HE was a polite and obedient boy, doted on by his family.

His mother is pretty, has dyed reddish-brown hair and dresses stylishly, according to neighbours.

It's not known yet what happened early yesterday in the bedroom that mother and son shared in the four-room Toa Payoh flat.

But Sec 1 student Tan Yu-Jin, 13, is now dead.

And his mum has been arrested.

So well-liked was Yu-Jin that even his neighbour burst into tears when she learnt of his death yesterday morning.

He was found unresponsive and motionless in a bedroom of the Toa Payoh Lorong 2 flat.

Yu-Jin and his mother, 36, had been living there with her parents for eightyears.

She was found in the same room with cuts on both her wrists.

Police said she was arrested for murder and investigations are on.

Yu-jin was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3.25am.

When the mother was taken out on a stretcher by paramedics, she was dressed in a red long-sleeved blouse and black pants and had a pained expression.

It is believed that she has a history of depression.

A neighbour, who gave her name onlyas Madam Tan, 47, had red and puffy eyes from crying at the news of Yu-Jin's death.

The housewife, who lives two doors away, said she had been woken at 5am by the barking of a neighbour's dog.

'I saw several policemen standing outside Yu-Jin's flat,' she said in Mandarin.

'I thought perhaps one of his grandparents had fallen ill, and I didn't dare go look.'

She thought nothing more of the matter until reporters and Yu-Jin's relatives arrived at 8am.

'When I was told by reporters that he had passed away, I was so shocked I just started to cry,' she said, wiping away her tears with a crumpled piece of tissue.

'He was my son's friend and our family liked him very much,' she said.

Madam Tan and her aunt, Madam Leow Yang Seok, 55, said Yu-Jin's mother was always well-dressed, whenever they saw her going to work or heading home.

'She is good-looking with dyed reddish-brown hair. She always wears makeup and dresses stylishly,' said Madam Leow, a fish seller.

She said Yu-Jin's family doted on him.

He had once told her that his grandmother would prepare breakfast for him every morning before walking him to the bus-stop nearby to wait for his schoolbus.

'I used to see them holding hands and walking to the bus-stop on some mornings,' she said.

Madam Leow remembered that Yu-Jin once told her his mother loved him very much and treated him very well.

'I had noticed that he had several wrist bands and asked him where he got them,' she said.

'He happily told me his mother bought them for him. He told me his mother loved him very much because whatever he wanted, she would always buy for him.'

A relative who declined to be named said Yu-Jin's parents were divorced when he was 5 or 6, but they were on cordial terms, and the father remained in close contact with the boy.

Both parents agreed to raise their only child together, although his mother had custody of Yu-Jin.

'His father was a good man and kept in close contact with Yu-Jin,' said the relative.

She said Yu-Jin had been looking forward to learning roller-blading with hisfather.

When contacted, the principal of Yu-jin's school said Yu-Jin was a popular boy and the school was saddened by his death.

He said the boy had a good command of English and was well-mannered.

He had joined the National Police Cadet Corps as a CCA and was always punctual, with a good attendance record.

'We will try our best to contact his family members to render our assistance,' said the principal, who requested that the school not be named.

LIKEABLE BOY

Madam Tan said she did not know Yu-jin's family well, but she had found him pleasant and likeable.

He used to drop by her flat to play with her younger son, who is 11.

'He didn't come over that much since he went into Sec 1 this year. When they were both in primary school, he came to play card games with my son.

'We all found him adorable and well-mannered. He wasn't playful or mischievous like other boys his age. I used to offer him drinks or snacks, but he always declined very politely.'

She said he was obedient and would stop playing immediately and go home when his mother called him for dinner.

'He never protested or asked to play a bit longer.'

Madam Leow said his family members are courteous and friendly even though they did not talk much.

'They always acknowledged us with nods and smiles whenever we saw them downstairs, or in the lift,' she said.

'They all spoke English, even the grandparents. But when they saw my niece or myself, they would say hello to us in Mandarin.'

When The New Paper visited the flat yesterday evening, the main door was open and several people were inside.

A man, who looked to be his 30s, politely said in English that the family members did not want to be interviewed.

- Additional reporting by Mindy Tan

This story was first published in The New Paper on May 17, 2008.