Horrible!

Tonight I am going to post this story from Singapore and this is one most horrible compulsive gambling stories I have ever read. Compulsive gambling is truly a baffling insidious addiction; here is the story:

Singapore gambler kills self

HE was a loving husband and father, but he had one vice - gambling. It became so compulsive that he racked up huge debts and it threatened to destroy his marriage. When loan sharks started hounding their home, his wife left with their young son. Three years later, they reconciled when he paid off his debts. They had a second child.

But just as life was looking up, Simon Lee Kok Hwa got sucked back into his gambling addiction and sank into heavy debt again. This time it ended in tragedy - his wife and children were found dead in their Tampines flat after he plunged to his death on 7 Mar this year.

Yesterday, following an inquest into their deaths, his wife's family gave vent to their anger. Anger over how Lee, 40, had ended the lives of his loved ones - and also how his callous, cowardly act had dragged his wife's name into their children's deaths. State Coroner Tan Boon Heng had ruled their deaths as murder-suicide.

He said Lee had committed suicide and was responsible for strangling his wife, Madam Wee Chye Lian, 39, and killing their children, Jonathan, 11, and Sheena, 3. But he added that he could not rule out that Madam Wee might have had a hand in killing the children because the evidence was inconclusive. Her family was upset by the suggestion that she may have helped to sedate the children by feeding them cough syrup.

Said Madam Wee's brother-in-law, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lok: 'It was (Lee's) own doing. She had no part in letting herself or her kids die. It was very irresponsible of him.'
Added his wife, Madam Wee's younger sister, in a choking voice: 'She was a good person, a good wife and a loving mother.' Mr Lok said Lee's wife and children had no clue about his latest gambling debts. Interviews with neighbours and his church pastors at the time of the incident also suggested this.

'We thought he had changed, but he went back to his old ways. He brought it upon himself,' said Mr Lok. He recalled that Madam Wee, an operations executive, had once held a few jobs to help her husband pay off huge gambling debts 10 years ago.

Mr Lok, who's in his mid-30s, said of his sister-in-law: 'She was a dutiful and responsible woman.' Madam Wee's family also tried to help Lee, he added.
'Whatever we can chip in, we will help. 'The father of two even lent Lee $3,000 in February this year. It was his second loan to his brother-in-law. But what angered the family most was Lee's thoughtless act.

Mr Lok said: 'It was wrong of him to take the lives of the others. They were totally innocent.'
Madam Wee was the second of four siblings. Mr Lok said Lee's wife and children had no clue about his gambling debts. Interviews with neighbours and his church pastors at the time of the incident also suggested this.

Mr Lok said: 'If he had told us, we'd have helped him with his debts or work out a way for him.'
Those who knew Lee described him as a doting father. He often gave his kids little treats. Sheena had a room just for her toys, and her pictures were plastered all over the walls of their five-room flat. Jonathan had stacks of books.

Mr Lok said: 'He was a good father, but his gambling habit was just bad. We didn't know he was so compulsive.' Mr Lok's 4-year-old son, who is the same age as Sheena, was upset by her death as they were close playmates. 'The children were obedient and well-behaved,' he said.
Lee and his wife had met when they were still young. By 28, he was an excited father.
But things went downhill 10 years ago when he chalked up $100,000 in gambling debts and turned to loansharks.

His wife, who threatened to divorce him, left with little Jonathan when loan sharks harassed them. Lee took on several jobs and overtime work. He took three years to repay his debts.
He was made a bankrupt in March 1997 and given a discharge in June 2001. He reconciled with his wife after they went for counseling.

Then came the baby girl he always wanted. He cared for her for a month, a friend said.
But a trip to Genting Highlands marked the beginning of the end for Lee. He was said to have gambled away $4,000. He used his credit card to pay for the loss. But when he returned to Singapore, he could not pay the banks and turned to loan sharks again. The amount ballooned to $10,000, which he borrowed from his church to pay the loan sharks.

Still, he continued to borrow more money from others, court documents said.
Perhaps the straw that broke the camel's back was his unit number nearly striking third prize in the 4D draw the evening before the tragedy. He had missed the mark by a digit.

Court documents said he owed relatives, friends, colleagues and loan sharks a total of $32,900.
Lee spent the night before the tragedy writing letters to his parents and siblings. He left behind notes to his insurance companies, his employer, HDB and CPF about money to be left to his parents.

He wrote to his in-laws and their family: 'I may be selfish in a sense by taking their lives but I have no choice. I do not want to suffer anymore.' Lee also requested for them to be buried or cremated as a family.

CORONER'S REPORT

IT seemed Simon Lee Kok Hwa was determined to end his life. He had slashed his wrists before he jumped. And if he had not died in the fall, he would have died of alcohol poisoning.
Lee's toxicology report showed he had consumed ''way beyond the fatal level'' of alcohol.

Before he jumped, he also blindfolded himself with a handkerchief. Constituents of cough mixtures were found in his wife and children. The report said: ''(They) were given and/took this with a common intention, probably at the behest of both the parents so that (they) were partly sedated before their deaths.''

Lee's wife, Madam Wee Chye Lian, was strangled and her children smothered to death. They were all dressed to go out. Several items were found next to their bodies and all three had their passports on or next to them. A pillow was found on top of Madam Wee, while a hand-held Gameboy was next to Jonathan. Sheena, partly covered by a blanket, was hugging Barney, a purple toy dinosaur, her favourite toy.

The police also found one note written in Mandarin, nine written in English and a note with information on debts in the flat.--