Widow of hit-and-run victim starts life anew

MarrickG

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Besides sporting a new, shorter hairstyle and new clothes, the soft-spoken Indonesian has also begun dating again.

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Madam Young, 31, is the widow of Mr Tong Kok Wai, the 30-year-old Singapore permanent resident who died after a double hit-and-run accident involving a Romanian embassy car here last December.

He had been mown down by the speeding Audi A6 while crossing the junction of Bukit Panjang Road and Bangkit Road with his good friend, Mr Bong Hwee Haw, on Dec 15.

Mr Tong died in hospital on Christmas Day last year.

In a phone interview with my paper from her hometown of Solo, Indonesia, yesterday, Madam Young sounded upbeat, but preferred to keep details of her personal life under wraps.

When asked if she had met anyone she would be open to dating over the last couple of months, she said cautiously: "Um, yeah."

Still, she added that though she has met "quite a few guys who wanted to get to know me better", she is "emotionally not ready yet" to settle down.

Since the incident, the eldest of three children has been shuttling between Solo and Singapore.

She has not been working since the incident and survives on "savings". Madam Young said she hopes to return to Singapore by the end of the month.

While here, she stays in a three-room flat in Boon Keng where she rents a room.

The trial of former Romanian charge d'affaires Silviu Ionescu - who was allegedly behind the wheel of the car when it hit Mr Tong and Mr Bong - is expected to resume in Romania today.

Madam Young said that she was invited by the Romanian authorities two weeks ago to attend the trial to establish a compensation claim but she turned down the offer due to "health reasons".

"I'm afraid I may suffer more panic attacks and my parents are scared that I will get sick (depression) again," she explained.

Indeed, the months following her husband's death have not been easy.

She told my paper that she is still on daily medication to treat her depression and sees a psychiatrist regularly.

She also suffers from regular panic attacks which leave her breathless and numb.

"It happens especially when I feel agitated," she said. "(It happens) if I hear some news about Kok Wai or Ionescu, or something that somehow makes me feel angry."

Madam Young recalled an incident in Indonesia last month that set off a severe attack.

She had been travelling in a car on a highway early one morning when she came across the aftermath of a crash between two cars.

"I saw police cars and glass everywhere. Immediately, I broke down and started crying uncontrollably. My body couldn't stop trembling," she said softly.

While she has no plans to attend the court proceedings in Romania, Madam Young - who had been married to Mr Tong for only three weeks before the accident - intends to follow the trial through news reports.

For now, Madam Young lives with regrets of that fateful night.

She said: "If I were there with him when he crossed the road, maybe it would have been different...maybe I would have seen the car."

She has not been in regular contact with Mr Bong or the family of Mr Tong as her priority now is to live as normal a life as possible.

She said: "Most importantly, I have to make myself happy, so that everything will move into a more positive direction."

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