<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Father and son 'visited school before death fall'
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Man's friend says the seven-year-old boy had quarrelled with a schoolmate </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Mavis Toh
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</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Mr J.B. Bakar (in yellow) and Mr Hakim Sikkander, friends of the late Mr Mohamed Farook Ali Akbar, paying their respects at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->He left India nine years ago to make Singapore his home.
Now he is buried at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>HELPLINES
Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
Family Service Centre: 1800-838-0100
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Mr Mohamed Farook Ali Akbar, 35, and his seven-year-old son Faheem Mohamed Farook fell to their deaths from the 24th floor of Block 287 in Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 on Friday afternoon.
According to witnesses, Fa- heem fell first.
Yesterday, the two bodies were claimed from the mortuary at about 1.30pm.
Mr Farook's wife, Anis, and 15 friends and family members then went to a mosque where the bodies were prepared for burial. Religious rites were also carried out.
The bodies were later buried, side by side, at the cemetery.
The Sunday Times understands that a distraught Madam Anis had to be warded at Alexandra Hospital after giving her police statement on Friday evening.
Family friend Muhd Umar Uddin, 40, who accompanied Madam Anis to the police station, said the 32-year-old broke down several times while there.
'She was weak and very unstable,' said the odd-job labourer whose wife and Madam Anis are good friends.
Friends and neighbours said the couple left their home town in Tamil Nadu in 2000 and became permanent residents here. They had been living in Bukit Batok for at least four years.
The wife is a housewife while Mr Farook worked previously as a software engineer in a bank before taking up his current job in a hospital lab. Their son attended Bukit View Primary School.
Neighbours added that the dead man's elder brother lives in a flat nearby.
Shopkeeper Sheik Mohamed Ali, 26, described the family as close-knit and friendly. They would visit his shop thrice weekly to stock up on groceries imported from India.
Father and son would usually chat and joke with him while the wife shopped.
'Recently, we talked about the recession and I asked if he was affected,' said Mr Sheik. 'He said his job was secure.'
Mr J.B. Bakar, 62, a butcher in the neighbourhood, said Mr Farook had told his wife recently that he would transfer all his properties in India to her.
On Friday, he had taken a day off from work to meet his son's teacher.
'The wife said that Faheem quarrelled with another boy in school, and the teacher scolded him,' said Mr Bakar. 'Farook wanted to clear up the matter.'
Father and son were then supposed to head for Friday prayers before buying lunch and going home. But they never made it back.
At 2.30pm, a worried Madam Anis wandered around the neighbourhood looking for them when Mr Farook did not answer his phone.
She went to a briyani stall at Block 277 to ask if someone had seen the pair.
'She was crying and very anxious,' said owner Hakim Sikkander.
'By then, news had spread that two bodies had been found.' [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Man's friend says the seven-year-old boy had quarrelled with a schoolmate </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Mavis Toh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr J.B. Bakar (in yellow) and Mr Hakim Sikkander, friends of the late Mr Mohamed Farook Ali Akbar, paying their respects at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->He left India nine years ago to make Singapore his home.
Now he is buried at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>HELPLINES
Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
Family Service Centre: 1800-838-0100
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Mr Mohamed Farook Ali Akbar, 35, and his seven-year-old son Faheem Mohamed Farook fell to their deaths from the 24th floor of Block 287 in Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 on Friday afternoon.
According to witnesses, Fa- heem fell first.
Yesterday, the two bodies were claimed from the mortuary at about 1.30pm.
Mr Farook's wife, Anis, and 15 friends and family members then went to a mosque where the bodies were prepared for burial. Religious rites were also carried out.
The bodies were later buried, side by side, at the cemetery.
The Sunday Times understands that a distraught Madam Anis had to be warded at Alexandra Hospital after giving her police statement on Friday evening.
Family friend Muhd Umar Uddin, 40, who accompanied Madam Anis to the police station, said the 32-year-old broke down several times while there.
'She was weak and very unstable,' said the odd-job labourer whose wife and Madam Anis are good friends.
Friends and neighbours said the couple left their home town in Tamil Nadu in 2000 and became permanent residents here. They had been living in Bukit Batok for at least four years.
The wife is a housewife while Mr Farook worked previously as a software engineer in a bank before taking up his current job in a hospital lab. Their son attended Bukit View Primary School.
Neighbours added that the dead man's elder brother lives in a flat nearby.
Shopkeeper Sheik Mohamed Ali, 26, described the family as close-knit and friendly. They would visit his shop thrice weekly to stock up on groceries imported from India.
Father and son would usually chat and joke with him while the wife shopped.
'Recently, we talked about the recession and I asked if he was affected,' said Mr Sheik. 'He said his job was secure.'
Mr J.B. Bakar, 62, a butcher in the neighbourhood, said Mr Farook had told his wife recently that he would transfer all his properties in India to her.
On Friday, he had taken a day off from work to meet his son's teacher.
'The wife said that Faheem quarrelled with another boy in school, and the teacher scolded him,' said Mr Bakar. 'Farook wanted to clear up the matter.'
Father and son were then supposed to head for Friday prayers before buying lunch and going home. But they never made it back.
At 2.30pm, a worried Madam Anis wandered around the neighbourhood looking for them when Mr Farook did not answer his phone.
She went to a briyani stall at Block 277 to ask if someone had seen the pair.
'She was crying and very anxious,' said owner Hakim Sikkander.
'By then, news had spread that two bodies had been found.' [email protected]
