Your home is where you’d usually feel the safest and no one should have that sense of security shattered by a home invasion.
Such things aren’t unheard of in Singapore, with a Malaysian man having been arrested for stealing over 100 pieces of lingerie from HDB flats.
But those who live high up on the upper floors of HDB blocks might feel even more secure. After all, the only possible entryway for intruders is the front door.
Chillingly, a woman experienced otherwise as someone broke into her home on the 25th floor, and not through her door.
Man Uses Rope to Climb Through Window on the 25th Floor
29-year-old chef Lua Eng Chau was friends with a female ex-colleague, aged 25. He had expressed romantic interest in her, but she was not interested.
At some point in time, their friendship would deteriorate and contact would cease, seemingly a fairly common occurrence of friends just drifting apart.
Instead of just moving on, Lua decided he wanted to see his former friend on 19 February this year.
Arriving at her 25th-floor unit, he opened the unlocked door and grabbed the gate key from beside the entrance, something he knew from a previous visit.
Using the key, he unlocked the gate and let himself into her home, definitely not creepy at all.
This all took place at 2 am by the way.
He then proceeded to her room to stare at her. The victim, who was still awake, was alarmed at the terrifying sight of him looking into her room and she yelled at him.
Lua quickly fled the scene and she called the police.
On 22 April, Lua decided to break into the woman’s home again, once more after midnight.
This time he had an even more extreme method. He went up to the 27th storey and tied a rope to the hand railing, lowering it down the wall.
Then, he went back to the 25th floor, grabbed onto the rope, climbed out onto a parapet, and through the woman’s kitchen window at 4 am.
Now inside, he switched off her living room CCTV and then attempted to go into his room. Very fortunately, she had locked her room door.
He unlocked the gate’s electronic lock with the keys and then fled with said keys once he heard footsteps from inside the unit.
Lua also threw away the clothes he wore during the housebreaking.
Man Breaks into Restaurant to Steal Weighing Scale & Perilla Oil
When he failed to show up to work on 23 April the next day, the restaurant fired him for being absent.
On 8 May at 8 am, he then broke into the restaurant using a key, seemingly a recurring pattern for him now.
Lua packed up his personal belongings, even though he probably could have approached the staff during working hours to collect his stuff.
Then for some reason, he decided to steal an electronic weighing scale worth S$80 and a bottle of Perilla oil worth S$60 on the way out.
Even more bafflingly, he later returned during working hours at noon that day to return the restaurant key and his apron.
For his actions, Lua was hit with six charges in court. He pleaded guilty to two counts of housebreaking and one count of theft in dwelling.
The prosecution highlighted the repeated housebreakings of the victim’s home in the early hours and the fact that the culprit disposed of the clothes he wore during the crime.
Lua represented himself in mitigation, claiming remorse and acknowledging the fear he caused the victim and her family. He pleaded for leniency from the judge.
The judge asked why Lua had committed the crime, especially why he “performed a very dangerous stunt like Spider-Man.”
Lua alleged that there had been a misunderstanding between the two and so he broke into her house to seek forgiveness, including risking his life 25 floors up on a rope.
He said that he did not expect her to be frightened upon seeing him. Yeah, her reaction is a real mystery for sure.
Lua also claimed to have no intention of causing harm to the victim. He said that he didn’t think through his actions in the housebreaking attempts at the time and that he quit his job to reflect on his mistakes.
The judge sentenced him to five weeks in jail on 6 August. For the victim’s sake, let’s hope his remorse is true and that’s the end of the terrifying situation.
Victim Reportedly Traumatised by Housebreaking Incidents
The victim’s mother told Shin Min Daily News that they had taken preventative measures after the first housebreaking, including installing CCTV cameras and replacing the electronic lock.
She stated that during the second home invasion, she had heard stuff falling down in the kitchen and was shocked to see the rope, realising Lua had clambered in through the window.
Ever since then, the kitchen window in their house has been locked tight.
Understandably, the victim was left with trauma from the incidents. Her family advised her not to wear noise-cancelling headphones and to stay alert of her surroundings.
The victim’s mother mentioned that they had to replace the entire electronic lock for S$700 since Lua stole the master key. An investigator told her that Lua offered to cover the costs of the lock, but she refused the compensation.
Instead, she requested he sincerely reflect on his actions and hoped he would be truly remorseful.
Lua has also compensated the restaurant for their weighing scale and oil bottle, in case you were wondering.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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