Verdict on double killings a blow to man

THE verdict in the trial of Sundarti Supriyanto came as a blow to Drake Poh, who did not expect his former Indonesian maid to be jailed for life, much less convicted of a lesser charge of culpable homicide. 

The managing director of a labour supply company, whose wife and young daughter were killed by Sundarti, was at a loss for words on Friday after Justice M.P.H. Rubin delivered his verdict. 

Even though Sundarti publicly apologised to Poh by reading from a simple handwritten note, a fuming Poh refused to accept it, even as he struggled to come to terms with his loss. 

Since that fateful night on May 28 two years ago, Poh’s life has been turned inside out. 

The Choa Chu Kang condominium apartment he once shared with his wife, Angie Ng, 34, and two children is gone. 

Also gone: his fortnightly overseas business trips and long hours spent in the office and entertaining clients. 

Now, Poh, 45, dedicates his time to looking after his three-year-old son, Leon, who refuses to have a maid look after him. 

Poh, who has since employed another maid – a Filipina – just for housework at his new five-room Housing Board flat in a block opposite his parents’, said his mother helps to look after Leon while he is at work. 

“When I wanted to get a new maid, Leon turned to me and asked me, ‘What if aunty kills me and then burns me?’” he said, adding that his son sleeps next to him every night. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network