http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,197939,00.html?
Wheelchair-bound man found hanged
Police release maid after investigations
By Amanda Yong
April 05, 2009
WHAT she saw when she got home on Thursday night would have broken the heart of any wife.
Her husband, Mr Lim Joo Hock, 55, who had been confined to a wheelchair for seven years, was hanging from a string in their bedroom.
The blue string was attached to a bar - commonly used by the wheelchair-bound to aid them in their movements.
The bar is fixed to the ceiling in the room, which faces the common corridor.
When contacted, the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed that they received a call around 7.40pm.
A police spokesman said paramedics arrived at the Lims' home at 8.20pm and pronounced him dead.
The New Paper understands that he was last seen alive by the family's Indonesian maid at 4pm.
When Mrs Lim arrived home at Block 98, Whampoa Drive, around 7pm to find the door of the bedroom locked, she used a hammer to break open the lock.
When she saw her husband's body, she ran next door to ask the neighbour to call for an ambulance.
HIS ROOM: Mr Lim Joo Hock (top) was found dead in his locked bedroom. --PICTURES: LIANHE WANBAO, LIANHE ZAOBAO
The neighbour, who declined to be named, said: 'I had just got back from work when she came over and asked me to call for an ambulance.
'So I did and I helped to pass to her instructions from the operator who said: 'Don't move the body, don't touch anything.' '
She added that she did not know the family well.
'Before he was wheelchair-bound, we would just say 'hi' and 'bye' to each other when we were rushing to go to work. But after (he became wheelchair-bound), he seldom came out,' she said.
Still, she did notice the maid wheeling Mr Lim out of the flat now and then for walks in the neighbourhood.
Mr Lim's lower body was paralysed after a car accident seven years ago, reported Lianhe Wanbao. He also lost the use of his left hand.
Following the accident, his family hired a maid solely to care for him.
Their current maid has been with the family for only two months, after the previous maid left when her contract ended, neighbours told Shin Min Daily News.
Neighbours said Mr Lim had been living with his wife, their son and daughter, in the three-room flat for more than 10 years.
Kept to themselves
But they largely kept to themselves and did not mix much with their neighbours.
The neighbours The New Paper spoke to also said they did not know the family well.
Only a few had met Mr Lim or his wife at lift landings or along the common corridors of the block.
One neighbour said in Mandarin: 'We've heard from other neighbours that the wife owns a cleaning company and whenever we see her, she's usually quite well-dressed.'
Another neighbour also said in Mandarin that Mrs Lim was 'always well-dressed'.
The family declined to speak to reporters at Mr Lim's wake yesterday evening.
'It is a very distressing time for us and we don't want people to be scraping the bottom of the barrel,' said Mr Lim's son, who looked to be in his late 20s or early30s.
The police spokesman said that statements had been taken from the family members. The maid was also taken back for questioning.
The New Paper understands that she was sent to her maid agency after being released by the police.
The spokesman added: 'Police are currently investigating the unnatural death.'
Wheelchair-bound man found hanged
Police release maid after investigations
By Amanda Yong
April 05, 2009
WHAT she saw when she got home on Thursday night would have broken the heart of any wife.
Her husband, Mr Lim Joo Hock, 55, who had been confined to a wheelchair for seven years, was hanging from a string in their bedroom.
The blue string was attached to a bar - commonly used by the wheelchair-bound to aid them in their movements.
The bar is fixed to the ceiling in the room, which faces the common corridor.
When contacted, the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed that they received a call around 7.40pm.
A police spokesman said paramedics arrived at the Lims' home at 8.20pm and pronounced him dead.
The New Paper understands that he was last seen alive by the family's Indonesian maid at 4pm.
When Mrs Lim arrived home at Block 98, Whampoa Drive, around 7pm to find the door of the bedroom locked, she used a hammer to break open the lock.
When she saw her husband's body, she ran next door to ask the neighbour to call for an ambulance.
HIS ROOM: Mr Lim Joo Hock (top) was found dead in his locked bedroom. --PICTURES: LIANHE WANBAO, LIANHE ZAOBAO
The neighbour, who declined to be named, said: 'I had just got back from work when she came over and asked me to call for an ambulance.
'So I did and I helped to pass to her instructions from the operator who said: 'Don't move the body, don't touch anything.' '
She added that she did not know the family well.
'Before he was wheelchair-bound, we would just say 'hi' and 'bye' to each other when we were rushing to go to work. But after (he became wheelchair-bound), he seldom came out,' she said.
Still, she did notice the maid wheeling Mr Lim out of the flat now and then for walks in the neighbourhood.
Mr Lim's lower body was paralysed after a car accident seven years ago, reported Lianhe Wanbao. He also lost the use of his left hand.
Following the accident, his family hired a maid solely to care for him.
Their current maid has been with the family for only two months, after the previous maid left when her contract ended, neighbours told Shin Min Daily News.
Neighbours said Mr Lim had been living with his wife, their son and daughter, in the three-room flat for more than 10 years.
Kept to themselves
But they largely kept to themselves and did not mix much with their neighbours.
The neighbours The New Paper spoke to also said they did not know the family well.
Only a few had met Mr Lim or his wife at lift landings or along the common corridors of the block.
One neighbour said in Mandarin: 'We've heard from other neighbours that the wife owns a cleaning company and whenever we see her, she's usually quite well-dressed.'
Another neighbour also said in Mandarin that Mrs Lim was 'always well-dressed'.
The family declined to speak to reporters at Mr Lim's wake yesterday evening.
'It is a very distressing time for us and we don't want people to be scraping the bottom of the barrel,' said Mr Lim's son, who looked to be in his late 20s or early30s.
The police spokesman said that statements had been taken from the family members. The maid was also taken back for questioning.
The New Paper understands that she was sent to her maid agency after being released by the police.
The spokesman added: 'Police are currently investigating the unnatural death.'
