ST Nov 25, 2004

Chilling e-mail by teen who fell to death
Worried by falling grades and parents' rows, she poured her heart out to unknown teacher
By Chong Chee Kin

PLAGUED by troubles in school and at home, a 16-year-old poured her heart out in an e-mail to a teacher, whom she addressed only as 'Mrs Tay'.

The teen was worried about sliding grades eroding her status at school and was troubled by her parents' frequent quarrels.

She also felt her nine-year-old brother was being favoured over her.

On Oct 6 last year, she fell to her death from Block 209, Toa Payoh North, after sneaking out of school during recess.

The previous month, she had been sent to see a counsellor, who did not detect any suicidal tendencies.

She had been sent by her form teacher, who was concerned after the teen asked if any student from her school had ever 'committed suicide after receiving examination results'.

Yesterday, at the start of the inquest into her death, the court ordered the media not to publish any information that would lead to the girl's identification.

Her family was not present at the inquiry when the court was shown a copy of the e-mail sent to Mrs Tay.

The copy was retrieved from her computer system after her death.

It was not mentioned yesterday when the e-mail was sent and the mysterious teacher has also not been tracked down.

Questioned by State Coroner Malcolm Tan, police staff sergeant Sivakumar Packrisamy said the police had been unable to find out who Mrs Tay was.

About her parents' bickering, the girl had written: 'They quarrel, not because they don't love each other, but because they love to quarrel.

'So what if I have a perfect roof over my head? It's shattered inwardly.'

She also wrote about her unhappiness that her father favoured her younger brother, giving him money to buy 'unnecessary things'.

'Even my brother suggests I die early,' she complained.

In school, she was bothered that she was not 'as popular' as before because of her academic performance.

She wrote of what she had read about how war and the Sars virus caused many to die.

'Is God waiting for us to die?' ran her chilling words.

'All of us will die one day... If we are a pest to others, we should die.'

The hearing has been adjourned until Jan 7 next year.

Call for help

Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444 or e-mail pat@samaritans.org.sg
Family Service Centre: 1800-838-0100
Care Corner Mandarin Counselling Centre: 1800-353-5800
Sage helpline: 1800-353-8633
Touchline (Touch Youth Service): 1800-377-2252


How sad......e parents dun even know y their kid committ suicide.....how many times have a parent really tot abt wat their kid 1 & wat they r doing 2 e kid????

I was on my way 2 work tis morn on e mrt, & tis granny was talking so loudly....she was letting every1 know how naughty her grandchild was & tt she 1ed her 2 change tt's y she's scolding her in public.....e little girl (at most 7 yrs old) was visibly unhappy abt being talked abt in public.....e granny was gg on & on abt how she 1s e gd 4 e child & tt if she's naughty she's gg 2 send her 2 a home then she'll realise how fortunate she was.....granny went on & on abt how she was trying very hard 2 talk sense into e little girl but in my opinion she was not talking much sense!!!!

i cannot judge e granny on whether her method o parenting is rite or wrong cos i'm not a parent i can never understd how taxing & stressful it is 2 bring up a child.....however, i tink e most basic thing tt any parent shld 've is 2 respect e child.....e child has pride 2......

is such verbal threat (sending e child 2 a home if she's naughty; another threat she made was tt when granny die, she's gg 2 tell god tt e child was naughty & let god punish e little girl) child abuse???? does it not have n impact on e child's emotional well-being????

i kind o feel sad 4 e little girl but i dunno e whole story behind how naughty e child has been.....thus i can only say, parents pls treat ur child as an indv, not as ur property.......