ST- April 29, 2007 Flirty Romeo, Porn Addict, Ruthless Rapist A charmer showed his terrifying dark side when he brutally raped three women in eight days
By Ben Nadarajan
HE IS one of the country's worst rapists, but shocked neighbours remember him as an amiable guy and a real charmer with the girls.
Ser Eng Siong raped and sodomised three China women last November, yet he never seemed to lack female company in his Shunfu neighbourhood.
Neighbours called him 'charming, friendly', a Romeo who changed girlfriends almost by the week.
One said: 'One was called Natalie, another Serene. Then there was Anna - so many we can't remember.'
The neighbour recalled a catfight between two women over him a few years ago.
A close family friend said Ser, 33, was a real flirt and was always asking her about her boyfriends and whether they were sexually active.
But the engaging seducer had a terrifying dark side that drove him to rape three women in eight days, a frenzy that came just two months after he proposed to his fiancee.
For the heinous crimes, Ser was thrown behind bars for 28 years and given the maximum 24 strokes of the cane.
A close relative, who asked not to be named, said Ser's fiancee, who is from China, does not know about his sex crimes.
She has been calling the home, asking for him, but was told he had 'moved out'.
The relative said: 'She feels she has been jilted and he doesn't dare to tell her. We don't know how to tell her the truth.'
Brutal attacks
SER'S first victim was an 18-year-old who had arrived in Singapore just nine hours earlier on a work attachment.
He gained entry into her Balestier flat by claiming to be a repairman, grabbed her by the neck, forced her onto a bunk bed and sexually assaulted her. He later raped her in the bathroom again. The entire assault lasted four hours.
The girl was found curled up in the balcony of her ground-floor unit, crying and screaming for help.
Ser struck again eight days later in a flat nearby. He tricked his way into the flat by claiming he wanted to return a digital camera to 'Xiao Chen', a name he coined on the spot. Coincidentally, there had been a former occupant by that name.
He choked a 20-year-old woman until she lost consciousness and raped her.
Ser then chanced upon a 22-year-old woman asleep in the same flat. She awoke to find his hands around her neck.
In the struggle, she bit his finger. He made her find a cloth as a bandage, then tore up bedsheets and tied her hands to the bedpost.
By then the first victim had regained consciousness and was washing blood from her face. Ser choked her until she passed out again and used a toothbrush to sodomise her.
He told the bound woman he had killed her roommate and would do the same to her unless she complied. He then raped her.
Ser also took a laptop, two cellphones and cash.
He was caught a day after the second assault at an Internet cafe in Geylang Lorong 18, which was a favourite haunt of his.
His attempts to erase his fingerprints at the two flats had not been thorough enough. Police lifted a print off a book in the bedroom of the first victim and linked it to Ser, who had been convicted in 2004 for theft.
Addicted to porn
SER had no violent criminal record, but psychologist Daniel Koh said some people can suppress such urges until a trigger point.
Such a person puts on a mask to look normal. 'It can also be an act of denial or not wanting to admit he has a problem,' said Mr Koh.
It is felt the suicide of Ser's beloved mother five years ago may have played a part in his rampage.
A report by psychiatrist Tommy Tan from the Woodbridge Hospital said Ser shifted from being 'happy and open' to 'serious' and withdrawn after her death.
Following her death, Ser travelled for two years but barely kept in touch with his family, even after coming home. His dad, who owns a hardware shop, did not even know his son was planning to get married.
Ser also became a porn addict. A close family friend said he would lock himself in his room all day, watching videos and masturbating. His obsession caused him to skip work and he never kept a job for long.
Ser worked in a bar as a waiter for three months before becoming a gas deliveryman, but he suddenly stopped showing up for work after three months.
The firm had supplied cylinders to the units where Ser's victims lived, but he was not an employee when he attacked the women.
According to court documents, Ser's family had financial problems and his father and eldest brother were pressing him for money.
The boss of the gas company he worked for said he owed them $3,000 in bills he collected during his delivery rounds. He had also damaged their delivery pickup and had to pay for its repairs.
After Ser was sentenced in the High Court, a sum of $685 seized from his room had to be disposed of.
About $340 was from stolen items he had sold to second-hand dealers.
