00.html? 
Jailed 3 years, but he is relieved 
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