A Malaysian man was sentenced to jail for 20 years in Singapore yesterday (9th June) for attacking his bosses. The incident took place on 11th March 2019 at the office of the e-commerce company Ji Ji. During the attack, he murdered one and heavily wounded the other.
The accused initially had a good reputation at work. However, after his relationship with his bosses worsened, he contemplated murdering them. Discovering that he had been fired was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Yee Jing Man (24) pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide for killing Lin Xinjie (29). He also admitted to causing grievous hurt to Li Mingqiao (30) with a dangerous weapon. Both victims were directors of the company. Yee also faced eight other charges, including four counts of wrongful confinement and one count of criminal intimidation. The latter was because Yee had threatened a third director, Ryan Pan Zai Xing (29). Assessment showed that Yee was suffering from a major depressive disorder, which after being taken into consideration, significantly reduced responsibility for his actions.
The accused had starting working for the company in March 2017 after his girlfriend, an employee there, recommended him to Lin. Initially, Yee performed well, pleasing Lin to the point where the director gave him an angpao with S$999 (about RM3000) for Chinese New Year in 2018. Yee was also offered a promotion and a chance of a salary increment. However, he turned the offer down, saying he did not want the extra workload and stress.
Starting September 2018, Yee’s work performance deteriorated. He was absent from work for 69 days between 1st December 2017 and 12th March 2019. His deteriorating work performance caused strife between him and the two directors, Lin and Li. Yee felt that Lin had scolded him without reason while Li behaved sarcastically towards him. Yee was also of the opinion that Lin had used his family’s wealth to become a director.
In February 2019, Yee, supposedly wracked with insomnia, started fantasising killing the directors. However, he decided to spare Pan as he felt their relationship was better. The director had often helped Yee with work and they spoke frequently. Yee also planned to commit suicide after murdering the directors as he did not want to be on the run from the law. At that time, Yee supposedly felt there was no purpose to life if he was constantly worried about work.
On 12th February 2019, Yee’s girlfriend told him that Lin wanted to fire him. He then bought a chopper and planned to kill Lin, but changed his mind. Instead, he stopped working for a month and researched how to kill people efficiently. When his girlfriend informed him that he had been let go on 11th March, Yee’s plan was forced into action. Incensed, he headed to the office with the chopper and a ceramic knife in his bag, intent on killing his bosses.
The attack started at 12:55 pm. Yee first injured Li by hacking at the director’s head and neck. Li had been sitting at his desk when Yee attacked. Yee then turned on Lin, slashing at the back of his neck and head, right forearm and right index finger. Yee had barricaded the entrance of the company to prevent his colleagues from leaving. He threatened Pan with the chopper and ordered him to eat the S$20 (RM60) angpao Pan had planned on giving him. After the attack, Yee tried to commit suicide by stabbing his abdomen and slicing his wrists. As he did so, he asked, “Why did you fire me? I have no alternatives left.”
The police arrived at 1:05pm and managed to subdue Yee. Lin was pronounced dead at the scene while Li had to undergo emergency surgery. He was discharged five days after the attack, however, he was scarred badly and has to attend physiotherapy.
Yesterday morning (9th June), the judge sentenced Yee to 15 years of prison for manslaughter and 5 years for deliberately causing serious injury with a weapon. The two sentences, executed separately, total 20 years in prison.
Sources: China Press, Mothership
