SINGAPORE: An illegal moneylender who fatally stabbed a debtor in a dispute in 1990 fled Singapore for Malaysia and was only deported more than three decades later.
Ng Kwang Keng, originally charged with murder, was 45 at the time of the offence.
Now 80, he pleaded guilty in Singapore’s State Courts to a downgraded charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a weapon on Tuesday (Nov 11).
Ng was an illegal moneylender known as Tai Kong at the time of the incident, while the victim, Mr Lim Kim Leng, 27, had owed Ng about S$22,000 (US$16,900).
On Nov 6, 1990, Ng picked up two men in a car and informed them he was collecting some debts. He then headed to the block where Mr Lim lived.
At around 4.45pm, Mr Lim received a call at his home and later went to the void deck of his block, where he met Ng and a man known as “Pui Kia”, who accompanied Ng.
Ng and Mr Lim then began arguing. Mr Lim’s nephew, who stayed with him, heard shouts coming from the ground floor.
During an ensuing scuffle, Ng punched Mr Lim, who then chased Ng upstairs to a staircase landing between the first and second floors of the block.
Ng, who was holding a knife, then lunged forward and thrust the knife into Mr Lim’s upper thigh. Mr Lim grabbed the blade with both hands, and the pair struggled to take control of the weapon.
Ng fled with the knife shortly after, driving away in his car with the two men he had picked up. The weapon was not recovered.
Mr Lim, who was bleeding profusely, was later found by his brother at a lift lobby trying to press the lift button. His brother brought him to the fourth floor, where Mr Lim collapsed and said that “Tai Kong” had assaulted him.
His condition deteriorated and he was unable to talk subsequently, losing consciousness before an ambulance arrived.
After 5.21pm, Mr Lim was admitted to Alexandra Hospital in a coma and with multiple stab wounds to the backs of his legs and right hand. He was resuscitated and admitted to the intensive care unit. While there, he identified Ng as the person who had stabbed him.
A medical report issued shortly after the incident stated that the wound on the right thigh had cut Mr Lim’s right anterior tibial artery and deep
peroneal nerve. A month after his assault, Mr Lim developed renal failure and was transferred to Singapore General Hospital on Dec 3, 1990.
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