Murder of Huang Na

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Huang Na was an eight-year-old Chinese national living at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre in Singapore. She disappeared on 10 October 2004, sparking a three-week-long nationwide search. After her body was found, many Singaporeans attended her wake and subsequent funeral giving bai jin and gifts; some, however, engaged in controversial actions, such as spreading defamatory rumours about the Huangs. Malaysian-born Took Leng How, a vegetable packer at the wholesale centre, was charged with murdering Huang Na. He was found guilty in a highly publicised fourteen-day trial and hanged after his two appeals against capital punishment failed.

Contents 1 Background 2 Disappearance, search and community reaction 3 Trial of Took 4 Aftermath 5 References

[edit] Background

Huang Na's father, Huang Qinrong, and mother, Huang Shuying, were both born in 1973 to farming families in Putian city in Fujian, China.^[1] They met in 1995 and married soon after, as Shuying was pregnant with Huang Na.^[1] In 1996, Qinrong left China to "seek his fortune" in Singapore and worked illegally as a vegetable packer at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. When Shuying found out that he had affairs in Singapore, she divorced him and was given custody of Huang Na.^[1] She later remarried to Zheng Wenhai,^[2] a Fujian businessman whom she had lived with for four years, and became pregnant with his child in early 2003.^[3]

In May 2003, Shuying immigrated to Singapore as a peidu mama accompanying Huang Na, who was enrolled in Jin Tai Primary School.^[3] They lived at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, where Shuying worked.^[4] Huang Na became friends with Took Leng How, a vegetable packer at the wholesale centre.^[5][6] Born in Malaysia in 1981 as the second child of a close-knit family of four, Took came to Singapore when he was 18, seeking better-paying jobs.^[7] At the wholesale centre, he often played with Huang Na, bought her food and gave her rides on his motorcycle.^[5][6] People from the wholesale centre and Jin Tai Primary School described Huang Na as an intelligent, independent, sociable and active child.^[4][8]

[edit] Disappearance, search and community reaction

Huang Na went missing on 10 October 2004; she was last seen at a food court near the wholesale centre, barefoot and wearing a blue denim jacket and bermuda shorts.^[8][9] From 7 am to past midnight every day for three weeks, Shuying looked across the island for her daughter.^[9] The police, including a Criminal Investigation Department team, conducted an intensive search for the girl, and police officers carried photographs of her while on their daily rounds.^[8][9] Volunteers formed search parties and Crime Library, a voluntary group dedicated to finding missing persons, distributed over 70,000 leaflets appealing for information.^[10] Two Singaporeans offered rewards of S$10,000 and S$5,000 for finding Huang Na,^[11] while the manager of an online design company set up a website to raise awareness and gather tip-offs.^[4] The search even extended to Malaysia, with volunteers putting up posters in Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur.^[11]

On 19 and 20 October, Singaporean police questioned Took as part of their investigations.^[12] Took gave contradictory accounts, first saying that four of his "gang members" abducted Huang Na,^[12] and then stating that three Chinese men kidnapped the girl.^[13] After questioning Took, police accompanied him home and to the police station again for a polygraph test.^[14][15] On the way, they stopped at a restaurant along Pasir Panjang Road for a meal.^[14][15] While eating, Took said he needed to go to the toilet, escaped, took a taxi to Woodlands and sneaked across the Causeway to Malaysia.^[14][15] Singaporean police searched for him until he turned himself in on 30 October,^[4] confessing that he had accidentally strangled Huang Na during a game of hide-and-seek in a storeroom.^[14]

The following day, Huang Na's body was found at Telok Blangah Hill Park,^[10] and Took was charged with her murder.^[4] Direct Singapore Funeral Services oversaw her funeral for free.^[16] Thousands attended Huang Na's wake and funeral; some gave bai jin and gifts, such as sweets, flowers and her favourite Hello Kitty merchandise.^[16][17] A grateful Zheng said "We are very touched and very grateful…it really showed us that everyone in Singapore has a very big, kind heart."^[17] However, many Singaporeans tried to make money from the girl's death by buying 4D numbers associated with her and others spread nasty rumours that Shuying had affairs and was greedy for donations.^[17][16]

[edit] Trial of Took

The 14-day trial^[5] of Took began on 11 July 2005 before Justice Lai Kew Chai.^[18] The prosecution, led by Lawrence Ang,^[18] relied on 76 witnesses, a video where Took re-enacted the murder, forensic evidence and an autopsy that found several bruises on her head.^[15][19] Based on the evidence, the prosecution alleged that Took lured Huang Na to the storeroom, then stripped and sexually assaulted her. After smothering and stomping on her to ensure her death, he stored her body in nine layers of plastic bags stuffed into a sealed cardboard box.^[15][19] The defence, led by Subhas Anandan,^[18] relied on the claim of diminished responsibility.^[13] Psychiatrist R. Nagulendran argued that Took was schizophrenic, as some of his behaviour, such as frequently smiling to himself and talking of spirits, was inappropriate and he had no motive for the murder – Nagulendran also called Took's story about the three Chinese men a delusion.^[13]

On 27 August 2005, Justice Lai ruled that Took was guilty of murder and sentenced him to death.^[7] In his judgement, Justice Lai noted that Took had no history of mental abnormality, the behaviour the defence cited was "not necessarily abnormal" and the murder was "clearly the product of a cold and calculating mind".^[20] Justice Lai also said it was unnecessary to determine the motive for the murder and whether a sexual assault had taken place.^[20] Took appealed the death sentence, but the Court of Appeal upheld the decision in January 2006.^[21] His relatives gathered 35,000 signatures and submitted a clemency petition to President S R Nathan, which was rejected in October 2006, after which he was hanged.^[21]

[edit] Aftermath

Zheng and Shuying returned to China where Huang Na was buried in a tomb halfway up a mountain near their house.^[22][23] While alive, Huang Na had asked that her name be changed to Zheng Na, so her altar tablet bore her new name.^[2] Qinrong considered suing the couple over his daughter’s ashes and name change, but decided not to.^[16] With Shuying pregnant again in October 2005, the couple had to raise their two remaining children.^[22][23] Zheng also planned to pursue business opportunities in Guangzhou or Shenzhen.^[22]

[edit] References