Five hours later, Madam Lim was on the phone again.

She was told that her mother, Singapore businesswoman Tay Ah Lek, 61, had been murdered in a three-storey garment factory in Batam.

The caller was Madam Tay's Indonesian business partner of eight years, Mr Tio Yong Khing, 48. He had found her body in a pool of blood on the first storey of their shophouse at 3am.

Madam Tay visited Batam weekly to check on operations.

Madam Lim, a 41-year-

old housewife, said the attack could have been a 'planned insider's job', based on information from the Batam police and Mr Tio.

Chinese newspaper Shin Min reported yesterday that the police are looking for two former workers of the factory.

Madam Lim said her mother was attacked when she went to the first-storey kitchen area to dispose of some rubbish. She had a room on the third floor.

Madam Tay was strangled with a cloth and hit on the head with a wooden bat.

That night, Mr Tio, his teenage daughter and two other workers were also in the factory.

Madam Lim said Mr Tio went to the first storey to check on the power switch when the lights in his third-

floor room went out.

He was attacked on the head with a wooden bat. Madam Lim said Mr Tio thinks he saw a masked man who fled when he screamed.

He later discovered Madam Tay's body.

The two workers had apparently locked themselves in their second-floor room after they saw a masked man armed with a knife, said Madam Lim.

The Lim family believes the attack is not a mere case of a robbery gone wrong.

Madam Tay's gold necklace with a diamond-encrusted heart-shaped pendant worth 'a few thousand dollars' was untouched. Cash of about $20 was also found in her pockets.

But her gold bracelet and mobile phone were missing.

'There were no signs that the factory's locks were tampered with. How did the attackers come in?' asked Madam Lim.

Madam Tay leaves behind her businessman husband Lim Hock Soon, 65, two sons, a daughter and 10 grandchildren.

Her family described her as a generous and helpful workaholic.

Now, what they want is justice.

'How did such a kind woman die such a gruesome death?' said Madam Lim. 'The Batam police must try their best to find the culprits.'