THE spurned lover who pushed his former girlfriend onto the path of an oncoming train turned himself in on Monday to start a new prison term.

The Court of Appeal last month upped 26-year-old Kwong Kok Hing's one-year jail term to three years after the prosecution appealed.

The former Asean scholar flew in from Malaysia on Monday - the deadline for him to surrender himself, failing which he would have faced an arrest warrant.

Kwong smiled and politely apologised when approached by the media.

'Not now,' the permanent resident said tersely.

He sat with his parents until police officers led him into a lift about 30 minutes later.

He then bade an emotional farewell to his parents. His mother was in tears.

Mr Nathan said his mother Madam Chua Big Geok had wondered if she had done 'the right thing' in bringing him back to serve time.

But Kwong was the one who made the ultimate decision to return, he added.

'I am gratified he did the right thing. It shows his responsibility and he accepts the punishment,' he said.

Kwong was convicted for an attempted manslaughter on Sept 14 last year.

A few days earlier, Ms Jenny Low, 26, had called him to end their turbulent two-year relationship.

But Kwong, who wanted to patch up with Ms Low, followed her to Clementi MRT station after she finished work.

They quarrelled along the way and were still arguing when he suddenly grabbed Ms Low by the shoulders and shoved her towards the edge of the platform.

He then pushed her again. This sent her flying onto the tracks as a train came hurtling in.

But the plucky woman quickly picked herself up, stepped over the tracks and a rail, and vaulted over a low parapet wall - all in five seconds.

For his act, Kwong was originally sentenced to one-year's jail in May. But he walked free hours later as he had already spent eight months in custody.

Offenders usually serve two-thirds of their sentence if they get remission for good behaviour.

Mr Nathan said Kwong, who had secured a management trainee job in a bank after he returned to Malaysia, was 'very upset' when he was told he had to go back to prison. He 'voluntarily resigned' from his job when he heard the news.

Mr Nathan added his client hoped to undertake distance learning and help other inmates while he is in jail.

Kwong could have been jailed up to seven years.