DIRE financial straits can drive a desperate person into doing the unthinkable.
Seven years ago, when a building contractor Hiew Yook Cheang, then aged 49, had barely enough to feed his wife and two children, sinister thoughts ran through his mind.
He had been out of a job for months and after surviving on handouts from relatives, he decided he had had enough of hardship.
After days of talking it over with his wife Wong Yin Tinn, then aged 39, they hatched a plan to end their lives and that of their two children, a daughter and son aged five and seven respectively.
On the night of Sept 11, 2013, at their rented apartment unit in Taman Sri Manja off Old Klang Road in Kuala Lumpur, the couple shut all the doors and windows.
They then burned large quantities of charcoal in the master bedroom before taking their children inside.
Hoping the whole family would not wake again after being suffocated by the charcoal fumes slowly filling the room, they went to sleep.
However, the suicide attempt failed and they survived the night.
Determined to die, the contractor made another attempt, burning more charcoal this time.
The following morning, the man, his wife and their son survived. But the girl, Mabel Hiew Mun lay lifeless on a mattress.
A day later, the couple decided to dispose of Mabel’s body. Together with their son, they drove to Klang with the girl’s body and searched for a location.
After going around the township several times, they changed their minds and returned home.
Over the next four days, the couple kept Mabel’s body at home and burned incense to mask the stench from the onset of decomposition.
At the same time, a concerned teacher at the kindergarten Mabel attended repeatedly called the parents to inquire about her absence for almost a week.
After days of being unable to reach the Hiews, she asked a parent of another pupil to check on them.
After knocking on the door for several minutes, Mabel’s brother came out and told her: “My little sister is dead”, before shutting the door.
Shocked by his response, police were alerted and a team was dispatched to the house and persuaded Hiew to open the door.
Police found the couple and their son in a weak state, and removed Mabel’s body from the unit.
The couple was arrested and their son was placed in the care of relatives.
About two weeks later, Hiew and Wong were charged for the murder of their daughter.
Read this story on our iPaper: Poignant case of desparation
