Man Serving Life Imprisonment in Changi Prison Found to Have Killed Himself

On Christmas Day in 2003, two men abducted a seven-year-old girl in broad daylight from her home off Yio Chu Kang Road, at 4.30pm.

A catering assistant at the girl’s home, who was preparing for a Christmas party, heard the commotion and spotted the vehicle driving away.

She took down the vehicle’s licence number and informed her husband who gave chase.

The kidnappers then dumped the girl off Tampines Street 72, half an hour after she was abducted.

Chua Ser Lien, 58 and his accomplice, transport manager Tan Ping Koon, then 35, were both sentenced to life imprisonment and three strokes of the cane in 2004.

Chua’s time in prison has been cut short, however, as he took his own life earlier this year.

Man Serving Life Imprisonment in Changi Prison Jumped From Fourth Floor to his Death

At the time, Chua was serving his prison sentence at Changi Prison’s psychiatric housing unit, as he had a history of bipolar disorder.

Prisoners at this housing unit were allowed out of their cells for one scheduled hour of television time in the TV room.

However, Chua, who tended to avoid the company of others, had never joined them for television time and was allowed out of his cell to roam the day room.

He had done this for months without any problems.

But on 8 July this year, Chua was seen on CCTV footage walking up the stairs from the third floor to the fourth floor.

Then, he began climbing up railings that had bars across them, according to The Straits Times.

At this point, officers had spotted Chua and called out to him, but it was too late.

The 58-year-old released his grip and fell backwards, landing on the back of his head on the third floor.

He was pronounced dead in Changi General Hospital at 10.15am.

A Deliberate Act of Suicide

On Tuesday (22 Dec), a coroner ruled Chua’s death a deliberate act of suicide.

Investigations revealed that there was no negligence on the part of prison officers and that Chua had been receiving appropriate medical treatment while in prison.

He had never exhibited suicidal tendencies before his death.

The coroner added that there’s no reason to suspect foul play.

Mental Health Issues

Chua, who has two children with his ex-wife, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2004 when he was remanded in the Institute of Mental Health.

Before he was jailed for kidnapping, he had been a managing director in a cleaning company.

His mental health issues started to manifest when he visited a university for a meeting and offered to donate a million dollars, before running up gambling debts of $600,000, according to CNA. 

He then began drinking heavily and fell into depression.

His wife filed for divorce after his sentence so she could apply for a rental flat, but still considered him her husband and visited him with their two children.

His wife had seen his mental health issues get progressively worse over the years.

She first realised something was wrong in 2002, when Chua began having hallucinations, saying the kitchen was hell and the living room was heaven.

In the months leading up to his death, Chua had become more aggressive towards her during her prison visits.

She felt his medication wasn’t doing much to treat his mental illness.

She last visited Chua in Nov 2019, and spoke to him over the phone in June this year.

She, along with prison officers and Chua’s cellmate, didn’t see any warning signs of Chua’s suicidal tendencies.

Reviewing Infrastructure Design

Changi Prison is now reviewing its infrastructure design, and even considering installing a sensor system that would alert officers whenever anyone tries to move close to the railings.

The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) is also considering adding more railings – ones that cannot be gripped – at the stairs to deter inmates from scaling from the stairs to the railings.

In addition, no inmate will be allowed to remain alone outside their cells.

High-risk inmates will now be warded in the complex’s medical centre.

SPS officers have reached out to Chua’s family after his death to lend assistance and extended their condolences to his family.

“Mr Chua’s death, which has been ruled a deliberate act of suicide by the coroner, is an unfortunate incident,” SPS said.

If you are feeling suicidal or have any thoughts of suicide, please call the following hotlines:

Samaritans Of Singapore: 1800-221-4444

Singapore Association For Mental Health: 1800-283-7019

Institute Of Mental Health’s Mobile Crisis Service: 6389-2222

Care Corner Counselling Centre (Mandarin): 1800-353-5800

Silver Ribbon: 6386-1928

Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788

Featured Image: Singapore Prison Service & Singapore Police Force