Lu Weiye and Leslie Yeo were two of three Singaporeans who died
By
Sujin Thomas
The wakes for Mr Lu (pictured) and Mr Yeo took place at the void decks of their homes in Bedok Reservoir and Punggol, respectively. They were among 64 people who died in the blaze at the Santika Club in Bangkok on New Year's Day. -- ST PHOTOS: WANG HUI FEN
MORE than 200 people packed a hall at the Mandai Crematorium yesterday for the cremation of Mr Teo Sze Siong, who died last week in a devastating fire at a Bangkok nightclub.
The 38-year-old air-traffic controller was one of 64 people who lost their lives in the Jan 1 blaze at the Santika nightclub.
However, when she read newspaper reports the next day about dozens of people killed by a fire at the popular Santika Club in Bangkok, she frantically tried to call her only child - to no avail.
Her worst fears were confirmed four days later when Thai officials identified Mr Lu as one of 64 people - including two other Singaporeans - who died in the horrific blaze.
'I get very sad when I'm alone and when I go to bed as I keep thinking about him. I'm glad I have the support of my family,' Mrs Lu said yesterday at her son's wake in Bedok. She declined to reveal her first name.
Mrs Lu, a secretary, last spoke to her son on Dec 30, when she advised him to eat more because he was skinny. He was studying business administration in Bangkok.
On the night he died, Mr Lu was with six friends. They were on the second floor of the Santika pub when the fire broke out shortly after midnight.
They held on to one another as they made their way down to the first-floor entrance. But Mr Lu, who was holding the hand of a close friend, Mr Jeremy Lu, lost his grip in the darkness.
Seconds after Mr Jeremy Lu made it out of the club, the ceiling came crashing down, blocking the entrance. Mr Lu's body was later found next to a friend who also died, his mother said.
'Jeremy told me that maybe a friend behind Weiye fell down and he went to help him,' Mrs Lu said. 'I would like to think that he died helping someone.'
Mr Lu was due to return at the end of the month to spend Chinese New Year with his family. Instead, his body - identified through DNA matching - arrived from Bangkok on Tuesday in a sealed, brown coffin. It was taken directly from the airport to the wake held at the void deck of his flat at Bedok Reservoir Road.
Yesterday morning, a handful of relatives were seen preparing paper offerings for burning.
The wake for another Singaporean who died in the Santika fire, 40-year-old Leslie Yeo Bee Soon, was also held yesterday.
About 10 colleagues from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore were seen helping with the arrangements at the void deck of Mr Yeo's Punggol flat.
A projector screen was set up to flash photographs of Mr Yeo during happier times. His family and friends declined to speak to reporters.
