He sounded fine when he called home on Wednesday, says sister
By
Diana Othman & Kimberly Spykerman
The white tiger exhibit has been closed temporarily following the mauling of 32-year-old zoo cleaner Nordin Montong in the enclosure on Thursday. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
SINCE he arrived in Singapore in June, Mr Nordin Montong had called his mother three or four times a day.
He would ask her how the family was and if she had eaten. Little things, just to chat.
White tiger facts
THE zoo's assistant director, Mr Biswajit Guha, 40, gave several insights into the behaviour of tigers yesterday.
White tigers differ from their black-and-orange cousins only in colour, he said. They have the same natural instincts as all the big cats, which he described as 'nature's killing machines', programmed to respond in a certain way - for example, when a stranger enters their territory.
It was the same in his last call to her on Wednesday, the night before the 32-year-old cleaner from Sarawak climbed into a tiger enclosure at the Singapore Zoo and was mauled to death after he seemingly baited the big cats.
His family in Kuching is still reeling from the news.
'When we first heard the news, we were shocked and panicked as the last we heard from him, he was healthy and fine,' said his older sister, Madam Nora Montong, 38. 'We did not sense anything was wrong or that he had any problems.'
His 53-year-old mother had become worried on Thursday when her second of six children did not call her as usual.
Said Madam Nora: 'She has been crying now whenever she thinks about him.'
Unable to afford the flight to Singapore, they are awaiting his body, which will be flown home today.
But though his family had no inkling of the turmoil in his mind, his roommates and fellow workers noticed that he was not behaving quite like himself.
Mr Fabian Anak, 26, his colleague of two months who shared a Serangoon apartment with him and other workers, said that the usually jovial man was sombre on Thursday.
He said: 'He hadn't been able to sleep till 3am. He just sat in a chair.'
Another cleaner, Mr Clement Ijau, who lived next door, noticed that Mr Nordin seemed dazed and ignored the people around him.
Fifteen minutes before he went into the enclosure, he reportedly told colleagues they would not be seeing him again.
If he had problems, no one knew. Another colleague, Mr Mohd Rafiq Nasirin, said Mr Nordin was a quiet man who kept matters to himself.
The cleaner from Sarawak had worked at a hotel when he first arrived but left shortly after for a job at the zoo.
Mr Mohd Rafiq said that Mr Nordin had wanted to apply for a transfer to the Night Safari.
According to Madam Nora, her brother had planned to return home in February next year after he had saved enough cash to marry and start a family.
At the mortuary yesterday, Mr Nordin's body - wrapped in a simple white sheet - was received by his employer, Sun City Maintenance, which will bear all costs of embalming and transportation.
Undertaker Roland Tay, 51, will donate his payment of $3,000 to Mr Nordin's family.
They are now bereft of a son and brother as well as any clues which might have accounted for his death.
Madam Nora said: 'We are as confused as everyone. We were not able to be there with him so we could not fathom what he was going through.
'All we can do now is wait for his body to return to Kuching so we can see him again before we bury him.'
