Though images of her dying mother bleeding by the roadside from an assailant’s knife still disturbed her, 17-year-old Chin Hui Wei held back her tears as well-wishers gathered at a funeral parlour here to pay their last respects to the woman she called “My Hero“.
With her father and sister by her side, the teenager stood stoically calm as she watched a stream of people placing flower stalks on top of the casket that bore the remains of her late mother, social activist Irene Ong Ai Sam.
Hui Wei even had comforting words for grieving relatives and friends who came to bid farewell to a well-loved woman who died while defending her child from a ruthless attacker at Bukit Gasing here on Saturday. 53-year-old Irene Ong Ai Sam, a member of the parent-teacher association of SMK Taman SEA and the Kiwanis Club, among other social clubs and charity groups, died from injuries inflicted by her attacker.
In a poignant and painful account of the incident in her blog, “The Ugly Truth”, Hui Wei posted a heart-wrenching tribute to her late mother titled, “My Mother, My Hero”. In her lengthy account, she described the events leading to the tragedy right up to the time her blood-soaked mother was admitted to the hospital. She wrote that her mother’s last words to her were, “I love you so much”.
Ong has another daughter, 21-year-old Hui Ying. She also leaves behind her husband Chin Wing San, as well as three sisters and three brothers. “We were very close, and her death has left a hole in my life. My two other sisters and I will not be able to replace Irene but we will do our best to be the mamas’ to Hui Ying and Hui Wei”, said Irene’s 50-year-old sister, Suzie with tears welling in her eyes.
Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamad said police would step up patrols at Bukit Gasing and its surrounding areas.
(Source)
