|
By ZAIHAN MOHAMED YUSOF
NEARLY a year after he was killed by white tigers in the Singapore Zoo, his parents still have no idea how he died.
All they know is that their son, Nordin Montong, 32, a cleaner, had a fatal accident at the zoo.
Their other children have hidden from them the fact that their favourite child had climbed into the tiger enclosure and was mauled to death.
Yesterday, the Malaysian's death was ruled a suicide by a coroner's inquiry into the incident last November.
His younger sister, Madam Aida, a 29-year-old welfare officer, yesterday said in Malay: 'Telling my parents the truth about Nordin would be too devastating to their health.
'They both have diabetes and high blood pressure.
We just don't want to stress them any more,' she told The New Paper in a phone interview from their hometown of Kuching, Sarawak.
Madam Aida's older sister, Madam Nora, said she sometimes catches their mother in a daze, saying things like: 'My son is still working in Singapore.'
The housewife added: 'Seeing this breaks my heart.'
The family's neighbours know what had happened to Nordin as they have read the reports in Malaysian newspapers.
Said Madam Nora: 'Thankfully, they have been considerate enough not to ask my parents point-blank about it.'
The news of Nordin's death last year had plunged his family into grief and disbelief.
And yesterday they were trying to come to terms with the coroner's finding that Nordin had committed suicide by climbing into the tiger enclosure to confront the animals.
When told of the coroner's finding by The New Paper, Madam Nora refused to accept it.
She said over the phone: 'I can accept that my brother is no more, but I don't believe that he had committed suicide.
'There are other ways for him to end his life quickly than to be mauled by tigers.'
Madam Nora gave three reasons why she felt her brother could not have wanted to end his life.
She said he had shouted for help when the white tigers attacked him. Also, he had tried to protect himself by putting a pail over his head.
Called family earlier
Furthermore, she said, Nordin had called his family earlier that fateful day.
He had seemed to be in good spirits, Madam Nora said.
She added: 'You could hear his screams. He was asking God for help. If he wanted to die, he would have given in easily without putting up a fight.
'I believe he was possessed and when he later realised the danger he was in, it was too late.'
Madam Nora said she was more convinced of her feelings after she saw a video clip of her brother being mauled 'over and over again'.
'I even raised the volume to the maximum to listen to what was being said.'
To this day, Nordin's room in the family home remains untouched.
His photographs, belongings and clothes are kept exactly as he left them when he left Kuching early last year.
When The New Paper contacted the family yesterday evening, Madam Nora claimed it was the first time she had received an update on her brother's death inquest.
She said she had previously received letters from Singapore about an investigation into his death, but could not recall who had sent the letters.
Madam Nora described our conversation over the phone as 'bittersweet'.
'On the one hand, it's good to get news about my brother. But on the other hand, this is news that is hard to swallow.'
Madam Nora thanked us for calling her. She said she had stored in her handphone the phone numbers of our reporters who had contacted her after her brother's death.
Said the mother of five: 'But my son played with it and damaged it. I couldn't retrieve the numbers and lost my only link to Singapore.'
Madam Nora broke down several times during the 45-minute interview.
She asked several questions about the the coroner's inquiry.
When we told her that no drugs were found in Nordin's blood, and that his colleagues had testified that he was a good worker, Madam Nora said she felt thankful.
Her primary school-going children, she said, are aware of their uncle's death, but they believe that he died working in the chimpanzee enclosure where he was stationed.
'They miss him. He used to put them on his back and crawl around like a horse. They keep asking me about him.'
Madam Nora said her brother's employer had given them compensation of $3,000.
But she feels that her family should be compensated more since Nordin was a good worker who died on the job.
She said: 'If the company he worked for, or even the Singapore Zoo, can help us by giving more, it would go a long way. We're not rich people and his death has hit us hard."
This article was first published in The New Paper.
| 