As for the remaining $345, Ser had a suggestion - distribute it among his victims.
Additional reporting by Vincent Leow
benjamin@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Too many girls to remember'One was called Natalie, another Serene, then there was Anna - so many we can't remember.' A NEIGHBOUR on Ser Eng Siong's many girlfriends
Fiancee kept in the dark'She feels she has been jilted and he doesn't dare to tell her. We don't know how to tell her the truth.' A CLOSE RELATIVE, on Ser's fiancee who is from China and doesn't know about his crimes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
Victims still haunted by attack IT'S no wonder one victim of the Balestier rapist suffers nightmares - she still sleeps in the bedroom where the brutal attack occurred last November. The 18-year-oldfrom China has remained at the ground-floor flat but is still clearly traumatised by her ordeal at the hands of Ser Eng Siong. She has difficulty sleeping, has nightmares and has become withdrawn and fearful of men, according to a report by consultant psychiatrist Bernadine Woo. The woman's distress was evident when the The Sunday Times visited her last week after she had just return from work. Dressed in a red T-shirt and shorts, she said in Mandarin that she would be going home in a week. Why didn't she do that after the incident? "Things are complicated," she said with her head buried in her pillow on the bottom bunk of a rickety metal bunk bed. When Ser went to the toilet to wash his hands after raping her, she did not flee but instead hid her valuables for fear they might be stolen.
It suggests finances may have played a part in delaying her departure for China. When asked what she thought of Ser's sentence - 28 years behind bars and 24 strokes of the cane - she said: "I don't know. I don't want to know." The woman, who lived with her mum before corning here, did not say if she had told her divorced parents of the rape. Ser's two other victims have left the flat where they were attacked but the incident still haunts them. A report by consultant psychiatrist Joshua Kua found that the 20-year-old woman, a virgin at the time, avoids using the toilet alone and is startled if someone suddenly opens the door. The third victim, a 22-year-old student, frequently locks her room for fear of intruders: and is afraid to take the lift alone. She once saw a man with tinted hair in a crowd and fled, fearing it was Ser. And while the 18-year-old was non-committal in her answers, once left alone, she expressed her anguish in another way - a piercing, fearful scream.
By Ben Nadarajan
HE IS one of the country's worst rapists, but shocked neighbours remember him as an amiable guy and a real charmer with the girls.
Ser Eng Siong raped and sodomised three China women last November, yet he never seemed to lack female company in his Shunfu neighbourhood.
Neighbours called him 'charming, friendly', a Romeo who changed girlfriends almost by the week.
One said: 'One was called Natalie, another Serene. Then there was Anna - so many we can't remember.'
The neighbour recalled a catfight between two women over him a few years ago.
A close family friend said Ser, 33, was a real flirt and was always asking her about her boyfriends and whether they were sexually active.
But the engaging seducer had a terrifying dark side that drove him to rape three women in eight days, a frenzy that came just two months after he proposed to his fiancee.
For the heinous crimes, Ser was thrown behind bars for 28 years and given the maximum 24 strokes of the cane.
A close relative, who asked not to be named, said Ser's fiancee, who is from China, does not know about his sex crimes.
She has been calling the home, asking for him, but was told he had 'moved out'.
The relative said: 'She feels she has been jilted and he doesn't dare to tell her. We don't know how to tell her the truth.'
Brutal attacks
SER'S first victim was an 18-year-old who had arrived in Singapore just nine hours earlier on a work attachment.
He gained entry into her Balestier flat by claiming to be a repairman, grabbed her by the neck, forced her onto a bunk bed and sexually assaulted her. He later raped her in the bathroom again. The entire assault lasted four hours.
The girl was found curled up in the balcony of her ground-floor unit, crying and screaming for help.
Ser struck again eight days later in a flat nearby. He tricked his way into the flat by claiming he wanted to return a digital camera to 'Xiao Chen', a name he coined on the spot. Coincidentally, there had been a former occupant by that name.
He choked a 20-year-old woman until she lost consciousness and raped her.
Ser then chanced upon a 22-year-old woman asleep in the same flat. She awoke to find his hands around her neck.
In the struggle, she bit his finger. He made her find a cloth as a bandage, then tore up bedsheets and tied her hands to the bedpost.
