Singapore ― Justin Lee, 17, who killed himself on Sept 16 while facing drug-trafficking charges, was no stereotypical unintelligent juvenile offender, according to a letter that his grieving mother wrote to Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.
Ms Cecilia Ow, 51, a senior lecturer at a polytechnic, posted the heart-wrenching letter to Instagram on Tuesday (Oct 12), calling for a thorough review of how the police handle juveniles under criminal investigation, and describing as “brutal” her son’s treatment at the hands of anti-narcotics officers.
In the wake of her letter being made public, the Central Narcotics Bureau says it is investigating, and the probe is due to be completed by the end of this month. The MHA will publish the findings.
In Ms Ow’s letter, which is as articulate and restrained as it is painful to read, she also reveals the son she knew and loved… and lost:
“Justin was an intelligent and witty child whose enthusiasm for learning made a positive impression on all his teachers. He was tactless at times but his charm and sense of humour won him many friends {evident from the number who showed up at his funeral). He was single-minded in pursuing his goals, and relentless in proving his points.”
The mother acknowledges that her son had his faults. She said: “Justin could be impatient and he sometimes made impulsive decisions. But he never had any disciplinary issues in school.”
This was how she described the Justin of a few years earlier: “He loved virtual games and was active in his CCA as the chairperson of the AVA Club in his secondary school. He received the Edusave Character and National Youth Achievement Award in 2018, and the EAGLES Award in 2019.
The Edusave Character Award is given to up to 2 per cent of students in each school who show exemplary character and outstanding personal qualities through their behaviour and actions. The National Youth Achievement Award is one of Singapore’s premier youth development programmes. The EAGLES Award is given to up to 10 per cent of students from each school who have demonstrated leadership qualities, service to the community and schools, excellence in non-academic activities, and good conduct.
Justin had withdrawn from Nanyang Polytechnic where he had been taking a cybersecurity course, she told The Straits Times, and had plans to retake O-level Biology because he wanted to qualify for university where he hoped to study pharmacology.
Ms Ow’s letter also details that her son was referred to diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder in 2020 after a schoolmate attempted suicide, and the investigating officer in his case knew of Justin’s mental health condition from the start.
“Yet his first offence, committed in foolishness, cost him his life.”
Her letter hits the hardest perhaps when she tells Mr Shanmugam: “Your wife is a clinical child psychologist, and she will agree with me that a person diagnosed with depression has to deal with fears, struggles, insecurities and paranoia very differently from those who are not. The feelings of anxiety, frustration, sadness, worthlessness and hopelessness are amplified.”
In a note accompanying the Instagram post of Oct 12, Ms Ow said that when she wrote to the minister on Oct 1, he responded with “a phone call to assure me that his office would investigate the matter. But till today, nothing.”
She added: “My MP, Sylvia Lim, responded via email and followed up with a personal visit and advice and offer to help. Her sincerity touched me deeply.”
In a Facebook post on Thursday (Oct 14), Mr Shanmugam addressed the situation, calling it a “Very sad heartbreaking situation”.
Ms Ow said of her son Justin: “He jumped from the 12th storey of our block in Hougang late at night on 16 September. I was woken by the police to bring me the traumatic news.”
For the boy, it ended months of trauma that began when he was arrested on Feb 3.
Ms Ow described what happened: “Six to nine Central Narcotics Bureau officers chased him down, handcuffed him, and then brought him to my house to raid his room. They found nothing.”
He was then interrogated at Bedok police station in an “abrasive manner (vulgarities were used), intimidated, and even denied a drink of water”, she said. Then he was taken to the Police Cantonment Complex and held there until she bailed him out the next night. Throughout, she said, he was not allowed to contact her, nor was he accompanied by a trusted adult.
The second time he reported to CNB, he did not know that it meant the investigation would be closed, and he would be charged, she said. When she did not hear from him and could not reach him for three to four hours, she even thought of reporting him missing. But he was already in police custody.
In her letter to Mr Shanmugam, Ms Ow questioned why she could not be given an estimate of how long the interrogation would take, why her son was not allowed to contact her or reply to her messages and why there was a need to go through the process of bail all over again when Justin reported to the CNB.
“After the encounter with CNB officers, Justin became a different person. He withdrew into his shell; he hid in his room all day and came out only for food and bio breaks. He slept poorly for months because he kept getting flashbacks about his brutal arrest and had frequent nightmares,” Ms Ow wrote.
She does not deny that Justin committed an offence, she said, but she felt that the CNB officers had acted overzealously, like “hunters after a prey”.
Ms Ow suggested to Mr Shanmugam that the Home Affairs Ministry set up a separate and dedicated unit within the SPF to train enforcement officers in dealing with juvenile offenders”.
In her note accompanying the Instagram post, Ms Ow wrote: “The past month has been living hell for me. Many times I wish that time would stop so that I need not move on. The pain from the loss of my precious son is so intense it becomes physical. I am sharing my story here, not because I seek attention or sympathy, but because I want to do this for Justin.”
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