Mother tried in vain to stop daughter's drug habit

For 10 years, her daughter had a drug problem.

Despite Madam Hao Kim Choo's warnings and pleas to stop, Ms Sheila Goh refused to kick the dangerous habit.

It may have been the cause of her death - Ms Goh was found dead on a sofa in her Circuit Road flat last September.

At the scene, police officers also found gliclazide pills, which are meant for diabetic patients.

This puzzled Madam Hao, 65, who told The New Paper yesterday that none of her family members had diabetes.

"So how did my daughter get her hands on diabetic medicine?" she asked in Mandarin.

Madam Hao, however, admitted that she knew her daughter had consumed pills that had not been prescribed to her.

OUT OF CASH

"She would spend her money on pills and that's how she ran out of cash. I tried to stop her for many years, but it was hard to change her as she didn't live with me."

Madam Hao, who lives in Jurong, said she usually travelled to her daughter's Circuit Road flat four times a week to visit her.

Ms Goh leaves behind three daughters, aged seven, 12 and 15. They have been living with their paternal grandmother since their father died of oral cancer in 2012.

Said Madam Hao: "The girls have many aunts and uncles who stepped forward to take care of them. They were affected by what happened at first, but the family is doing okay and getting by."

She said she was heartbroken at her daughter's death.

"She was a good girl, so young and had never done anything bad to others. It's such a pity that something like this had to happen."

This article was first published on Feb 26, 2015.
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