Mum killed in Jurong blasts grew up without hers

Chemist Lim Siaw Chian had grown up without a mother. Now, her six-month-old daughter will do the same.

Ms Lim, who was also called Krysten, was killed in Monday's blaze at Leeden National Oxygen, a gas manufacturing firm at Tanjong Kling Road in Jurong. Several explosions were heard as a fire engulfed a ground floor laboratory.

Seven others were injured. Three remain hospitalised, the Manpower Ministry said in an update. The remaining four were discharged yesterday.

The ministry also said investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing. It has also issued a stop-work order for the production and bottling of hydrocarbons, and the buying and selling of bottled gases stored in the area adjacent to the laboratory where the fire broke out.

Ms Lim, a Malaysian who became a Singapore citizen only a month ago, had returned to work after her maternity leave just one week before the fire.

The 30-year-old had been married for about two years, said her family members who were at the mortuary next to the Singapore General Hospital yesterday morning. She leaves behind her husband and baby daughter, who is being cared for by a babysitter.

Ms Lim had lost her own mother to kidney failure 22 years ago, who was also 30 when she died.

Her granduncle - Gay Thiam Huat, who lives in Singapore - told reporters in Mandarin that he remembered Ms Lim as a "bubbly, lovely girl" who often visited his home when she first came to Singapore with her mother at a young age.

The 64-year-old lorry driver said: "She was not sure if she wanted the Singapore citizenship initially... She thought the cost of living here was quite high."

The oldest of three siblings had come with her mother to Singapore when she was young but went back to Malaysia after her mother died. Ms Lim returned to Singapore to do her undergraduate studies.

"She met her husband, who is also from Malaysia, in a university here," Mr Gay said.

Ms Lim's husband, who is now a Singapore citizen, was also at the mortuary yesterday morning. Stricken with grief, he did not speak to the media.

Representatives from Leeden National Oxygen also visited the mortuary and were seen talking to Ms Lim's husband.

Mr Gay said that Ms Lim's employer had sent a car to her hometown of Senai in Johor yesterday afternoon to bring her parents-in-law and a younger brother to Singapore to identify her body. Her other brother arrived at the mortuary yesterday morning, while her father, who works as as a school bus driver, could not come as he had to work.

Ms Lim, who lived with her husband and daughter in Jurong West, had been working at Leeden National Oxygen for more than a year.

Her colleague, Lee Mun Hong, described Ms Lim as a humble and friendly person, and a responsible worker. The 45-year-old safety manager last spoke to her last month.

Mr Lee, who was also hospitalised due to the fire, added: "She was just telling me about her joy of motherhood, how her daughter is so precious."

awcw@sph.com.sg

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ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LIM YI HAN