He soon fell into debt and his mother had to help him pay back the $1,000 he owed. He promised his mother that he would stop betting.
But problems escalated. In January, his father caught him sniffing glue in his bedroom. Zhi Xiang, the youngest of three children, said he did it for fun and promised to never do it again.
But in less than three months, he was back to his old ways, betting, loitering around void decks and sniffing glue with friends.
On March 1 at about 6am, he called his close friend of four years, Koh Wee Kiat, also 18, and asked to meet him at the void deck of Wee Kiat's block at Upper Boon Keng Road, near Kallang.
There he told him he was again in debt, owing about $900 due to online soccer betting. To ease his anxiety, they decided to sniff glue.
Wee Kiat told The Straits Times that at about 7.12am, Zhi Xiang called him but he was already asleep.
Shortly after, Zhi Xiang's body was found at the foot of the block. On the same day, his family found a note left in his room stating that he wished to go and hoped to see them in his next life.
State Coroner Victor Yeo recorded a verdict of suicide on his death.
Read the full story in The Straits Times on Saturday.
