Novena deaths: Children in care of mother's family

The children of a couple found dead in Novena Suites last Saturday evening are now in the care of their maternal uncle and aunt.

Tow truck driver Ng Jun Jie, 37, told The Straits Times he and his elder sister are helping to take care of their nephew, seven, and niece, 13.

Meanwhile, neighbours at the couple's matrimonial home in Lorong 2, Toa Payoh, said that they were shocked by the incident.

Mr Wang Chan Foo, 46, a stock investor, was found on a ledge above the ground floor of a block in the condominium in Moulmein Road, in an incident reported to the police at about 6.55pm.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said he had been standing on a balcony parapet and fell while its officers were deploying an inflatable life pack.

His wife Ng Soo San, 44, a part- time accountant, was found a few hours later in a 13th-floor unit in the same block with stab wounds to her torso. The couple were said to be separated for at least two years.

Ms Ng's family members were at the mortuary yesterday to identify her body, but declined comment.

Her brother told Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News that his nephew did not know what had happened to his parents and had been crying for his mother, while his niece had been calm.

They were found in the Novena Suites premises by officers that night.

A good friend of Ms Ng told Shin Min the couple argued over small things and Ms Ng had once applied for a protection order against her husband.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said Ms Ng lived in the Toa Payoh home with the children.

While her family appeared to have rented out the flat previously, she moved back about three years ago without her husband, he said.

The neighbour said Mr Wang would turn up at the flat about once a week to take the children out. No one was in the couple's home when The Straits Times visited yesterday.

The Samaritans of Singapore said it has offered its services to the extended family of the couple.

This article was first published on October 25, 2016.
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