By then the first victim had regained consciousness and was washing blood from her face. Ser choked her until she passed out again and used a toothbrush to sodomise her.
He told the bound woman he had killed her roommate and would do the same to her unless she complied. He then raped her.
Ser also took a laptop, two cellphones and cash.
He was caught a day after the second assault at an Internet cafe in Geylang Lorong 18, which was a favourite haunt of his.
His attempts to erase his fingerprints at the two flats had not been thorough enough. Police lifted a print off a book in the bedroom of the first victim and linked it to Ser, who had been convicted in 2004 for theft.
Addicted to porn
SER had no violent criminal record, but psychologist Daniel Koh said some people can suppress such urges until a trigger point.
Such a person puts on a mask to look normal. 'It can also be an act of denial or not wanting to admit he has a problem,' said Mr Koh.
It is felt the suicide of Ser's beloved mother five years ago may have played a part in his rampage.
A report by psychiatrist Tommy Tan from the Woodbridge Hospital said Ser shifted from being 'happy and open' to 'serious' and withdrawn after her death.
Following her death, Ser travelled for two years but barely kept in touch with his family, even after coming home. His dad, who owns a hardware shop, did not even know his son was planning to get married.
Ser also became a porn addict. A close family friend said he would lock himself in his room all day, watching videos and masturbating. His obsession caused him to skip work and he never kept a job for long.
Ser worked in a bar as a waiter for three months before becoming a gas deliveryman, but he suddenly stopped showing up for work after three months.
The firm had supplied cylinders to the units where Ser's victims lived, but he was not an employee when he attacked the women.
According to court documents, Ser's family had financial problems and his father and eldest brother were pressing him for money.
The boss of the gas company he worked for said he owed them $3,000 in bills he collected during his delivery rounds. He had also damaged their delivery pickup and had to pay for its repairs.
After Ser was sentenced in the High Court, a sum of $685 seized from his room had to be disposed of.
About $340 was from stolen items he had sold to second-hand dealers.
As for the remaining $345, Ser had a suggestion - distribute it among his victims.
Additional reporting by Vincent Leow
benjamin@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Too many girls to remember'One was called Natalie, another Serene, then there was Anna - so many we can't remember.' A NEIGHBOUR on Ser Eng Siong's many girlfriends
Fiancee kept in the dark'She feels she has been jilted and he doesn't dare to tell her. We don't know how to tell her the truth.' A CLOSE RELATIVE, on Ser's fiancee who is from China and doesn't know about his crimes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
Victims still haunted by attack IT'S no wonder one victim of the Balestier rapist suffers nightmares - she still sleeps in the bedroom where the brutal attack occurred last November. The 18-year-oldfrom China has remained at the ground-floor flat but is still clearly traumatised by her ordeal at the hands of Ser Eng Siong. She has difficulty sleeping, has nightmares and has become withdrawn and fearful of men, according to a report by consultant psychiatrist Bernadine Woo. The woman's distress was evident when the The Sunday Times visited her last week after she had just return from work. Dressed in a red T-shirt and shorts, she said in Mandarin that she would be going home in a week. Why didn't she do that after the incident? "Things are complicated," she said with her head buried in her pillow on the bottom bunk of a rickety metal bunk bed. When Ser went to the toilet to wash his hands after raping her, she did not flee but instead hid her valuables for fear they might be stolen.
It suggests finances may have played a part in delaying her departure for China. When asked what she thought of Ser's sentence - 28 years behind bars and 24 strokes of the cane - she said: "I don't know. I don't want to know." The woman, who lived with her mum before corning here, did not say if she had told her divorced parents of the rape. Ser's two other victims have left the flat where they were attacked but the incident still haunts them. A report by consultant psychiatrist Joshua Kua found that the 20-year-old woman, a virgin at the time, avoids using the toilet alone and is startled if someone suddenly opens the door. The third victim, a 22-year-old student, frequently locks her room for fear of intruders: and is afraid to take the lift alone. She once saw a man with tinted hair in a crowd and fled, fearing it was Ser. And while the 18-year-old was non-committal in her answers, once left alone, she expressed her anguish in another way - a piercing, fearful scream.
Melissa Sim.
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