By Tay Shi'an and Benson Ang

SHE was supposed to be in Mumbai for just two days and one night to attend a business seminar.

Then her husband got a frantic call early Thursday morning.

The message was shocking: Ms Lo Hwei Yen, 28, told him she was being held hostage in a violent siege.

She updated him several hours later, saying she was unharmed.

But she never made it home.

Ms Lo was killed yesterday at Oberoi-Trident hotel, one of the hotels attacked by the terrorists. She leaves behind her husband, Mr Michael Puhaindran, 37.

The couple had just got married in a dream wedding in Bali last June.

Mr Puhaindran, a lawyer, flew to Mumbai on Thursday.

The family is now making arrangements for Ms Lo's body to be sent home.

It was Mr Puhaindran who called and broke the news of her death to Ms Lo's family yesterday afternoon.

Ms Lo's younger sisters, Hwei Shan, 25, and Hwei Rong, 23, said that their mother was still in shock.

Hwei Shan said: 'Everyone's just taken aback. She was supposed to come back on Thursday evening. We didn't expect this to happen at all.'

When The New Paper called the family at 5pm yesterday, sobs could be heard in the background.

The family had gone through a fearful and frustrating 40 hours ever since they found out Ms Lo had been taken hostage at about 2am on Thursday.

Then, Ms Lo had managed to call her husband to tell him what had happened. This was almost immediately after the attacks started.

Said Hwei Shan: 'We didn't know what situation she was in.

'We were up the whole night, trying to find out as much online as we could. We had multiple pages open on the Internet, checking them all the time, trying to sort out what is likely to be true from the various reports.'

Her voice broke as she recounted the agonising search for any clues about her sister's well-being. After the initial call, Ms Lo only managed to make another call to her husband at 6am on Thursday.

Deafening silence

This was followed by more than a day of deafening silence - then the terrible news.

Hwei Shan said that until now, the family still does not know the details of how Ms Lo had died.

'The details are all so sketchy... we're also trying to get more information.'

She said that her father was abroad, but is flying back to be with the family. Her mum's five siblings and their spouses have also gathered at their home to give support.

Ms Lo's in-laws are also grief-stricken.

A steady stream of family members, friends and community leaders, including Members of Parliament, gathered yesterday at the home of her father-in-law, Mr S Puhaindran, 72.

He is a former chairman of the Marine Parade Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC), and a veteran grassroots leader.

Each visitor hugged the family members and some whispered: 'I'm so sorry.'

One relative sobbed and sagged against Mr Puhaindran.

'It's a very great loss. Our whole family loved her, you can see,' Mr Puhaindran told The New Paper, gesturing to all the relatives in the family home.

The young couple lived just a 10-minute walk away.

Mr Puhaindran, a Justice of Peace, was also the solemniser for their wedding last year.

'That makes it even sadder,' he said, his eyes reddening.

Mr Puhaindran found out about Ms Lo's death when his son sent an SMS to his parents and his three siblings.

He said quietly: 'I already knew, seeing the situation there. We were prepared for the worst.'

He woke up just after 5am yesterday, combing through all the newspaper reports and sitting by the television and phone.

When The New Paper spoke to him in the early afternoon, he declined to give any details about Ms Lo, fearing that any information might jeopardise the chances of getting her out safely.

Her company, an offshore law firm that has an office in Singapore, was similarly tight-lipped, given that the terrorists had reportedly targeted those with foreign links, particularly Americans and Britons.

Now, the families are left with memories of Ms Lo.

Hwei Shan said: 'She'd be the kind who'd be the life of a party.'

She also said that the family was very close-knit, and would have dinner as often as they could, and go on overseas trips together.

Added Hwei Shan: 'It's pretty unthinkable. No one expects a Singaporean to...', before trailing off.

'Life is unpredictable.'

SINGAPOREANS REACT

'They went overboard. How could they kill her for nothing? These terrorists don't respect life. I'm so sad and angry, because one of our own people has been killed. The terrorists have no respect for Singapore.'
- Lewis Woo, 18, student

'The world's not fair, the terrorists may feel powerless, and that's why they resort to violence. But from the point of view of a normal citizen, it's not the way to go about doing things. This is such a horror.'
- Miss Pamela Seet, 24, human resources executive

'This is so sudden. I feel sad for her family and loved ones. The whole country will mourn for her. We're all one family. It's as though my own relative died.'
- Madam Wah, 54

This story was first published in The New Paper on Nov 29, 2008.