Teen told to skip camp so he could get family support

SINGAPORE — The principal of Benjamin Lim’s school and the counsellor who spoke to him and his mother told the court yesterday that they decided to suggest to his family that the teen skip the school camp, so that they may support him “during this critical period”.

It might have been inconvenient as well if he had to leave camp midway to assist in ongoing police investigations, they reasoned.

The adventure camp would be physically and mentally challenging with height elements involved, and Benjamin might also not be ready for these activities during this sensitive time.

However, this was merely their recommendation and the school did not decide that he should stay away from the camp, the principal said, adding that they left it to the family to decide.

Benjamin’s mother accepted the school’s suggestion and the conversation was recorded in an email sent by the counsellor to the school officials, the court heard.

These details emerged during a Coroner’s Inquiry yesterday, as North View Secondary School principal Chen Fook Pang testified before a packed gallery. Mr Chen said: “In consideration of what he had gone through that day, it was our perspective that he should be with his parents, and his parents should care for him… Family bonding during this time is key.”

The 14-year-old had reportedly been “looking forward” to the three-day camp scheduled to start on Jan 27 — the day after he was arrested for allegedly molesting an 11-year-old girl. The camp was to be held at the Ministry of Education Labrador Adventure Campsite.

On the day that Benjamin was taken away by the police for questioning, counsellor Karry Lung met Benjamin’s mother, 48, and sister, 19, in school. They had asked for more details on the investigations, but Madam Lung, knowing that these were confidential, changed the topic to talk about the camp instead.

“I stated that the camp was quite challenging and Benjamin might not be in a good state of mind to join the camp,” she said in her conditioned statement.

His mother immediately said that Benjamin would not go for the camp, but Madam Lung informed her that the school had not discussed the matter at that point, and there was no need to make a decision then.

Madam Lung told Mr Chen what happened at a meeting later with two teachers, and she was tasked to “suggest” to Benjamin’s mother that it might be better for him to skip the camp.

Sometime after 4pm, she called Benjamin’s mother.

After checking that he was “doing okay”, Madam Lung told her that he might be experiencing some stress from the police investigations, and urged her to pay close attention.

“I told her that the school felt that it would be good for (the) family to keep him company as he might or might not be able to handle going to camp. I pointed out that the camp would not be that comfortable… so it was better for his family to take care of him,” she recalled, adding that the mother replied, “Okay”.

In an earlier interview with TODAY, Benjamin’s father had claimed that the counsellor “merely informed (my wife) that the school had a meeting, and Benjamin will be excluded from the camp”.

In his conditioned statement, Mr Chen said that he had made three requests to the police when the officers arrived at the school: To speak first with Benjamin without police presence in his office, to have one officer interview him instead of all five, and for school staff members to sit in during the initial interview in the office. They complied with all his requests.