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Granny bashing ingrate <!-- TITLE : end--> <!--
Jobless man jailed for punching and threatening grandma, who says: "It pains me that I caused him to go to jail." -TNP --> </td> </tr> <tr></tr><tr> <td colspan="2" align="left" valign="top" width="550"> <table> <tbody><tr> <td> <table> <tbody><tr><td>
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="content_subtitle" align="left"> Fri, Jan 29, 2010
The New Paper </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td align="right" width="400">
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</td></tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" class="bodytext_10pt"> <!-- CONTENT : start --> By Chong Shin Yen
NO, HE did not bite the hand that fed him. He did far worse: He punched his 83-year-old grandmother's head twice, pulled her hair and threatened to stab her. Why? Because she could only afford to give him $20. Madam Tan Poh Teen is Seow Kok Hock's paternal grandmother. He is her favourite grandson. She took him in when no one would raise him. And, despite his ungrateful, violent behaviour, she is caring for his two daughters. Seow's mother had abandoned him when he was 3. His father was busy working long hours as a rag and bone man. Madam Tan would slog as a dishwasher and cleaner, and take on odd jobs to earn a bit more to raise him. She would scrimp and save to buy him new clothes and toys.
Pain
Fast forward 20 years. Last year, he repaid her with pain - twice. In the latest incident, he had asked Madam Tan for money to feed his football gambling habit. He became upset when she gave him only $20. Last Thursday, the jobless 26-year-old was jailed six months after he pleaded guilty to threatening Madam Tan and causing hurt to her.
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</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Seow Kok Hock, 26.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Two other charges of hurting his wife, 25, were taken into consideration during sentencing. Yet Madam Tan does not hold it against her grandson. Her love for him was clear. Her weather-beaten face lit up when she spoke about how Seow had "a good heart" but ended up mixing with the wrong company.
Madam Tan told The New Paper in Hokkien: "He's actually not a pai kia (Hokkien for bad child). I doted on all my nine grandchildren but I felt the most for him. He's so pitiful because his mother was not around for him." When asked if Seow's punches had hurt her, Madam Tan was quick to defend him.
"No, no, he didn't hit me. He only pulled my hair when I refused to give him more money," she claimed. But the court heard differently. On 2 Nov, Madam Tan and Seow were at home at her flat in Block 233, Jurong East Street 21, when he asked her for money. Seow told his grandmother that he was in debt over football gambling.
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</td> </tr> <tr> <td>"He's actually not a pai kia (Hokkien for bad child)... He's so pitiful because his mother was not around for him." -Madam Tan (holding a grandchild), on Seow Kok Hock</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Madam Tan initially refused to help him feed his habit. But he became aggressive. She then relented and gave him $20. But Seow was not satisfied, saying it was not enough.
When he threatened to stab her with a knife, a frightened Madam Tan tried to leave the flat.Seow grabbed her by her hair.
He then punched her twice on her head.
Madam Tan, a great-grandmother of four, managed to break free and rushed to the Jurong East Neighbourhood Police Centre to seek help. Seow was subsequently arrested.
Recalled Madam Tan: "I was so scared that day. I went to the police hoping to scare him. I didn't know they would arrest him. "It pains me that I caused him to end up in jail." Madam Tan was silent when asked if it was the first timeSeow had attacked her. Previous media reports reveal that last June, he had been jailed nine weeks for kicking Madam Tan and threatening his father.
"He spent the money on football gambling," she said. "If I had the money, I would have given him more. "But I look after his two kids and I really don't have much to spare him." Seow got married about three years ago. He and his wife have two daughters, aged 2 and 1.
Not much money
Madam Tan was looking after the younger child when The New Paper visited her on Monday. Carrying the child with one arm, she said: "I'm old already. I can't take care of two children, so the elder one is at a childcare centre." She continues to scrimp - these days for his children. Every day, her lunch is simply a cup of coffee with three biscuits. She grinds brown rice and mixes it with milk powder to feed Seow's children.
"If I have extra money, I buy some fish for them." Madam Tan said that Seow's wife works at a shopping mall and earns about $800 a month. Her son - Seow's father - gives her about $200 a month while Seow's wife contributes about $130. The furniture in the spartan four-room flat was given to them by her seven other children. The flat belongs to Madam Tan and her late husband. necessities like diapers are paid for by Madam Tan's other children.
Madam Tan said Seow, who used to work as a pump attendant, had been jobless for a "very long" time. She added: "When he lost his job, I tried to help him find anot her one. "I even went to his previous workplace to ask the manager to take him back. But he told me that Kok Hock turned up for work as and when he pleased, and he didn't want him back." Madam Tan added that each time Seow bought a newspaper to look for a job, he would claim 90 cents from her.
