<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>June 6, 2009
Stressed, scared and in debt
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Teen gets high on glue and jumps to his death
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elena Chong & Jessica Lim
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->AN 18-YEAR-OLD school dropout, in debt from sports betting, fell 13 floors to his death after sniffing glue with his friend.
A coroner's court yesterday heard that Tiew Zhi Xiang's tragic demise began in the middle of last year when he began to bet on soccer online.
He soon fell into debt and his mother had to help him pay back the $1,000 he owed. He promised his mother that he would stop betting.
But problems escalated. In January, his father caught him sniffing glue in his bedroom. Zhi Xiang, the youngest of three children, said he did it for fun and promised to never do it again.
But in less than three months, he was back to his old ways, betting, loitering around void decks and sniffing glue with friends.
On March 1 at about 6am, he called his close friend of four years, Koh Wee Kiat, also 18, and asked to meet him at the void deck of Wee Kiat's block at Upper Boon Keng Road, near Kallang.
There he told him he was again in debt, owing about $900 due to online soccer betting. To ease his anxiety, they decided to sniff glue.
They went to the 13th floor, where Wee Kiat lived, and sniffed glue at the staircase landing.
Zhi Xiang told his friend then that he felt like dying, but the latter did not take his comment seriously.
At about 7am, Wee Kiat decided to go to bed. He saw Zhi Xiang off before returning to his flat.
The estate's closed-circuit video cameras showed Zhi Xiang going back to the the 13th floor, all the time holding a plastic bag, from which he sniffed.
Wee Kiat told The Straits Times that at about 7.12am, Zhi Xiang called him but he was already asleep.
Shortly after, Zhi Xiang's body was found at the foot of the block.
On the same day, his family found a note left in his room stating that he wished to go and hoped to see them in his next life.
State Coroner Victor Yeo recorded a verdict of suicide on his death.
When contacted, the teenager's father, Mr Tiew Kim Choon, said the family was coping with the incident as 'it is over now'.
The 47-year-old said in Mandarin: 'There is nothing we can do about it.
'We just have to accept it. When it happened, we were shocked. There were no warning signs at all.'
Zhi Xiang's death has put his friend back on the straight and narrow.
Wee Kiat was so affected by the death that he gave up sniffing glue.
'I don't want to be next. It's just so scary, I don't want to spoil my brains,' said the teen, who is also a school dropout. 'If I didn't agree to sniff glue with him, this might not have happened.'
Some warning signs parents can look for, said Ms Peng Hai Ying, 29, a senior social worker who regularly counsels problem gamblers, are 'deteriorating grades and an alteration in their daily routine'.
Said the counsellor from the Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society: 'If parents observe a change in their child's behaviour, like constantly asking for extra pocket money, keeping late hours or locking themselves up in their room for extended hours of time, something could be wrong.'
Her advice: If a parent senses something is amiss with their children, urge them to open up, assuring them that they have their support, then monitor their behaviour.
[email protected]
[email protected]
<HR SIZE=1 width="50%">
Helplines
Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
Family Service Centre: 1800-838-0100
Care Corner Mandarin Counselling Centre: 1800-353-5800
The National Problem Gaming Helpline: 1800-666-8668
Stressed, scared and in debt
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Teen gets high on glue and jumps to his death
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elena Chong & Jessica Lim
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->AN 18-YEAR-OLD school dropout, in debt from sports betting, fell 13 floors to his death after sniffing glue with his friend.
A coroner's court yesterday heard that Tiew Zhi Xiang's tragic demise began in the middle of last year when he began to bet on soccer online.
He soon fell into debt and his mother had to help him pay back the $1,000 he owed. He promised his mother that he would stop betting.
But problems escalated. In January, his father caught him sniffing glue in his bedroom. Zhi Xiang, the youngest of three children, said he did it for fun and promised to never do it again.
But in less than three months, he was back to his old ways, betting, loitering around void decks and sniffing glue with friends.
On March 1 at about 6am, he called his close friend of four years, Koh Wee Kiat, also 18, and asked to meet him at the void deck of Wee Kiat's block at Upper Boon Keng Road, near Kallang.
There he told him he was again in debt, owing about $900 due to online soccer betting. To ease his anxiety, they decided to sniff glue.
They went to the 13th floor, where Wee Kiat lived, and sniffed glue at the staircase landing.
Zhi Xiang told his friend then that he felt like dying, but the latter did not take his comment seriously.
At about 7am, Wee Kiat decided to go to bed. He saw Zhi Xiang off before returning to his flat.
The estate's closed-circuit video cameras showed Zhi Xiang going back to the the 13th floor, all the time holding a plastic bag, from which he sniffed.
Wee Kiat told The Straits Times that at about 7.12am, Zhi Xiang called him but he was already asleep.
Shortly after, Zhi Xiang's body was found at the foot of the block.
On the same day, his family found a note left in his room stating that he wished to go and hoped to see them in his next life.
State Coroner Victor Yeo recorded a verdict of suicide on his death.
When contacted, the teenager's father, Mr Tiew Kim Choon, said the family was coping with the incident as 'it is over now'.
The 47-year-old said in Mandarin: 'There is nothing we can do about it.
'We just have to accept it. When it happened, we were shocked. There were no warning signs at all.'
Zhi Xiang's death has put his friend back on the straight and narrow.
Wee Kiat was so affected by the death that he gave up sniffing glue.
'I don't want to be next. It's just so scary, I don't want to spoil my brains,' said the teen, who is also a school dropout. 'If I didn't agree to sniff glue with him, this might not have happened.'
Some warning signs parents can look for, said Ms Peng Hai Ying, 29, a senior social worker who regularly counsels problem gamblers, are 'deteriorating grades and an alteration in their daily routine'.
Said the counsellor from the Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society: 'If parents observe a change in their child's behaviour, like constantly asking for extra pocket money, keeping late hours or locking themselves up in their room for extended hours of time, something could be wrong.'
Her advice: If a parent senses something is amiss with their children, urge them to open up, assuring them that they have their support, then monitor their behaviour.
[email protected]
[email protected]
<HR SIZE=1 width="50%">
Helplines
Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
Family Service Centre: 1800-838-0100
Care Corner Mandarin Counselling Centre: 1800-353-5800
The National Problem Gaming Helpline: 1800-666-8668
