|
 ©Bernama (Used by permission)
KULAI JAYA, Sept 24 (Bernama) - "Jie jie (sister), don't worry and go in
peace. May you be happy and have no sorrows in the afterworld. We will still be
best friends."
Those were the grieving words uttered in between sobs by Lee Sher Lin and Chin
Hui Ni, both 16, in the eulogy during the funeral service for their best friend
Lai Ying Xin, 16, who was kidnapped on Sept 11, and later murdered.
Both girls could not stop crying as they continued with the eulogy in Mandarin,
telling Ying Xin to be strong and promised to take good care of her mother Chia
Siew Phen, 45, and her niece.
Their action triggered an emotional outbreak as about 200 family members,
friends and teachers who came to pay their last respects also started crying
during the funeral service held at Hainan Association funeral parlour here
Wednesday morning.
The atmosphere was so sombre that even some of the 17 strong-hearted members of
the Kulai Brass Band, who were used to playing at funeral services, were
overcome by emotion and tears as they were playing their instruments.
As if nature itself was overcome by the gloom surrounding the ill-fated remains
of Ying Xin, it started raining since the crack of dawn and only eased at about
9.45 am to create a more comfortable environment for the funeral service to
proceed.
"It was really a shock for us as we have always kept in touch with each other.
We are very sad with her departure," said Phang Hai Dong, who was Ying Xin's
Chinese traditional Yoyo (Che Ling) instructor.
Phang, who regarded Ying Xin as a brilliant girl who always outshined her
friends, said she had always made it a point to come to the Chinese Yoyo
Association at Minyi Sports Centre to teach the young children, the art of
playing yoyo.
"Whenever she had free time, she would come to the association and teach
12-year-old children to play yoyo," he said.
Ying Xin's friends from Sekolah Menengah Sultan Ibrahim of Kulai were seen
hugging and consoling each other after paying their last respects.
As for Ying Xin's mother, she appeared calm throughout the proceedings, thanking
guests for attending her daughter's funeral service.
However when the casket left the parlour, she could not hold back her tears
which had started to roll down her cheeks once more, showing her undying
motherly love to her daughter.
The procession left the parlour at about 10.45am for the Perpetual Memorial Park
located about 8km and remains were cremated at about 11.30am.
Prior to her gruesome murder, Ying Xin, a Form Four student of Sekolah Menengah
Kebangsaan Sultan Ibrahim, Kulai, was believed to have been kidnapped outside a
hypermarket where she worked as a part-time sales girl, for ransom.
However, despite the family paying a ransom of RM33,000, she was murdered and
her partially-burnt body was found dumped in some bushes in Taman Putri.
Police subsequently detained four men aged between 16 and 22 to help facilitate
investigations.
 |
News 
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Circular No 304/2008
Who are the suspects, and what are the results of the Police Investigations?
Tan Peek Guat