By Kimberly Spykerman

THE family of David Hartanto Widjaja knew he was not doing well in school and that his scholarship had been revoked, the court heard yesterday, the ninth day of an inquiry into the undergraduate's death.

The family had expected this, given that two warning letters about his dipping grades had already arrived from the university, said the youth's brother William Widjaja, 24, in his testimony.

Mr David Widjaja, then aged 21 and in his final year at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), allegedly stabbed Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk before falling to his death in March.

His older brother was responding to questions about the dynamics within the Widjaja family, in the light of a forensic examination of his laptop which contained an unsigned document titled 'Last Words'. It spoke of sour family ties and an unstable financial situation, but Mr William Widjaja yesterday painted a picture of a close-knit family.

He said he and his brother had daily conversations on the online chat platform MSN, and their mother sent him daily text messages. He added that his brother would e-mail a copy of each semester's grades to him, and would return to Jakarta during school breaks and on special occasions, most recently during the Chinese New Year.

'We discuss all our problems and activities with our parents. We're a close family,' said the older brother. Asked if it would be easy for his brother to confide in his parents, he replied: 'Yes of course, we have done it most of our lives.'

But the Singapore-based youth had secrets - like the one about the 18-year-old girl he had grown close to in an online game and was his virtual 'wife'. He also kept mum about his struggles with his final-year project and with Prof Chan.

Though he scored mostly As in his first two years on campus, his grades started dipping when he became hooked on computer games. His family advised him to cut back on gaming, and he promised to, but lapsed into the habit.

Referring to his brother losing the Asean scholarship, Mr William Widjaja said it was within his parents' means to foot the tuition fees for the remaining term.

He dismissed the possibility that his brother was surfing websites about suicide and murder, saying that he had said nothing about any problems or stress in his last few months. He had in fact been 'talkative and cheerful' during his visit home.

Mr William Widjaja said the family had been pressured by NTU into deciding between cremating the body and flying it home. They eventually chose cremation as they were unaware of the extent of his injuries. The young man's church friends also took the stand yesterday, and said although they were not close to him, he appeared 'normal' in the days before his death. One said the Indonesian was not sociable by nature.

The hearing continues today.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.