Sheng Siong kidnapping: Victim resting at home, misses medical appointment

Madam Ng Lye Poh, the mother of supermarket chain head-honcho Lim Hock Chee, will not be attending a scheduled doctor's appointment on Friday. -- PHOTO: ZAO BAO
Madam Ng Lye Poh, the mother of supermarket chain head-honcho Lim Hock Chee, will not be attending a scheduled doctor's appointment on Friday. -- PHOTO: ZAO BAO

Madam Ng Lye Poh, the mother of supermarket chain head-honcho Lim Hock Chee, will not be attending a scheduled doctor's appointment on Friday.

Her son told reporters camped outside his Jalan Arif home earlier that Madam Ng is still resting - a day after she was released by two kidnappers - and will miss her medical review at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Mr Lim, who founded Sheng Siong, said he would not be letting his mother venture beyond the house after she was abducted on Wednesday morning while she was on her way home from a nearby market.

Another reason was the half a dozen reporters and photographers waiting to catch a glimpse of Madam Ng or interview her since news of her kidnapping broke on Thursday.

Madam Ng was not hurt during her kidnap ordeal. The two men who allegedly abducted and held the 79-year-old for ransom, were charged in court on Friday under the Kidnapping Act.

Lee Sze Yong, 41, is accused of abducting Madam Ng Lye Poh on Wednesday between 10.30am and 1.02pm along Hougang Avenue 2, with intent to hold her for ransom. His accomplice, Heng Chen Boon, 50, is said to have helped him confine the victim in a vehicle between 8.30pm and midnight.

The court granted the prosecution's request for the two Singaporeans to be remanded in police custody for further investigations. The case against them will be heard again on Jan 17. The men face the death penalty or life in jail if convicted for the offence. Lee, who is the younger of the two, may also be caned.

Madam Ng was released unhurt shortly after Mr Lim paid a $2 million ransom just before midnight on Wednesday. She was kidnapped earlier that day after a trip to a nearby market and taken by car, while blindfolded and bound, to an unknown place.

The suspects were nabbed by the police at about 1am, an hour or so after Mr Lim dropped off the ransom under a tree in Sembawang Park. The cash was recovered in full by the police at the ransom drop-off point after Madam Ng was released.


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