Prof Chan Kap Luk was having a routine discussion to help out a student. But during their meeting, David Hartanto Widjaja (above) suddenly took out a knife and stabbed the lecturer.
NTU undergraduate David Hartanto Widjaja, 21, had been working on a project titled 'Multiview acquisition from Multi-camera configuration for person adaptive 3D Display,' according to the NTU website.
Associate Professor Chan Kap Lup, 45, was the appointed supervisor. The project involves the use of multi-cameras to obtain multiviews of various scenes to regenerate a 3D display will be adapted to the viewer position, the website said. It also said that 'Strong Mathematical skills and C/C++ programming' is required from the student.
On Monday, David Hartanto Widjaja, 21, stabbed Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk, 45, in the back during a discussion in his office at the NTU campus, then slit his own wrists before fleeing and falling four floors to his death shortly after the attack.
An official of the Indonesian Embassy was quoted by detikNews, an Indonesian news website, as saying that Widjaja was apparently upset over the termination of his scholarship.
Mr Djatmiko of the Embassy's Counsellor Protocal Office also told detikNews that he believed that Widjaja, a final year engineering student, had "stabbed the wrong person by mistake" as the professor had nothing to do with the scholarship issue.
"There is no problem with this professor. He was not the one who decided on the termination of the scholarship. The NTU staff said there seems to be a case of mistaken person," he added.
"This is the final year of the scholarship and David seemed confused. When the scholarship is terminated, he can work part-time, there is no problem.
"It's a real pity, a real pity. His examination is due in April and the results will be out in July, so he has only several more months."
Widjaja, an Indonesian, received the Asean Scholarship four years ago, which pays for his tuition fees at NTU and gives him an annual stipend of S$5,800.
His distraught parents claimed his body at the Singapore General Hospital mortuary on Tuesday morning.
They and their elder son, aged 24, flew in from Jakarta on Monday evening after the NTU authorities notified them of the tragedy, which stunned students returning to campus on the first day after a one-week break.
The family arrived at the SGH mortuary at 8.40 am on Tuesday in a grey van, accompanied by NTU counsellors and officials from the Indonesian Embassy here. They left the mortuary at about 1 pm, after Widjaja's body was taken away by a white van from a casket firm.
Widjaja's body was cremated at Mandai Crematorium on Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Prof Chan, who is from the Division of Information Engineering, is recovering from injuries to his back and arms at the National University Hospital. His condition is said to stable although a sign outside his ward on Tuesday morning says 'No visitors allowed.'
