By: Chong Shin Yen

She saw the white envelope when she checked the mail yesterday morning.

It was from the US and there was no return address.

It did not occur to Madam Liu Xiumei who had sent it.

She opened it, and found a cheque and a wedding photo of her brother-in-law, Mr Peter Ng and his Filipino wife, Madam Ruth Sigue.

That was when it hit her that Mr Ng had written the cheque a day before he drowned himself last Monday in the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Mr Ng, 58, had stabbed his 38-year-old wife to death in their apartment earlier that day.

He then took their two daughters, aged 6 and 1, to a restaurant, where he abandoned them.

Mr Ng's sister-in-law, Madam Liu, told The New Paper: 'I was shocked as I didn't expect to receive something from him.

'This came at a time when we are still trying to cope with the double tragedy.'

Madam Liu, 46, said that the envelope was addressed to Mr Ng's elderly mother, 79.

But she had opened it as she had always helped her mother-in-law clear her mail.

She said: 'I quickly showed the cheque and photo to my mother-in-law. She was speechless and just stood there.

'Tears flowed as she looked at the photo.'

There was no written note in the envelope.

Madam Liu said that the cheque was dated 8 Jun, but did not want to reveal the amount, saying: 'It's not a lot of money.'

She also said that it was the first time Mr Ng had sent his mother a cheque.

Mr Ng's mother, Madam Xie, told The New Paper in Hokkien: 'He's a thoughtful and filial son.

'Without fail every year, he would send me a hongbao during Chinese New Year and on Mother's Day.

'He was still thinking of me right up till the end.'

Madam Xie said that Mr Ng, her second son, would call her from New Jersey at least once a month.

They would speak to each other for about half an hour each time.

Mr Ng's family had found out about his death only on Monday night, one week after the deaths.

Madam Liu said that no one had informed them until a family friend alerted them to a Chinese newspaper report.

Madam Liu: 'We didn't read the papers and, on Monday, a friend called us and said that the man in the news sounded like my brother-in-law.

'We went to get the papers. The photographs were not very clear and the Chinese name of my brother-in-law was different. But the name of my sister-in-law (Madam Sigue) was correct.'

Madam Liu said that they sensed something amiss and called the hotline number of Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to check.

'Not long afterwards, they called us back and our fears were confirmed,' Madam Liu said.

'We were also told that my brother-in-law's ex-wife had flown there to collect his ashes and had already returned.'

Mr Ng's family was then told by MFA to go to Mandai Crematorium the next morning.

Mr Ng's Singaporean ex-wife and their two grown children, who are in their 30s, had flown to the US and brought back his ashes.

It was at Mandai that the family met Mr Ng's ex-wife and her children.

FORMER TAXI DRIVER

Mr Ng used to work as a taxi driver in Singapore and had met Madam Sigue while she was working as a nurse at a hospital here.

It is not known when Mr Ng had divorced his ex-wife.

Madam Liu said that he married his second wife in the Philippines and moved to the US in 2005 when Madam Sigue got a job there.

She was reportedly earning US$5,000 ($6,800) a month as a nurse in a medical centre near their apartment while Mr Ng did odd jobs.

Their two daughters are now in state custody while another 3-year-old child lives in the Philippines with relatives.

Mr Ng's family understands that Madam Sigue's younger sister hopes to adopt them.

Madam Liu said that Mr Ng last called his mother on 3 Jun.

She said: 'My mother-in-law was always very happy to receive her son's long-distance call.

'She would be all smiles after talking to him (Mr Ng). It was the same on 3 Jun although they spoke briefly for about five minutes.'

Madam Xie had told Shin Min Daily News that Mr Ng had asked her how she was before handing the phone to his two young daughters to speak to their grandmother.

She said that there were no signs that her son was having any marital problems.

Madam Xie said: 'He sounded slightly troubled and talked little, which was unlike his usual self. He did not say anything more.

'If only he had told me he believed his wife was having an affair. I could have advised him to take things in his stride and try to work things out.'

Madam Liu added that her mother-in-law had taken the news of the deaths badly.

She said: 'I would see her sobbing quietly in her room every now and then.

'Sometimes, she would mumble to herself, saying repeatedly, 'Why did you have to kill her? Why did you take this route?'

Mr Ng's death is the latest tragedy to befall the elderly woman.

Two of her sons died of heart attacks. A third son - Madam Liu's husband - was killed in a road accident, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Madam Xie has another son and two daughters.

This article was first published in The Electric New Paper on June 20, 2008.