A 45-YEAR-OLD Singaporean man was ordered on Tuesday to stand trial in the High Court for the murder of his China-born teenage stepdaughter last year.

Ong Pang Siew, a private bus driver, is accused of killing 15-year-old Ong Pan Hui at his ex-wife's Marsiling flat on Oct 20 night.

Pan Hui, who had just completed her Primary School Leaving Examination at the time, was on a week's break.

Her mother's divorce from Ong was finalised earlier that month, ending their five-year marriage.

A magistrate's court on Tuesday decided that there was sufficient evidence for a murder trial to proceed against Ong.

The prosecution is expected to call 36 witnesses, including Ong's ex-wife and two tenants - both polytechnic students, who were in the flat at the time of the alleged killing.

If convicted of murder, Ong faces a mandatory death penalty.