Teen blogger who says drowned schoolmate deserves canal death gets bashed
Injured, she goes to dead girl's flat with biscuits and apology note
May 01, 2007
SHE has admitted that what she said about her schoolmate was insensitive and tried to apologise to the latter's mother but that didn't save her from a savage beating.
Her assailants were apparently outraged over the Secondary 3 student's blog, in which she wrote that Debra Koh, 14, the Hillgrove Secondary School student who drowned last week in the Sungei Pandan canal, deserved to die.
The blogger, known as Tian Tian, told Lianhe Wanbao that a group of teens, some of whom were believed to be from her school, had attacked her.
Last week, Tian Tian, accompanied by a male schoolmate, had gone to Debra's wake to apologise to her family for what she had written on her blog.
But just before they arrived, a group of 20 teens pounced on them.
Tian Tian alleged that she and her friend were dragged to a multi-storey carpark and viciously beaten up for half an hour.
She said she was slapped on the face by a girl from another school more than 20 times. She also alleged that she was kicked in the abdomen about five or six times, and had her head bashed against the wall two or three times.
Another two boys kicked and elbowed her friend.
While they were being beaten, the other teens stood around egging the attackers on.
She said the bashing stopped only after the police arrived following a call from a member of the public. But the attackers managed to flee.
Police spokesman Lim Tung Li told The New Paper this morning that police received a call on 24 Apr at about 7.15pm informing them about a large group of youths at a multi-storey carpark at Toh Guan Road. They are now investigating.
Tian Tian said the attack left her with a swollen face and has affected her hearing. She will be seeing an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor.
SCARED
But she's now afraid to return to school. Her mother, Madam Hu, 40, a businesswoman, said she plans to transfer her to another school as soon as possible.
'My daughter should not have written that about (Debra). But what that group of teens did was too much,' she said.
Tian Tian said that she now realises her mistake.
She told Lianhe Wanbao: 'When I wrote in the blog, I did not consider Debra's family's feelings. Now I know I was wrong.'
Madam Hu also took Tian Tian to Debra's house yesterday morning to apologise to her mother. They took fruit and biscuits, but no one was home, so they left a note to apologise.
Tian Tian claims that she wrote the blog on impulse because she and Debra had a run-in late last year.
She claimed Debra and two friends allegedly beat her up in a HDB void deck.
Tian Tian claimed she did not know why she was targeted.
She said that beating came after she had removed the offending blog posting and replaced it with an apology.
She said that one of Debra's friends had told her to go to the wake to apologise.
And it was when she arrived that she was attacked.
Tian Tian estimated that including passerbys, about 50 people witnessed the attack.
Tian Tian's father, 39, a contractor, told Lianhe Wanbao that the day after the beating, a group of teens came to their flat and smashed a flower pot at their doorstep.
He said that night at about 12.30am, he had just finished watching TV and was preparing to go to bed when he heard a loud smash outside.
He opened the door and saw that one of the flower pots outside the house had been smashed.
He said: 'I saw three or four teens, about 17 or 18 years old, running towards the lift, but I didn't see their faces clearly, only that the last person was a girl.'
Madam Hu said that her daughter is a decent student who tends to be quiet, so she might be mistaken as cold.
When The New Paper checked Tian Tian's blog this morning, it read:
'I sincerely apologise to Debra & her family & friends for what I've wrote.
'Let bygones be bygones. Things had past.
'I hope that you guys can let the matter rest. And cease (to) talk about it. My condolences to Debra & again, I'm sorry.'
Tian Tian also said that when her posting was replicated in other blogs, it was edited to make it seem worse that it was originally.
The tragedy happened on 22 Apr at about 3.40pm. Debra and three friends were playing along the Sungei Pandan canal at Bukit Batok West Avenue when the bag they were playing toss with landed in the canal.
The four climbed into the canal, which had ankle-deep water at the time, to retrieve the bag.
But because of a heavy downpour, the canal flooded suddenly and they were swept away.
Three of the teenagers - Toh Shi Hui, 14; Leong Kim Weng, 14; and Alson Chua, 13 - were rescued and suffered only minor injuries.
But Debra, an only child, drowned.
Her body was found the next day, about 20 hours after she went missing.
