FIVE minutes to midnight on New Year's eve, Madam Ho Mei Shih got a 'Happy New Year' text message from her husband Teo Sze Siong, 38.

He was in Bangkok on holiday with some friends from work, and she, unable to get away from her IT job in Shanghai.

The text message turned out to be his last words to her, for he was among the 62 people who perished in the blaze that swept through the Santika Club in Bangkok's Ekkamai district.

The couple, junior college sweethearts married 14 years, never let distance separate them. She came home regularly or he would visit her in Shanghai, and they holidayed together when they could.

Madam Ho took the first flight home to find their flat in Toa Payoh awash in sorrow. Her mother-in-law, Madam Yeo Siok Kheng, 68, was grieving over the loss of her favourite son, even as her two older sons made the trip to Bangkok to identify the body and accompany it home.

Mr Teo Sze Lam, at 47, the family's oldest son and spokesman, said of his mother: 'She's heartbroken, and is finding it very painful and hard to accept.'

Until the body arrived home late on Saturday, she had kept up hope that it was a terrible case of mistaken identity.

She has been inconsolable since.

Mr Teo said that his mother doted on his late brother - her youngest boy and the fourth of her five children - and lived with him and his wife. She drew even closer to her son when she became widowed eight years ago.

Mr Teo said his brother was 'very filial' and this showed in the small things he did - such as dropping his mother at the doorstep of a shopping centre before going on to park his car and never failing to first entrust her to the care of his siblings before he went on holiday.

The elder Mr Teo, visibly shaken, was clearly struggling to find the words to describe the ordeal of identifying his brother from among the charred bodies.

He said: 'We were hoping they found the wrong guy, but when I saw the body, I recognised his face and the scar on his left arm. I guess I already knew, but I was trying to bluff myself.'

Being shown his brother's personal possessions only confirmed his fears.

The family had not known that the youngest of the Teo brothers was headed for Santika that night, though they knew he had visited it on previous trips with Thai friends who also worked in aviation.

He had been staying in a serviced apartment with his colleague, fellow Singaporean Leslie Yeo, 40, who also died in the fire. Both were to have returned from their holiday yesterday.

On the first day of the wake near the block where the late Mr Teo lived, a steady stream of visitors poured in to bid the well-liked man farewell.

With him in the casket is the bib bearing his number from last month's Standard Chartered marathon, which he was proud to have completed for the first time.

His colleagues from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore have drawn up a roster among themselves to ensure that someone is always there to support the family.

His widow, shielded from reporters by the family, was supposed to have joined him on this trip to Bangkok, but had to pull out because of work commitments.

Speaking for the family, her brother-in-law Sze Lam said: 'It's lucky she did not go. If not, I might be collecting two persons and not one.'

The funeral is on Wednesday.