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Lorry driver pleads guilty to attempted murder of estranged daughter at Marsiling bus stop

SINGAPORE — Upset with his oldest child for purportedly selling his home and not providing him with living expenses, Shoo Ah San came over to Singapore from Malaysia with the sole intention of killing her.

  • Shoo Ah San’s relationship with his children was strained
  • He thought they were unfilial and plotted to kill his oldest child, thinking she was behind the sale of his home
  • He waited for her at her home in Marsiling here, then stabbed her several times
  • He pleaded guilty in the High Court to attempted murder, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment

 

SINGAPORE — Upset with his oldest child for purportedly selling his home and not providing him with living expenses, Shoo Ah San came over to Singapore from Malaysia with the sole intention of killing her.

He stabbed Ms Shoo Suet Lian several times at a bus stop in Marsiling where she lived, then went around the country for the next five days in search of his son.

Police officers finally arrested him at a coffee shop near his son’s workplace. They seized the knife and notes alleging a lack of filial piety on his children’s part, which he wanted to carry with him in his planned suicide.

Shoo, a 65-year-old Malaysian, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Nov 2) in the High Court to the attempted murder of his daughter, 42. Justice Aedit Abdullah adjourned sentencing to Friday.

The prosecution is seeking 16 to 18 years of imprisonment, while his lawyer sought 10 years’ jail instead.

Shoo worked as a lorry driver in Johor Baru, Malaysia, having previously worked in Singapore as a bus driver and container truck driver.

The court heard that his relationship with his daughter and two sons was distant. It was further strained over the disputed ownership of a house in Johor Baru.

He initially leased their family house to tenants before it was purchased in Ms Shoo’s name in 2000, because he was an undischarged bankrupt at the time and his older son was not yet 21. Shoo's wife had died from illness in 1992.

His son gave him an initial sum of money to buy the home and the son serviced the monthly repayment of the mortgage.

However, Shoo claimed to have paid for the house and that it was registered in his daughter’s name only because he was not allowed to own a second property in Malaysia. He moved out in 2007 to work in Malacca but returned from time to time.

In 2016, his son changed the house locks to keep him away because he had previously caused disruptions, such as by removing an ancestral tablet.

Displeased with this, Shoo broke into the house in early 2019, writing on the walls and mirrors in red paint that his daughter was unfilial. He also wrote about wanting to kill his children, and did not turn up when his son arranged to meet for a discussion about the house.

In March that year, his children decided to refurbish and sell the house to avoid any trouble from their father.

Shoo grew upset when he saw the refurbished house, accusing his daughter of being the mastermind behind the sale and for making him homeless. He also begrudged her for not providing him with living expenses.

He planned at first to kill her between June and August 2019, but put it off due to his low earnings at the time. He had also planned to kill himself by jumping off a block of flats in Singapore where Ms Shoo lived.

‘YOU ALL HARM ME’

On Jan 16 last year, Shoo’s girlfriend asked him to move out from her house. He then decided to go to Singapore to kill his daughter.

The next morning, he crossed Woodlands Checkpoint on his motorcycle and went to her home along Marsiling Lane. Not knowing which was her unit, he rode around and waited for her to leave for work at about 5am.

When he saw her walking alone towards a bus stop, he ran towards her and said in Cantonese, “You all harm me very miserably”, and stabbed her in the shoulder, upper chest, shoulder blade and back.

He had tried to stab her in the neck first, knowing it was a vital point, but she managed to block him. He then fled towards his motorcycle while Ms Shoo shouted for help.

A passer-by tried to help her and called for an ambulance, but when Shoo saw his daughter sitting at the grass verge, he got off his motorcycle and rushed towards them while exclaiming in Cantonese: “You have not die? Then I will die.”

He stabbed his daughter a second time while the passer-by shouted: “Uncle! Don’t!”

He stopped only when he saw blood flowing from Ms Shoo’s mouth. He then fled, riding to the Kaki Bukit area where he knew his son worked as a mechanic in a workshop.

He was unsuccessful in finding the younger man until five days later, when his son’s ex-colleagues gave him the address of his son’s current workplace. However, police officers arrested him before he could meet his son.

An Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist, who examined him after his arrest, found that he had no mental illness.

Ms Shoo sustained 17 stab wounds and was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery. She had to go through physiotherapy until June this year and does not have issues with her daily activities.

The court heard that she is now wary of waiting at the same bus stop where the attack occurred, and stands instead of sitting down at bus stops so that she can run away at any sign of trouble.

Those convicted of attempted murder can be jailed for up to life and caned. They can also be jailed for up to 20 years, as well as fined or caned or both.

Shoo cannot be caned because offenders aged 50 or above are exempt from caning under Singapore law.

Related topics

court crime attempted murder Malaysia family Property

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