Murder of Wong Thng Kiat

On the night of 5 December 1974, at Kramat Road off Orchard Road in Singapore, 22-year-old Wong Thng Kiat was stabbed several times and died as a result. Wong, a lorry driver who also operated a call-girl syndicate, had been walking with his girlfriend, Ng Poh Sua (alias Lilian), when they encountered another couple. An argument broke out between the two women over a missing gold bracelet, and when Wong intervened to help his girlfriend, the other woman's male partner produced a knife and stabbed him. Wong suffered stab wounds to his head, shoulders and hands; a wound near his right temple, measuring 5cm deep, penetrated his brain and was found by forensic pathologist Dr Seah Han Cheow to be sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. Ng Poh Sua, who was not injured, ran to a nearby hotel to call police and told them she recognised the other woman as a former roommate with whom she had argued over missing jewellery.

Police launched a manhunt, and on 9 December 1974, 21-year-old unemployed Tay Eng Whatt was arrested and charged with murder. At trial, which began on 14 July 1976 before Justice D C D'Cotta and Justice T Kulasekaram, prosecutors said that a day before the killing, Ng Poh Sua and another call-girl, Lim Meng Jiong (alias Jenny)—Tay's girlfriend—had fought over the bracelet. After Tay noticed a scratch on Lim and learned of the fight, he and Lim confronted Wong and Ng on Kramat Road the following night. Tay demanded Wong slap Ng to "save face," and when Wong refused, a fight broke out during which Tay stabbed Wong to death before fleeing with Lim. Witnesses Toh Kim Hong and Goh Ee testified they saw Tay produce the knife and stab Wong. Lim was not charged.

Tay's defence was self-defence: he claimed the knife belonged to Wong, who had drawn it first, and that Tay disarmed him and used it only to prevent an attack. The trial judges rejected this account, finding it more likely the knife belonged to Tay, that he had armed himself before the confrontation, and that he had exceeded any right to self-defence by attacking an unarmed man. On 23 July 1976, Tay was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, the mandatory penalty under Singapore law.

Tay appealed to the Court of Appeal, which on a later date dismissed his appeal, and subsequently sought special leave to appeal to the Privy Council in London, which was refused on 6 February 1979. As of April 1979, Tay was among 29 people on death row in Changi Prison. He was hanged there at dawn on 29 June 1979, reported as the fifth person executed in Singapore that year. <parameter name="timeline">[{"date": "1974-12-05", "event": "Wong Thng Kiat was stabbed on Kramat Road off Orchard Road, Singapore, and died from his injuries."},{"date": "1974-12-09", "event": "Tay Eng Whatt was arrested and charged with murder."},{"date": "1974-12-16", "event": "Tay Eng Whatt was scheduled to return to court and was remanded pending trial."},{"date": "1976-07-14", "event": "Trial of Tay Eng Whatt began at the High Court."},{"date": "1976-07-22", "event": "Trial judges Kulasekaram and D'Cotta delivered their verdict, finding Tay guilty of murder."},{"date": "1976-07-23", "event": "Tay Eng Whatt was sentenced to death for the murder."},{"date": "1977-10-11", "event": "Tay Eng Whatt filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal against his conviction and sentence."},{"date": "1979-02-06", "event": "The Privy Council in London refused Tay's application for special leave to appeal."},{"date": "1979-06-29", "event": "Tay Eng Whatt was hanged in Changi Prison."}]