Sep 7, 2007
A grandmother's
anguish
2001: Younger grandson dies in road accident
2007: The other grandson charged with arms theft
Paternal grandma also suffering from inoperable liver
cancer
By David Boey & Jermyn Chow
BAD NEWS FOR FAMILY: Madam Tan, looking at a
news clipping on Zong Yi and a recent report on Teo, said: 'You
cannot understand how painful it is for me to lose one grandson,
and now to see another grandson in the news.' -- ST PHOTO: AZIZ
HUSSIN
TWO of her grandsons have grabbed newspaper headlines - and Madam
Tan Ah Hoon, 69, wishes they never did.
In March 2001, she lost her grandson Teo Zong Yi in a road
accident. Then 12, the boy whom newspaper reports said had a bright
future was hit by a lorry.
This week, she has had to read about another grandson, Dave Teo
Ming, 20, the army corporal who has been accused of stealing a
weapon.
Teo and Zong Yi were brothers, with Teo older by two years.
Speaking in Hokkien, the paternal grandmother said of the brothers
she raised after their parents' divorce 11 years ago: 'You cannot
understand how painful it is for me to lose one grandson, and now
to see another grandson in the news.'
Recently diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer, she still keeps a
file of newspaper clippings on the younger boy.
Zong Yi, who died several days after he was knocked down near the
Bedok bus interchange, was described in those news clippings as a
'star pupil' with 'leadership qualities beyond his years'.
From what she and other relatives said, Teo was rather different
from his brother, even at age 14. His grades were mediocre, and the
disciplinary problems he gave his teachers got him expelled from
school.
The Normal (Technical) stream student had a fun-filled childhood
with his younger brother, but became withdrawn after Zong Yi's
death.
While waiting to enlist for national service in September 2005, Teo
helped out at his uncle's food stall in Bedok.
Speaking to The Straits Times, the family recalled the shock they
felt when policemen showed up at their Bedok flat looking for him
on Monday morning.
They agreed to speak to this newspaper in the presence of their
lawyer, Mr Abdul Aziz Yatim, a 59-year-old family friend from their
kampung days 30years ago.
Besides Madam Tan and her husband, three other relatives live in
the five-room flat.
Try as she might on Monday, the anxious granny could not reach Teo
on his cellphone.
'I really wanted to see him or at least speak to him. I was so
upset that I couldn't eat or sleep... I was very worried for him
and just wanted him to be safe and well.'
She said her concern for his well-being was mirrored by his looking
out for her. 'He would always buy back food for me even with the
little money he had.'
She added that she was both grandmother and mother to Teo and his
brother since their parents split up.
Teo has no contact with his mother; his odd-job labourer father is
doing time in jail.
The full-time national serviceman, with a month to go to his
completing his NS training, was arrested at Orchard Cineleisure
later on Monday and charged in court two days later under the Arms
Offences Act.
He had gone absent without official leave from his Mandai Hill
Camp, allegedly with an SAR-21 assault rifle and some live
rounds.
The penalty for carrying firearms is jail of between five and 14
years, and caning.
The clan - his grandparents, uncles and cousins - showed up in
court on Wednesday to see him being charged. As they left the
courthouse afterwards, they got into a scuffle with press
photographers.
Yesterday, the family said they were sorry for that.
Teo's cousin, Mr Edmund Tan, said: 'Please understand we've been
under tremendous stress since Dave went missing and my granny isn't
feeling well.'
Teo's case will go before the court next Wednesday.
His grandmother has pledged to attend every hearing - no matter how
long the trial stretches.
'I don't care about the rumours or what other people say about him.
But I know best what kind of person he is.'
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
