Wu Yun Yun: Just looking at 'happy family' makes me JEALOUS

Homesick China bride of opposition politician thinks mum-in-law favours her sis-in-law

Just looking at 'happy family' makes me JEALOUS

By Chong Shin Yen

April 19, 2009

IT WAS an arranged marriage and Chinese national Wu Yun Yun, 26, was a reluctant bride. --PICTURES: CHOO CHWEE HUA, THE STRAITS TIMES, LIANHE WANBAO, SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS She was miserable after she married Singapore opposition politician Tan Lead Shake. She had no friends here and had problems adjusting to her new life. To make things worse, Wu felt her mother-in-law favoured her sister-in-law, Madam Huang Mei Zhe, 36, who was married to her husband's younger brother. Consumed by jealousy and resentment, she snapped on 28 Jun last year. Around 5.30am, Wu crept into the couple's bedroom and stabbed Madam Huang, who is also a Chinese national. She then turned the knife on her brother-in-law, Mr Tan Lead Sane, 33, a computer engineer. He died shortly after. Madam Huang, who suffered a stab wound to her neck and cuts on her chin, survived. Yesterday, Wu pleaded guilty to one charge of manslaughter and another charge of attempted manslaughter. A third charge of voluntarily causing hurt to her mother-in-law, Madam Ng Bee Hion, 63, will be taken into consideration during sentencing. Court documents showed that Wu left her family and friends in her hometown, Putian, Fujian province, and came to Singapore in 2001, when she was only 19. Before that, she studied at a vocational school, which she enjoyed. But she had to quit school because of her family's financial difficulties. Short-lived happiness Wu worked as a telephone operator and was happy in her job. But her time there was short-lived as her parents were arranging to marry her off to a Singaporean. Mr Tan Soo Phuan, 73, the former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, had proposed the marriage to his son in 2001. He was also from Putian and had gone there to scout for a daughter-in-law. Wu, the second of three children, was reluctant to give up her job. She had developed a close relationship with a colleague who was interested in her. Wu confided in her mother that she had doubts about an arranged marriage and said she was not keen to marry Mr Tan Lead Shake, a senior network administrator. She also told the elder Mr Tan that she did not wish to marry his son. But all this fell on deaf ears. The Tans had paid her dowry and Wu had no choice but to go ahead with the arrangement. Later that year, she flew to Singapore and moved in with the Tans. A psychiatric report by Dr George Joseph Fernandez from the Institute of Mental Health stated that Wu found life meaningless when she first got here. Wu told Dr Fernandez: '(I felt that) all the people in the world had left me. (I) lost interest in everything. Life had become meaningless.' She was not accustomed to her life here. She could not adapt to the food, had difficulties communicating in English and had no friends. She was sad, tearful and had suicidal thoughts. Six months after arriving, she married Mr Tan, who was nicknamed the 'Slipper Man' after he showed up in slippers on Nomination Day for the 1997 general election. Wu's family was not invited to the wedding. The reason was not mentioned in court papers. The couple lived in a two-storey bungalow on Paya Lebar Crescent, together with her parents-in-law, her elder brother-in-law, Mr Tan Lead Hand, who is single, and Mr Tan Lead Sane and his wife. Wu's role was to do the housework and subsequently to look after her children - a son, 5, and a daughter, 3. She did not get along well with her mother-in-law. She felt she was treated differently and was jealous of Madam Huang. She told Dr Fernandez: 'I hated to stay at home. I'm very unhappy there. 