The couple divorced when Valerie was 10, and the girl stayed with her father.

Mr Lim said with a tinge of regret: "From then on, our family was incomplete. I think Xin Yi always resented that."

I think she thought she and I would have more time together after the divorce, but I needed to work.No work, no money, right?"

He added that he was either "too tired" to talk to Valerie when he got home from work, or she would be out with her friends.

Mr Lim said she grew up headstrong and fiercely independent.

When she was 19, she wanted to get a bike licence, which both her parents did not approve of.

Still, Valerie went ahead, but Mr Lim made it clear that he was against her buying a motorbike.

"I thought riding a motorbike was too dangerous,"he said.

He recalled that he used to ride one in his younger days, but stopped after he got into accidents and was injured.

As a gas deliveryman, he added, he has also seen a number of fatal accidents involving motorcyclists.

"There's usually no hope for these victims," he said.

And perhaps knowing that her father would be upset, Valerie bought her bike without telling him.

She bought the second-hand bike last August with her savings - Mr Lim gave her a daily allowance of $18 - and from her pay as a part-time waitress.

Mr Lim said he found out about the motorcycle in December when a speeding and parking summons for Valerie came in the mail.

"I told her I was very unhappy with her making the decision to buy a bike without my approval," he said.

After some persuasion, he said Valerie reluctantly agreed to take up driving lessons and promised to stop riding a bike once she had saved enough to buy a car.

She was supposed to start the driving lessons this month.

Despite the speeding ticket, Mr Lim said Valerie had assured him that she was a safe rider.

Scared

Her aunt, Madam Wendy Lim, also remembered what Valerie had told her about this.

"Xin Yi would get scared every time she approached bends. She said she would slow down, so I don't understand how she could have skidded," said Madam Lim, 45, a part-time sales assistant, said.

She said she was looking forward to seeing her niece - whom she described as a "very talented artist" - during Chinese New Year.

Valerie's lecturer at the polytechnic, Ms Lydia Wong, also praised her artistic flair.

"Valerie was a hardworking student who was passionate about art and design. She had even been selected to teach art to secondary school students in an internship programme," said Ms Wong.

"She was a bright spark with a great sense of humour, and who was well-liked by her peers.

"I'm still getting over the fact that she's not going to be in class any more."

Mr Lim recalled that the final conversation he shared with Valerie that fateful night was"the happiest" one they had in years.

"Xin Yi finally opened up to me about her future plans," he said in between sobs.

"She wanted to be a teacher after finishing her polytechnic course. I was so happy. Then this (the accident) happened."

After the accident, Mr Lim said he cleared out her room and told her friends to take back the things they gave her.

But he kept a picture of her as a child, and another of her taken at her primary school graduation.

When we asked to see the pictures, he declined.

"What's the point? She's already gone," he said.

He added after a while: "But I hope she knows I love her very much."

The police are appealing for eye-witnesses for the accident. Anyone with information can call the traffic hotline at 1800-547-1818.

brynasim@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The New Paper.