SHE had on the tailored crimson cheongsam that she had worn for her wedding last year.
Beside Ms Lo Hwei Yen in her white coffin, the cherished Hermes Birkin bag that husband Michael Puhaindran had given her. The family had wanted the lawyer to look her best and be surrounded by favourite things and loved ones at the very end, said younger sister Hwei Shan, 25.
For her funeral, 'we decided we wanted something very elegant, very tasteful, which is very much in line with my sister's personal taste', she said.
The body of the 28-year-old Singaporean, who was shot and killed by terrorists, arrived here from Mumbai early yesterday morning. Over 250 people turned up at her wake at the Lower Delta Road condominium where her family has lived for 18 years.
A white air-conditioned marquee was set up at the foot of the Teresa Ville block, filled with arrangements of white orchids, spider chrysanthemums and brassicas draped with strands of pearls. Inside, soft jazz played while a projector screened snapshots of Ms Lo.
And it was a photo of Ms Lo as a radiant bride that smiled down at the endless stream of visitors who had come to pay their respects through the night.
Among them were 10 Victoria Junior College schoolmates who turned up in chic, little black dresses, just as she would have liked, they said.
Ms Lo was taken hostage by terrorists at Mumbai's Oberoi Trident hotel late last Wednesday, her body was found on the 17th floor two days later.
Accompanying her back home was a group of people including her devastated 37-year-old husband. Family members learnt from her firm Stephenson Harwood yesterday that Ms Lo had flown to Mumbai after she accepted an invitation to speak at a business seminar.
She delivered her talk mere hours before terrorists stormed her hotel.
Sister Hwei Shan said: 'Her colleagues received a lot of positive feedback about her speech. It's good to know she was respected by her peers.'
Ms Lo was charming and exuded confidence that was rooted in true ability, firm partner Durai Shunmugam told The Straits Times. She had the 'rare ability to be strong and yet be soft...she'd put things across in such a way that you wouldn't have a choice but to say 'yes' - and still you smile', he said.
The firm's Christmas party, which Ms Lo had been in charge of, has been cancelled, he added.
Known for being friendly and cheerful, she has had several hundred tributes on the networking site Facebook. Even her condo's security guard was heard saying: 'She was a very nice, cheerful lady.'
Others who arrived to pay their respects at the wake included MP Sam Tan (Tanjong Pagar GRC) and even strangers like Mumbai-born Ila Maheshwari, 62, who lived in the same condominium.
'We don't have words to express our grief,' said the housewife.