'People at home make me unhappy. (My) mother-in-law and sister-in-law are very calculative. They say things to hurt me.' When asked, her husband told Dr Fernandez that he also felt it was true that his mother favoured Madam Huang. Wu returned to China four times during her seven years here, staying for a few months each time. She made the first trip with her husband and their son, who was then 7 months old. Wu stayed with her family, who noticed that she was unhappy. She made a second trip in November 2004, and said her real purpose in doing so was to escape from the Tan family. Wu's father told Dr Fernandez that the family noticed the change in her behaviour. She had lost weight and became more hot-tempered. She did not go out much and even her friends there commented on how she had changed. Wu said: 'I felt unhappy. I felt my jealousy getting worse. My mother-in-law nagged at me almost daily. 'When (my) mother-in-law and sister-in-law returned from work, I would get anxious. I felt they were going to scold me.' Wu returned to Singapore in January 2005. But three months later, she quietly packed her bags and flew back to China with their son. She did not inform her husband, and when her father found out about it, he scolded her. This time, her change in behaviour was more drastic. Wu became easily irritable and lost even more weight. She would cry whenever her mother-in-law was mentioned and she refused to go out with her friends. Wu also had difficulties sleeping and wanted her mother to sleep with her because she was scared. She stayed in China for almost 41/2 months before returning. When she finally came back, she asked her mother to accompany her to Singapore. Wu said it was because she 'can't survive any more'. Her mother came twice, once for 45 days and the second, for 11 months. Meanwhile, Madam Huang got pregnant and her own mother came from China to help her out. Wu's jealousy festered. She told Dr Fernandez: 'Everything for her (Madam Huang) is smooth. Nothing was going well for me. My husband was cold to me. 'Everything done by them made me jealous. I live in jealousy.' Wu last went back to China in July 2007, for six months. She complained of aches and pains in her body, had gastric problems and felt very tired. She also developed the odd idea that she was suffering from cancer and that she would not recover. Wu went to see various doctors, who reassured her that she was not ill. One of them recommended that she see a psychiatrist, but she did not do so. After she returned to Singapore, her husband said she became tearful and was quieter. But he added that when she got angry, she was 'like a volcano'. Then, in June last year, Wu bought a fruit knife, intending to use it to hurt Madam Huang or Mr Tan Lead Sane. By then, her jealousy towards the couple was reaching boiling point. 'When I look at them, I get jealous. I feel like hurting them,' she said. 'I couldn't bear that their family was so happy, while I was unable to enjoy. All did not treat me well. My life was worth nothing.' Dr Fernandez diagnosed Wu to be suffering from major depression. This qualified her for the defence of diminished responsibility. Her original charges of murder and attempted murder were reduced as a result. Her father, Mr Wu Jin Chi, 57, a farmer, and his son-in-law arrived from Putian on Tuesday night and were in court yesterday to support Wu. Mr Wu told The New Paper that she had been writing to them regularly since she was arrested. 'Every month, she would write two letters - one to us and the other to her children,' he said. 'She told us to take care of ourselves and not to worry for her. She also said that she misses her two children a lot.' Wu told her father that her husband had visited her in prison twice, but he did not turn up yesterday. His mother and Madam Huang did show up and sat in the row in front of Wu's family. Before the proceedings started, Madam Huang turned around and scolded them, accusing them of breaking up her family. For manslaughter, Wu can be jailed for life. For attempted manslaughter, Wu can be jailed 15 years.

