Selina Lum<\/strong> A woman saw her boyfriend of nearly four years browsing his phone on the bed when she returned home from work and became aggrieved over his failure to contribute to the rent.<\/p>\n In the ensuing argument, Li Ye, a Chinese national, grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter and stabbed 56-year-old Lim Lai Guan once in the chest<\/a>.<\/p>\n On July 24, Li, 40, was sentenced to 12 years\u2019 jail<\/a> after she pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder\u00a0for killing Lim at a Citygate Residences condominium unit in Beach Road<\/a>.<\/p>\n Li was a performance artiste manager at a nightclub that Lim frequented. After they met in September 2019, he told her he was divorcing his wife.<\/p>\n They began a romantic relationship in July 2020 and lived together.<\/p>\n In June 2021, she and her son from a previous marriage, together with Lim, moved into the condo unit.<\/p>\n She was no longer working at the nightclub by then, and Lim resigned from his job as a manager at a medical instruments company in late 2021.<\/p>\n But he assured her that he could continue paying the $3,200 rent, as well as the expenses for her and her son, from his forex trading earnings. In January 2022, Li arranged for her daughter, who was in China, to live with them.<\/p>\n When Li wanted to open a shop selling gowns to performance artistes, Lim invested $30,000 and paid the $2,000 rent.<\/p>\n However, he suffered losses from forex trading, as well as the gown business, and began borrowing money from friends.<\/p>\n When Li resumed working at the nightclub to earn some money, Lim became unhappy. He repeatedly visited her at work to create a scene, and this led to many arguments between the couple that sometimes turned physical.<\/p>\n Li started paying half the rent, which had increased to $3,900, as well as her children\u2019s expenses, and from December 2023, she began paying the rent in full.<\/p>\n Over the next few months, Li was upset with him for not contributing to the rent and wanted to break up with him. He also sent her insulting messages when she did not reply to his text messages.<\/p>\n In the early hours of May 5, 2024, she picked up a pair of scissors during an argument and hit him in the chest with the sharp end.<\/p>\n He continued living at the unit, although the couple were not on speaking terms.<\/p>\n At about 1.20am on May 8, 2024, when she got home, she found Lim on their loft bed looking at his phone.<\/p>\n Upon seeing him, Li thought about his repeated failures to contribute to the rent as well as his past insulting messages to her.<\/p>\n Upset, she grabbed him by the shoulders and demanded that he leave. He walked to the kitchen, insisting that he had a right to stay as he was the legal tenant. When she pointed the knife at him, he told her to calm down, but she stabbed him.<\/p>\n After he collapsed, Li shouted to her daughter to call for an ambulance while attempting to help Lim. Lim was pronounced dead at Tan Tock Seng Hospital at 2.30am. Li was arrested at the unit later that day at about 4.50am.<\/p>\n An autopsy found that the stab wound penetrated the aorta.<\/p>\n Deputy Public Prosecutor Grace Chua sought 12 to 13 years\u2019 jail, saying that this was a case of domestic violence<\/a> against Li\u2019s romantic partner of close to four years, with whom she had lived.<\/p>\n \u201cNotwithstanding the deceased\u2019s financial irresponsibility or his previous hurtful conduct towards the accused, the accused\u2019s act of stabbing the deceased to address her grievances was clearly disproportionate and completely unjustifiable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She added that Li initiated and escalated the confrontation, while the unarmed victim tried to move away from her.<\/p>\n Defence counsel Rayner Gooi said his client instructed him not to challenge the prosecution\u2019s sentencing submission as she did not want to be seen as unrepentant. He noted that she was quick to render aid, did not hide evidence and stayed at the scene until the police took her into custody.<\/p>\n The lawyer also submitted a letter to the court in which the woman apologised to the victim\u2019s family and said she would not be able to watch her children grow up.<\/p>\n Have something to say? Join in!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Explore more on these topics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n See something interesting? Contribute<\/a> your story to us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Straits Times<\/strong>
July 26, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n
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