Hilton groom's widow bought niche next to hubby's ashes
THIS is as tragic as a love story can get.
Mr Vernon Leong Jun Wei and his wife, Ms Kerin Peh Li Ling, had planned on living happily ever after, till death do they part.
Sadly, death came too soon, too unexpectedly, too tragically.
On what was supposed to be the first day of the rest of their lives together, he left her a widow.
Mr Leong, 31, mysteriously fell to his death at the Hilton Singapore on Nov 4 last year, just hours after celebrating his union with Ms Peh with a banquet at the hotel.
Perhaps the pain of losing him was too much to bear. Perhaps his unexplained death became a tipping point.
Around 2am yesterday, Ms Peh, 28, was found dead at the foot of Block 540, Hougang Street 51.
It was exactly 35 weeks after her husband had plunged to his death.
Ms Peh had moved back to live with her parents in their unit on the fifth storey of the block.
It is believed that she had fallen from the sixth storey, while her family was asleep.
The New Paper understands that just before she fell, Ms Peh's sister, 30, had seen her sitting on the sofa in the living room staring into space.
The sister did not think anything was amiss, and went to bed.
But not long after that, she was woken by some noises.
She went to her sister's room, but found her missing.
She then rushed downstairs to check and found her sister in a pool of blood. Her white slippers were found 2m from her body.
Ms Peh, the second of three sisters, had died on the spot.
It has been said that those who are left behind are the ones who suffer the most.
They are the ones who have to pick up the pieces.
And so it was in the early hours yesterday, when her family's loud wails woke residents in the block.
A resident on the second storey heard their cries around 2am yesterday.
Miss Vimala, 22, an undergraduate, told The New Paper that after she heard the cries, she walked to the staircase landing and saw one of Ms Peh's sisters squatting by the lift and "wailing very loudly".
Another resident saw her two sisters and mother rushing to Ms Peh's body.
The younger sister was hysterical and repeatedly hit her head against a wall at the void deck.
The elder sister, who was also wailing, tried to pull her back but was not strong enough to stop her.
In the end, it was a male relative who managed to stop the woman.
Nearby, their mother sat sobbing inconsolably.
The wailing continued till 5am, after Ms Peh's body was taken away to the mortuary.
Last night, Ms Peh's wake was set up at Block 549 Hougang Street 51. Her family declined to be interviewed.
The New Paper understands that Ms Peh did not leave any last notes.
Police are investigating the case as one of unnatural death.
Those who knew Ms Peh thought she was beginning to put her grief behind her. They did not expect her death.
One of Mr Leong's ex-employees, Mr Lucas Chen, told The New Paper that when he first heard the news of Ms Peh's death, he couldn't believe it.
Said Mr Chen in Mandarin: "I even asked my friend if it was true. It had been eight months already since Vernon's death and from what I heard, Kerin was feeling much better recently.
"It had been so long already, we thought she had got over it."
The truth sank in only after Mr Chen went to work. His colleagues who knew the couple were talking about it and arranging to go to Ms Peh's wake.
ASHES TO ASHES: Ms Kerin Peh paying her respects to her late husband at Bright Hill Columbarium last year. She attempted suicide by slashing her wrists weeks after her husband's death.
Mr Leong used to run a shop in Sim Lim Square selling computer peripherals with his business partner, Mr Gan Kow Meng.
Mr Gan, 31, continued with the business after Mr Leong died.
Recalling how loving the couple was, Mr Chen said Mr Leong would call Ms Peh on the phone every day.
Said Mr Chen: "Sometimes he would come into the shop for half a day and after that go out to meet Kerin. The couple often went on holidays too."
Mr Chen, who attended their wedding banquet at the Hilton, added that Ms Peh seemed to be a cheerful and outgoing person.
"She was often around when we went for supper with Vernon after work. They were a very loving couple."
Mr Leong had courted Ms Peh for six years. The couple had got the keys for their new flat just before their wedding dinner.
Everything was looking up for them and Mr Leong's business was said to be doing well.
Ms Peh, an IT product distributor, had quit her job a month before the wedding and was to have joined a new firm.
The couple's wedding was held on Nov 3 last year. The 10-course Chinese dinner in the Hilton ballroom ended around 11pm.
About three hours later, Ms Peh sounded the alarm when she couldn't find Mr Leong in their 10th-storey suite after she emerged from the shower.
Mr Leong was later found on the driveway near the hotel entrance.
How he landed there and what led to his fall have remained a mystery.
Emotional wreck
Those who know the couple said Ms Peh had been an emotional wreck after her husband's death.
Her family and friends had been keeping a close watch on her.
In the weeks following his death, Ms Peh had been visiting his niche at Bright Hill Columbarium every day - sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by friends.
Ms Peh would be seen in front of her husband's niche with offerings of fruits and his favourite foods.
But the visits stopped on Dec 8.
Those who worked at the columbarium wondered why.
Then came news that she had been hospitalised for eight days. Ms Peh had slashed both her wrists. She was found unconscious on a bed at a flat in Block 30, Balam Road, where she was living with her in-laws.
Some pills were also found beside her.
In what could be an indication of her distress, Ms Peh had bought the empty niche next to that of her husband's a few weeks after his death.
Was it that she wanted to be with her husband in death?
She failed in her first attempt. That time, her sister, who was staying with her, had got to her in time.
Not so, early yesterday morning.
The spot where Ms Kerin Peh's body was found.
Ms Kerin Peh is believed to have fallen from the sixth floor of Block 540, Hougang Street 51. She lives on the fifth floor with her family.