She could not remember when he dropped out of school. "He quarrelled with his teacher one day and, after that, he didn't go to school again," she said matter-of-factly. Has Seow ever showed even the slightest sign of gratitude? For example, has he ever bought anything for her? Madam Tan's reply was swift: "No, he was broke. And I'd be happy if he doesn't ask me for money." But, she quickly added: "When his wife visited him in prison, he told her to buy a new blouse for me for Chinese New Year." - additional reporting by Kua Chee Siong
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Granny bashing ingrate <!-- TITLE : end--> <!--
Jobless man jailed for punching and threatening grandma, who says: "It pains me that I caused him to go to jail." -TNP --> </td> </tr> <tr></tr><tr> <td colspan="2" align="left" valign="top" width="550"> <table> <tbody><tr> <td> <table> <tbody><tr><td>
The New Paper </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td align="right" width="400">
</td><td>
</td></tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" class="bodytext_10pt"> <!-- CONTENT : start --> By Chong Shin Yen
NO, HE did not bite the hand that fed him. He did far worse: He punched his 83-year-old grandmother's head twice, pulled her hair and threatened to stab her. Why? Because she could only afford to give him $20. Madam Tan Poh Teen is Seow Kok Hock's paternal grandmother. He is her favourite grandson. She took him in when no one would raise him. And, despite his ungrateful, violent behaviour, she is caring for his two daughters. Seow's mother had abandoned him when he was 3. His father was busy working long hours as a rag and bone man. Madam Tan would slog as a dishwasher and cleaner, and take on odd jobs to earn a bit more to raise him. She would scrimp and save to buy him new clothes and toys.
Pain
Fast forward 20 years. Last year, he repaid her with pain - twice. In the latest incident, he had asked Madam Tan for money to feed his football gambling habit. He became upset when she gave him only $20. Last Thursday, the jobless 26-year-old was jailed six months after he pleaded guilty to threatening Madam Tan and causing hurt to her.
<table align="left" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" width="200"> <tbody><tr> <td>
Madam Tan told The New Paper in Hokkien: "He's actually not a pai kia (Hokkien for bad child). I doted on all my nine grandchildren but I felt the most for him. He's so pitiful because his mother was not around for him." When asked if Seow's punches had hurt her, Madam Tan was quick to defend him.
"No, no, he didn't hit me. He only pulled my hair when I refused to give him more money," she claimed. But the court heard differently. On 2 Nov, Madam Tan and Seow were at home at her flat in Block 233, Jurong East Street 21, when he asked her for money. Seow told his grandmother that he was in debt over football gambling.
<table align="right" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" width="250"> <tbody><tr> <td>
When he threatened to stab her with a knife, a frightened Madam Tan tried to leave the flat.Seow grabbed her by her hair.
He then punched her twice on her head.
Madam Tan, a great-grandmother of four, managed to break free and rushed to the Jurong East Neighbourhood Police Centre to seek help. Seow was subsequently arrested.
Recalled Madam Tan: "I was so scared that day. I went to the police hoping to scare him. I didn't know they would arrest him. "It pains me that I caused him to end up in jail." Madam Tan was silent when asked if it was the first timeSeow had attacked her. Previous media reports reveal that last June, he had been jailed nine weeks for kicking Madam Tan and threatening his father.
"He spent the money on football gambling," she said. "If I had the money, I would have given him more. "But I look after his two kids and I really don't have much to spare him." Seow got married about three years ago. He and his wife have two daughters, aged 2 and 1.
Not much money
Madam Tan was looking after the younger child when The New Paper visited her on Monday. Carrying the child with one arm, she said: "I'm old already. I can't take care of two children, so the elder one is at a childcare centre." She continues to scrimp - these days for his children. Every day, her lunch is simply a cup of coffee with three biscuits. She grinds brown rice and mixes it with milk powder to feed Seow's children.
"If I have extra money, I buy some fish for them." Madam Tan said that Seow's wife works at a shopping mall and earns about $800 a month. Her son - Seow's father - gives her about $200 a month while Seow's wife contributes about $130. The furniture in the spartan four-room flat was given to them by her seven other children. The flat belongs to Madam Tan and her late husband. necessities like diapers are paid for by Madam Tan's other children.
Madam Tan said Seow, who used to work as a pump attendant, had been jobless for a "very long" time. She added: "When he lost his job, I tried to help him find anot her one. "I even went to his previous workplace to ask the manager to take him back. But he told me that Kok Hock turned up for work as and when he pleased, and he didn't want him back." Madam Tan added that each time Seow bought a newspaper to look for a job, he would claim 90 cents from her.
She could not remember when he dropped out of school. "He quarrelled with his teacher one day and, after that, he didn't go to school again," she said matter-of-factly. Has Seow ever showed even the slightest sign of gratitude? For example, has he ever bought anything for her? Madam Tan's reply was swift: "No, he was broke. And I'd be happy if he doesn't ask me for money." But, she quickly added: "When his wife visited him in prison, he told her to buy a new blouse for me for Chinese New Year." - additional reporting by Kua Chee Siong
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