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Killer wants mum-in-law to feel PAIN OF LOSS

Slipper Man's Wife in Jealousy Killing China wife resents mum-in-law but attacks favourite daughter-in-law, son, instead

Killer wants mum-in-law to feel PAIN OF LOSS

By Chong Shin Yen

April 19, 2009

SHE resented her mother-in-law, whom she blamed for her unhappiness and jealousy. IN TEARS: Madam Ng Bee Hion was seen crying in a car after her youngest son was stabbed to death. --PICTURE: LIANHE WANBAO But Wu Yun Yun, 26, chose not to harm Madam Ng Bee Hion, 63. Instead, she attacked Madam Ng's son, Mr Tan Lead Sane, 33, and his wife, Madam Huang Meizhe, 36. This was because she wanted Madam Ng to suffer the pain of seeing her loved ones hurt, according to court papers. Yesterday, Wu, a Singapore permanent resident, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing Mr Tan and attempted manslaughter for injuring Madam Huang. Monitor mental state Justice Kan Ting Chiu adjourned the case for six months to allow psychiatrist George Joseph Fernandez to monitor Wu's mental state before he passes sentence. The senior consultant psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health said that he needed time to see if Wu's mental condition would improve. Wu, a housewife, was represented by Mr Subhas Anandan and Mr Sunil Sudheesan. The court heard that she was jealous of Mr Tan, a computer engineer, and Madam Huang. She felt that unlike her, the couple was living a blessed life with love and strong support from Madam Ng. Wu began harbouring thoughts of killing either Mr Tan or Madam Huang. For several weeks, she struggled with these thoughts. Then, in early June last year, she bought a fruit knife from a market in Lorong Ah Soo for $2.50, intending to use it to carry out her plan. When she got home, she hid it in a styrofoam box which was placed under the kitchen sink. Wu decided to strike on 28 Jun. She chose to do it on a Saturday because she knew that her husband, Mr Tan Lead Shake, 40, a senior network administrator, would be at home and could take care of their two children following the attack. The plan was to do it during the early hours of the morning, while the couple was sleeping in their bedroom on the second storey of the house. The night before, Wu took the knife from the box and hid it on top of her wardrobe in her bedroom, also on the second storey. She went to bed at 10pm. Wu woke up at about 5.30am the next day and retrieved the knife. She then walked to the couple's bedroom, which was not locked. Madam Huang was sleeping on the bed with her 2-month-old son while Mr Tan was asleep on a makeshift bed at the balcony. Wu walked towards Madam Huang and called out her name before stabbing her twice on her neck. Madam Huang shouted for her husband, who woke and sat up on the bed. Wu lunged at him and stabbed him twice in his chest and once in his abdomen. Madam Huang tried to stop Wu in vain, then left the room to seek help from Mr Tan Lead Shake, who called the police when he saw his brother lying in a pool of blood. Meanwhile, Wu left the couple's bedroom and went downstairs. She took her jacket, umbrella and wallet from the kitchen before trying to flee. Wu went to the front gate but could not remember the number combination for the lock. She then ran to the back of the house and climbed over a gate. Madam Ng had tried to stop her and suffered some cuts during the brief struggle. Wu threw the knife into a drain as she ran off. Mr Tan and Madam Huang were taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Madam Huang underwent an emergency operation. Wu walked to Serangoon Shopping Centre, where she washed the bloodstains off her body using water from a drain behind the centre. After changing out of her bloodstained T-shirt into the jacket, she took a bus to Toa Payoh Central, where she discarded her T-shirt and socks. She then walked around aimlessly until a passer-by told her that her pants were torn at the back. Buy new clothes As the shops were not open yet, Wu took a taxi to the market at Block 105, Hougang Avenue 1, to buy new clothes. She then changed before taking a bus to Bugis Junction, where she wandered aimlessly again. Wu called her husband from a public phone around 12.15pm. He persuaded her to surrender and she said she would wait for him at the National Library building at Victoria Street. About an hour later, her husband, accompanied by police officers, arrived there and she was arrested. Madam Huang, also a Singapore permanent resident, was in hospital for more than a week. The mother of two has since recovered.

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Jealousy drove her to kill

April 17, 2009

Jealousy drove her to kill

By Khushwant Singh, Court Reporter
		It was jealousy that drove Wu Yun Yun (left) - opposition party member Tan Lead Shake's China-born wife - to stab her 34-year-old brother-in-law to death and to slash his wife. --ST PHOTO:KUA CHEE SIONG

IT WAS jealousy that drove Wu Yun Yun - opposition party member Tan Lead Shake's China-born wife - to stab her 34-year-old brother-in-law to death and to slash his wife.

Wu, 26, suffered from major depression which qualified her for the defence of diminished responsibility, the High Court heard on Friday.

Originally charged with murder, the Singapore permanent resident pleaded guilty to committing culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, by stabbing Tan Lead Sane, 33, and to attempted culpable homicide for her attack on 36-year-old Madam Huang Meizhe.

Justice Kan Ting Chiu adjourned sentencing for six months to allow psychiatrist George Joseph Fernandez to monitor Wu's mental state.

The senior consultant of the Institute of Mental Health testified that he needed this time to check if her mental condition would improve.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Diane Tan had earlier told the court that Wu came to Singapore from China in 2001 to marry Mr Tan Lead Shake.

The couple shared a house in Paya Lebar Crescent with Madam Ng, her eldest son Tan Lead Hand, and Mr Tan Lead Sane and his wife, who is also from China.

Wu became jealous of Mr Tan Lead Sane and his wife, as they appeared to be more 'loved' by her mother-in-law. She began to think about killing her brother-in-law and in early June last year bought a fruit knife and hid it. At 5.30am on June 28, Wu stabbed Madam Huang in the neck.

The commotion woke Mr Tan Lead Sane; he was stabbed twice in the chest and once in the abdomen. When Madam Ng tried to stop Wu leaving the house, she too was slashed.

Wu later called her husband and surrendered before being arrested. She could be jailed up to 20 years or for life.

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