Mother and son killed in New Year's Day crash

HE WAS driving on the right lane when a lorry on his left suddenly swerved and hit his car.
SCENE OF THE TRAGEDY: (Above) The wreckage of the Toyota MPV the Ngs were in. An


The next thing he knew, Mr Ng Cheong Boon heard his daughters crying.

'Then, when I looked at my wife and my second son, I saw that they were not moving any more,' said Mr Ng, 45, his voice breaking as he choked back a sob.

'It was dark and everything happened very

quickly.'

The family was travelling back to Singapore in their Toyota MPV when the tragedy struck on the North-South highway near Muar on New Year's day.

The crash killed Madam Chuah Vee Yang, 45, and her 14-year-old son Ng Gan Sheng, a student of Pei Hwa Secondary School.

The couple's youngest daughter, 7, suffered a broken leg and was admitted to hospital. Mr Ng and his eldest son, 16, and another daughter, 10, sustained some scratches and bruises.

The accident happened at 9.00pm.


All six members of the family are Malaysians who are Singapore permanent residents.

Mr Ng, who works in a bank, said his wife was in the front passenger seat, and Gan Sheng was directly behind her when the accident happened.

His wife also worked at a bank.

Mr Ng said drivers and passengers from other cars stopped to help.

'But my wife and son were already dead. They died on the spot,' he told The New Paper in a telephone interview from Malaysia.

Mr Ng said he was in shock when the accident happened.

'I immediately tried to get my children out of the car and carried my youngest daughter out.'

Mr Ng said he could not recall who was in the lorry at that time as it was dark.

His car was badly damaged and is in a workshop.

Mr Ng, who lives in Sengkang, had left for Malaysia with his family on Christmas Day.

They stopped at Petaling Jaya to visit Mr Ng's parents before continuing their journey to Penang, where they attended a wedding and visited other relatives.

On the way back, they had spent two days in Kuala Lumpur before leaving at 7.30pm on Thursday evening.

They wanted to make it back to Singapore in time for the beginning of the new school term the next morning.

Mr Ng said they will not be returning to Singapore for the moment as he plans to take his wife's body back to her hometown in Taiping, Perak for the funeral.

- Additional reporting by Lediati Tan.