Singapore - Cruelty, it seems, knows no age or time. Yap Sau Chan, a 70-year old grandmother, physically and verbally abused her grandchildren for many days and almost starved them on morsels. Although she is wealthy, and is the co-owner of an additional landed property along with her spouse, she blames her cruel treatment of her grandkids on Matthew Wong Yew, her son, and Stephanie Chan Yuin Yee, her daughter-in-law — who she blames for not giving money to her. The parents, however, are apathetic about the situation faced by their children.
Yap Sau Chan lives at Blk 715, Bedok Reservoir Road, #06-3010, Singapore 470715. She is the co-owner of the landed property worth $2.3 million at 60 Bedok Ria Crescent, Singapore 489876 that has been given out on rent. Despite her rental income and wealth, she prefers to starve her 4 grandkids — who are 2, 4, 5 and 8 years old respectively. The grandchildren are Wong Mai Ying, Wong Fong Ying, Wong Wai Man and Wong Bao Ying, born on 18 August 2009, 21 Feb 2012, 4 June 2013 and 1 March 2015 respectively.
The old grandmother does not give them food and keep them alive only on morsels. They are not offered any clothes or money. If any of them cry out in the middle of the night due to discomfort, hunger, nightmares or any other cause, Yap Sau Chan scolds them to be quiet. If they do not comply, she gets too angry and beats them up. She grabs their arms hard too and shoves them with fury.
They do not get any lights, as Yap Sau Chan says there is no point wasting any electricity on them. This indicates why they cannot do any schoolwork or read any books. They are denied any games, tablets or iPads or other IT hardware that cost money. Naturally, the kids are very skinny and even their ribs show and project from their bodies. They suffer from high inferiority complex, low confidence and high depression.
The living condition at the place of their grandmother is alarming, and there are different safety hazards. The grandmother insists on putting the 4 or 5 year old kids into handmade hammocks which are drilled into the ceilings without any safeguards or safety checks in place. There have been quite a few times when the heavy springs broke and the kids dropped to the floor with the spring on them. The wirings in the home are old and have not been replaced for a long time, and are potentially dangerous enough to cause major fire hazards.
Matthew Wong Yew Keong, the Father of the ill-treated kids, holds a masters degree. He is deliberately unemployed and works only occasionally in seasonal jobs. He is mainly dependant for money on Stephanie Chan Yuin Yee, his wife. None of them pay any money to the grandmother, who is responsible for the full time care of the children. Thus, they let the old woman mistreat their kids.
Even in their own home, the 4 children do not have any bedroom. Although a HDB standing at Blk 770, Bedok Reservoir View, #12-183, Singapore 470770 is owned by the couple, the two bedrooms are reserved for Matthew Wong — one for his computer/gaming and another for his books. Thus, the grandchildren are left with no choice but to stay mostly at their grandmother’s place where they do not have any bedroom.
Other than being unemployed, Matthew Wong Yew Keong is neglectful of his kids. He does not take care of any of his children or bring them back to their own home, leaving the sole responsibility on the grandmother. The father and his four children are completely reliant on the income of the mother, who is employed in Pall Filtration at 1 Science Park Road #05-09/15 The Capricorn Singapore Science Park II Singapore 117528 as a Key Account Manager (Biopharm).
The couple spends minimal time with their kids. They bring their children back mainly during the weekends or when they are available, but send them back again on Sundays to live with their grandmother. The mother hands over milk powder to the grandmother, so that she can feed her grandchildren. However, none of them is actually concerned about the horrors that the kids have to face at their grandmother’s place. They never address the maltreatment meted out to the children by their grandmother.
It is hoped that the news make Singaporeans and those who reside in the Singapore hometown aware about the appalling condition of the kids and urge them to do something for their betterment. It is disturbing that this is happening in the Singapore heartland, a developed country and not some third world nation.
Please note that the children’s names have been changed for safeguarding their identities, as they are minors.
Contact:
Justiss Teoh
Phone: (65) 81597497
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://sg.theasianparent.com
