Details here:
SINGAPORE : A compassionate family man who loved helping the
elderly, but a man who had a weakness for gambling - this was the
picture painted by pastors of 40-year-old Simon Lee, who jumped to
his death from a flat at Tampines.
The church also revealed that he had gone to a casino at Genting
Highlands with his family last December, where he chalked up a
"substantial" gambling debt.
Relatives of Simon Lee, his wife Jeslyn Wee, and their children
Jonathan, 11, and Sheena, 4, lost not one but four loved ones
overnight.
It was one heartbreaking scene after another as they took turns to
identify the bodies at the mortuary on Tuesday morning.
Simon Lee, who worked as a complaints investigation officer with
Comfort Delgro, was found dead at the foot of Tampines block 470 on
Monday.
Hours later, police found his wife and their two children dead in
the flat.
Teachers and classmates of Jonathan Lee were shocked to hear the
news.
His classmate Loh Jianghan said, "He's a very loyal friend and he's
very cheerful. He's always positive and never thinks negatively.
Most of all he's very hardworking and willing to learn to
improve."
Godwin Tan, Johnathan's best friend, said, "The last time I spoke
to Jonathan was last Friday. I asked him why he was so upset but he
ignored my question and just left. Many, many cried over the loss
of such a good friend."
It is a difficult time especially for the Primary 6A class of Yumin
Primary, who are still trying to come to terms with the sudden
death.
Jonathan, who turned 11 on 29 December, was described as a
well-loved person and an outstanding student who was in the top 15
percent of his cohort.
But the question on their minds was why did such a thing
happen?
Pastors at Faith Community Baptist Church gave some clues when they
shared with the media that Simon first came to church 10 years ago
with a gambling debt of S$100,000 and a failing marriage
But with counselling, he cleared his debt in three years and saved
his marriage.
He became an active church member who always helped the
elderly.
Said Reverend Lawrence Khong, senior pastor at Faith Community
Baptist Church, "We thought everything is fine until just end of
January. We discovered that he went on a vacation with his family
to Genting resort and quietly one night, to gamble and he lost what
to him was a substantial amount of money that he could not pay
up.
"As a result of that he got into a loan with loansharks, and when
he spoke to us in January, he told us that he owes about S$10,000.
And we came up with the money to help him, so that at least he
could get over this loanshark thing so that we can counsel
him."
But they never got a chance.
The family was last seen by other church members on Sunday at a
wedding. - CNA
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