THE teenager who dealt a fatal kick to his taekwondo opponent
last week showed up at the wake on Sunday night to pay his
respects.
Accompanied by his parents and sister, the 15-year-old
approached the mother of the late Vincent Tan mother, sombre, to
offer his apology.
Vincent, 17, died last Thursday, four days after the kick to his
neck ruptured a key blood vessel to his brain.
The teen, dressed in black, kept his head bowed as Vincent's
grieving mother burst into tears and screamed at him in Malay.
'Why did you hit so hard? You should have been more careful!'
cried Madam Nur Julia, 51.
The stout lad took the brunt of this stoically, his head bowed,
and nodding occasionally.
It was only when he was taken aside to a table that the dam
broke. He turned to his taekwondo instructor and wept.
His mother, who stood beside him as he faced Madam Nur Julia
also cried.
The teen's father, aged 55, said his son was traumatised by the
incident and had not eaten or slept well for a week, and that he
would bar him from taekwondo for the time being.
Vincent, a first-year polytechnic student, will be cremated on
Monday.
--ST
