DOUBLE TRAGEDY: Mr Ng had stabbed his wife Ruth in the chest several times in their apartment in New Jersey before drowning himself in the Hudson River. Earlier, he had abandoned two of their children at a restaurant. -- PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE NG FAMILY

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He even did all the household chores so she would not be too tired.

By all accounts, Mr Peter Ng, 58, was a devoted husband. He even gave up his life here to emigrate to the United States when his Filipino wife Ruth Sigue landed a nursing job there.

But last Monday, he stabbed his 38-year-old wife in the chest several times in their apartment in New Jersey and then drowned himself in the Hudson River.

Before he killed himself, he abandoned two of their three daughters, aged one and six, in a restaurant.

The couple's other daughter, aged three, is in the care of relatives in the Philippines.

A FRIEND'S WORRY 'When he told me he was going to the US, I was rather worried that he would find it hard to get a job at his age.' MR STEVEN LEE, who was Mr Ng's friend A MOTHER'S ADVICE 'If he had told me he believed she was having an affair with a colleague, I would have advised him to take things in his stride and try to work things through with more communication.' MR NG'S MOTHER

Mr Ng also had two children, a son and a daughter now in their 30s, from his first marriage.

On Monday, his son brought his ashes back here, reported Chinese evening daily Shin Min Daily News.

Mr Ng's 79-year-old mother and his grown-up daughter were among a small group of relatives who gathered to pay their respects yesterday at the Mandai Crematorium, where his ashes have been placed.

Madam Sigue's body was at a New Jersey funeral home till last Friday. Her family is arranging for it to be taken back to the Philippines this week.

Security manager Steven Lee, who knew Mr Ng from their days as taxi drivers, described him as 'friendly and sociable', and not the sort to be fazed by unreasonable passengers.

Mr Lee, 55, added: 'When he told me he was going to the US, I was rather worried that he would find it hard to get a job at his age.'

In New Jersey, Mr Ng was said to have worked as a driver and at various odd jobs, which made for an unstable income.

His wife earned US$5,000 (S$6,840) from her job in the medical centre near their apartment.

The couple apparently fell out because he thought she was having an affair with a colleague. But to everyone else outside their home, things had seemed normal.

A relative said that the pair were loving, and a fellow parishioner at the Roman Catholic Immaculate Conception Church the Ngs attended in New Jersey said: 'They seemed absolutely fine...That's why we are all so shocked.'

Mr Ng's mother said she last spoke to him on June 3 - for all of five minutes. She said he asked how she was before handing the phone to his two young daughters.

His mother said she thought he sounded slightly troubled, but did not say anything about it.

With her eyes reddening, she added: 'If he had told me he believed she was having an affair with a colleague, I would have advised him to take things in his stride and try to work things through with more communication.'

In New Jersey, the couple's daughters have been put in state custody, although Madam Sigue's younger sister hopes to adopt them.

One of Madam Sigue's relatives, now in the US, would only say: 'It's hard to be okay after this. But we are not at liberty to comment because there are young children involved.'

joolin@sph.com.sg

carolynq@sph.com.sg