He also wonders how much influence her boyfriend, Gabriel Lee Haw Ling, 38, had on her.

"All along, she had been an obedient girl, but she was also naive and gullible," Mr Lie said.

Miss Lie had told a neighbour that she was getting married to Lee and even invited her for their wedding.

But her family, who also lives in Jurong West, had no inkling that she had a boyfriend, much less that they were living together and planning to wed, her father said.

Lee was in divorce proceedings with his wife, but it is not known if it has been finalised.

Mr Lie added that Miss Lie had told the family that she could no longer give her mother an allowance from her salary, as she didn't have enough money to spend.

He said the family had not stipulated how much she should give.

"We just accept whatever amount she gave. We didn't ask her too much. We couldn't force her to contribute when she didn't have enough for herself."

Miss Lie's monthly take-home pay was slightly above $1,000 from her job as a site administrator.

After moving out, she would return occasionally for dinner at home, he said.

"We welcomed her home. Even though she had moved out, we still cooked for her," he added.

Mr Lie last saw his only daughter on the previous Saturday before she was killed, and didn't sense anything amiss.

"She came home for dinner and even stayed overnight."

Her younger brother, Mr Lie Jinn Chyau, 21, who is serving his national service, was also filled with regret.

"Of course, there are regrets. Nobody expected this to happen. I wish I had spent more time with her," he said.

An introvert by nature, Miss Lie, it seems, did not have many friends.

She tried to make friends online, which was how she was believed to have met Lee.

One of her Facebook friends, a Singaporean who declined to be named, said Miss Lie had added him fiveyears ago, even though they had never met and he had never heard of her.

He realised they were Facebook friends only when another person pointed it out on Monday.

"I don't know where she could have got my name from. It's disturbing," he said, referring to her brutal death.

Another Facebook friend and junior college classmate for three months said she did not talk much in JC.

By yesterday evening, about 10 friends had posted RIPs on her Facebook wall.

Her wake was a quiet affair, with only a few friends turning up.

A friend, who would say only that he was her schoolmate from Fuhua Secondary School, said he respected the wishes of the family members not to speak to the media.

Undertaker Roland Tay is handling the funeral for free.

A 27-year-old technician who lives across the corridor from the Lie family said Miss Lie was very friendly.

Declining to be named, he added: "When I saw Elsie, she would say hi to me. But we didn't speak much, probably because I'm also quite shy. I didn't notice that she had moved out.

"But her mother would come over and chat with my mum. During festivities, she would bring over pastries and cakes.

"For example, during Mid-Autumn Festival, she made moon cakes for us."

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