G
General Veers
Guest
China worker accused of stabbing friend over overtime spat
13 Jan 2010
Source: The New Paper
HE WAS fuming after being denied overtime work by his boss while his colleague was allowed to do so.
His anger escalated to murderous rage the next day and he stabbed his colleague to death in the flat in which they both lived.
He then went to his workplace where he attacked his supervisor with a hammer, smashed computers and other equipment and tried to set the premises on fire.
That is the string of violent acts that Luo Faming, 37, is accused of carrying out.
The prosecution delivered its opening address in Luo’s murder trial yesterday.
The Chinese national is accused of killing his friend, Mr Gong Hui Long, 27, in their rented flat in Block 94, Henderson Road, on 4 Sep 2008.
He is also accused of using a hammer to hit Madam Ng Sin Lai, 57, on her head several times and trying to strangle her.
Madam Ng lost consciousness and Luo allegedly poured thinner on the factory premises and set it alight.
He also allegedly used a hammer to smash nine computer monitors and other equipment, causing damage of about $250,000.
Fortunately, Madam Ng regained consciousness in time and escaped from the fire.
The court was told that Luo and Mr Gong hailed from the same province in China and knew each other before they arrived in Singapore in February 2007.
They worked for the same printing and publishing company here but were assigned different duties.
Luo did lamination work while Mr Gong was given printing work.
They used to share a room but later lived in different rooms. Their friendship soured over a misunderstanding related to work issues.
Seated in the dock yesterday, Luo, sporting a crew cut, wore a slight frown and listened intently to a Mandarin court interpreter. He sat hunched throughout the proceedings.
His friend of about 11 years, Mr Tan Chuan Chuan, a machine operator, told the court that he received a call from Luo on the evening before the killing.
Luo told him that he had quarrelled with his boss and wanted to return to China.
The two agreed to meet at Henderson Hawker Centre that night with some other friends.
Over dinner and beer, Luo told them that he had quarrelled with his boss because of overtime work.
He was upset that Mr Gong was entitled to overtime work, but he was not.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Amarjit Singh earlier told the court that Luo and Mr Gong had a scuffle at work around 5pm that day.
Luo’s supervisor tried to intervene “but was unable to stop the quarrel”.
Mr Tan said through a Mandarin interpreter: “(Luo) said he was unhappy at work and couldn’t get along with the deceased.
“He said the deceased was very petty and liked to report to the boss unnecessarily.”
Luo also told his friends that when he had a conflict with Mr Gong in the office, the latter pointed his finger at Luo’s head.
Said Mr Tan: “(Luo) was very angry. He said that nobody had done that to him before. The incident made him particularly angry.”
He said that Luo’s “emotional state” was “abnormal” that night.
He spoke loudly, looked very angry and “was behaving very emotionally”.
“His eyes were red, I believe he cried,” said Mr Tan.
He added that he had never seen Luo so upset before and was afraid that his friend would “do something silly”.
Mr Tan was so worried by Luo’s behaviour that he called the latter’s brother-in-law, who arrived at the hawker centre about 20 minutes
later.
The group tried to console Luo and advised him not to be impulsive.
Mr Tan said he left the hawker centre around 11pm, leaving Luo there with their friends.
At 7.45am the next morning, he called Luo and asked him where he was.
Mr Tan said Luo told him: “You don’t need to bother. I’ve already got rid of two people.”
Luo then hung up.
Mr Tan added that Luo was under a lot of pressure because he needed money to build his house in China. It is understood that Luo has a wife and a child in China.
Four of Luo’s flatmates, all of whom are Chinese nationals, also took the stand yesterday.
Two of them testified that they smelt alcohol in Luo’s breath when he returned to the flat late at night on 3 Sep.
Three testified that they were woken up by shouts around 6am the next day.
Mr Liang Yu Liang, who works at a restaurant, said he saw someone pin down Mr Gong with his left hand and move his right hand in a back-and-forth motion several times at Mr Gong.
Thinking that the two were fighting, Mr Liang shouted “enough” to them in Mandarin. He then went to the toilet.
When he came out, he saw Luo leaving the flat. Mr Gong was lying motionless in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor.
Mr Zhang Qi, who shared a room with Luo, testified that Luo and Mr Gong were not on good terms and did not speak to each other in the flat.
He recalled an incident in 2007 where the two had a heated argument.
Mr Zhang, a baker, also heard from a female flatmate that Luo had problems with Mr Gong at work and that Luo’s boss intended to send him back to China.
Luo, who is represented by Mr Anand Nalachandran and Mr Jansen Lim, faces the death penalty if he is convicted of murder.
The trial has been adjourned to May.
