Ricky Star by Lim Thean Soo

Author:Lim Thean Soo
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789810736194
Publisher: Epigram Books
Published: 2017-05-31T00:00:00+00:00

14

THE ARRAIGNMENT OF Tay Chin Aik alias Ah Kow in court on a charge of homicide did not perturb Ah Kwang when he read about it in the newspaper. He had anticipated that a calamity of that sort would befall his errant brother. Tay Chin Aik pleaded guilty to the charge but the magistrate rejected his plea because the prosecution disclosed evidence that Chin Aik had formerly stayed in the Woodbridge Mental Hospital. The magistrate transferred the case for mention in a district court so that it could decide whether a preliminary hearing was to be fixed on receipt of the medical report, irrespective whether or not Chin Aik renewed his plea of guilt. Soh Mei Mei heard the news several days later. She fell into a tantrum. She cursed Ah Kwang vehemently because his brother’s murder of the bar girl had, for over a month, cast unwarranted suspicion on Sonny. She had lost face to the chief tenant and his family. She could not bear their taunts and insinuations. She was forced to move out of her premises to live in a semi-luxury flat. She noticed that her son did not like the change. He had grown moody and reticent after Fanny’s death. He had lost interest in his music and would sit at home moping. Occasionally, he would mumble to himself. He continued to behave like that in the flat. As for Debbie, she felt embarrassed that her wayward uncle had become mad enough to commit a heinous crime. She disclosed the matter to Graham who obtained her consent to tell his parents about it. That was the way personal problems were dealt by the Loos. They discussed them openly and dispassionately.

Debbie was surprised to find that Mr. and Mrs. Loo sympathised with her and they assured her that her uncle’s crime had not in any manner diminished their warmth for her. Graham told her to forget about the matter. When Ricky returned to Singapore from abroad, he was relieved to learn that his uncle was kept in remand in a prison cell. Just before he left, on some evenings, Uncle Ah Kow had been waiting at the carpark of his block of flats to ask money from him. He had grown to hate his unkempt, shabbily dressed and wild-looking uncle for pestering him. He disliked his uncle’s quaint behaviour. He was afraid that one day the senior staff of the electronics firm where he was holding a key position would come to know about it. So he paid the watchman to chase his uncle out of the compound of the flats. However, his uncle was importunate and on one occasion beat up the watchman in a fit of rage. The solicitation continued. So, on his return, Ricky hoped that his uncle would be put away for good in the asylum or hanged for the serious crime that he was supposed to have committed.

At that time the slump in property in certain areas in the wake of the withdrawal of British troops provided an opportunity for astute bargain hunters.

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