Bandar Utama school stabbing: Family plans civil suit as mother asks if tragedy could have been prevented

Nearly a year after the tragic school stabbing of her 16-year-old daughter, Wong Lee Ping continues to seek answers about whether the incident could have been prevented.

Following the Shah Alam High Court's acquittal of the accused on grounds of unsound mind, the family plans to file a civil suit while the case moves to the appeal stage.

Wong emphasizes the need for awareness and preventive measures in schools to protect children, expressing a deep sense of loss and gratitude for public support.

The family's legal actions aim to address potential oversight and prevent future tragedies.

KEPONG, Sept 25 — More than 11 months after her daughter was fatally stabbed at school, Wong Lee Ping is still asking a question she cannot put behind her: could the tragedy have been prevented?

The mother of 16-year-old Yap Shing Xuen said the family is planning to pursue a civil suit as the criminal case moves to the appeal stage following the Shah Alam High Court’s decision to acquit the teenage accused on the grounds of unsoundness of mind.

“Our lawyers will be filing a civil suit. Until the criminal proceedings are completed, we will not comment on the details. Our lawyers will explain those matters later,” Wong told a press conference today.

Asked whether the civil action would be filed after the appeal or concurrently, Wong said the family intended to proceed but had yet to determine when.

She also confirmed that the family was considering legal action against certain parties, but declined to identify them, saying the matter would be reviewed in due course.

For Wong, however, the civil action is not simply another legal avenue. Her daughter, she said, is not coming home.

“I am not here today to seek resolution in the criminal case, because my daughter is already gone.

“No matter what we do today, I will never be able to hear her call me again. I will never be able to call her home again,” she said, breaking down in tears.

‘Were the warning signs seen?’

Wong said she remained troubled by what might have happened before the stabbing.

“If there were already some warning signs before the tragedy happened, were those warning signs seen?

“And if they were seen, did anyone actually take sufficient action?” she said.

Wong said she was not asking schools to guarantee that tragedies would never happen.

“But I hope that whenever a child shows warning signs of danger, we don’t wait until another child loses their life before regretting it and asking why nobody stopped it, why nobody could stop it.

“My daughter does not have a second chance,” she said.

Wong said she hoped her daughter’s death could instead give other children a better chance of being protected.

“That is why I am continuing to stand here and speak today,” she said.

She also questioned whether warning signs had been missed during the accused teenager’s first two weeks at the school.

“For two weeks the student brought a knife to school, why didn’t anyone notice this? I think it is very possible that other students knew.

“Why didn’t the school teachers tell the children that if they noticed anything dangerous, or if someone brought a knife or something like that to school, they should tell a teacher?” she said.

Wong’s husband, How Boon Chin, who was also at the press conference, stressed the importance of measures to prevent similar incidents in schools.

“School is supposed to be a very safe place,” he said.

From murder charge to appeal

Yap Shing Xuen was fatally stabbed at a secondary school in Bandar Utama on October 14 last year.

The teenager accused of killing her, who was 14 at the time, was charged with murder at the Petaling Jaya Magistrates’ Court on October 22.

The case subsequently went through psychiatric assessment before being transferred to the Shah Alam High Court, where the trial was conducted in camera because the accused was a minor.

A psychiatric assessment found him fit to stand trial in January. He pleaded not guilty when the murder charge was read again at the High Court on February 12.

The trial began on August 3.

On August 13, the High Court ordered the teenager to enter his defence after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case.

The defence closed its case on August 26 after two witnesses — the accused and a forensic psychiatrist — testified.

On September 14, High Court Judge Adlin Abdul Majid acquitted and discharged the teenager after finding that he was of unsound mind at the time of the offence, and ordered him to be placed at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta for a period to be approved by the Sultan of Selangor.

The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) filed a Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal on September 22, challenging the acquittal.

Appeal puts High Court ruling under fresh scrutiny

Kepong DAP MP Lim Lip Eng, whose office offered legal assistance to the family, said the AGC’s decision to appeal showed that prosecutors were challenging the High Court’s ruling.

“And to answer a few questions from the reporters whether we or the family members agree with the judgment, I think the government has answered. The government disagrees with the judgment, hence the appeal,” he said.

Wong said the family was moved by the decision to appeal.

“When I heard that the AGC was appealing, I was actually very touched because I felt that someone was supporting me,” she said.

She said the family would now wait for the appeal process rather than attempt to intervene in matters outside its control.

Wong also said the family had not had the opportunity to access certain documentary evidence, including government documents and the medical report.

She therefore declined to comment on some aspects of the case while the appeal was pending, saying the Court of Appeal should make its decision based on the complete evidence.

Asked whether the family was willing to meet the accused again, Wong said she had no intention of doing so.

“I don’t think I will meet him again, there is no need for that,” she said.

‘It feels like it happened only the day before yesterday’

The passage of almost a year has not made the loss feel distant for Wong.

She said she had struggled to return to work after her daughter’s death, continuing only because her team was still there.

“We reduced our workload. We worked more slowly and did less,” she said.

“It feels as though this happened only the day before yesterday.”

For much of the past year, she said, she simply wanted to rest and not think about anything.

“Just eat and sleep. The year passed like that,” she added.

Wong said she had spent the year carrying out Buddhist prayers and rituals for Shing Xuen, including ceremonies marking the 49th and 100th days after her death.

She also arranged for 20,000 copies of Buddhist scriptures to be printed and distributed to temples.

But Wong said the family had to be careful about how much of the case they discussed with her other daughter.

“There are many things that I don’t talk to her about too much because it would disturb her life and affect her, and it would also affect me,” Wong said.

“Because in our current situation, it feels like a second trauma for us.

“So I try to avoid exposing her to these things. I only discuss important matters with her. Other things, I don’t tell her too much.”

Wong said she was grateful for the public support the family had received throughout the case.

“The public has really shown us a lot of care and support. I am really touched. I thank everyone and am grateful that people have shown us this support,” she said.

How said the family would hold a separate press conference on the civil suit once more details were available.

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在她16岁的女儿在学校被刺伤的悲剧发生近一年后，黄丽萍仍在寻求答案，想知道这起事件是否可以避免。

在沙阿南高等法院以精神不健全为由宣告被告无罪后，该案进入上诉阶段，家属计划提起民事诉讼。

黄女士强调学校需要提高儿童安全意识并采取预防措施来保护儿童，同时表达了深深的失落感和对公众支持的感激之情。

该家庭采取法律行动旨在解决潜在的监管疏忽问题，防止未来发生悲剧。

甲洞，9月25日讯——女儿在学校被刺身亡11个多月后，黄丽萍仍然无法释怀一个问题：这场悲剧是否可以避免？

16岁少年叶星萱的母亲表示，在莎阿南高等法院以精神不健全为由宣告这名少年被告无罪后，刑事案件进入上诉阶段，因此他们一家计划提起民事诉讼。

黄先生今天在新闻发布会上表示：“我们的律师将提起民事诉讼。在刑事诉讼程序结束之前，我们不会对细节发表评论。我们的律师稍后会解释这些事宜。”

当被问及民事诉讼是在上诉之后还是与上诉同时提起时，黄先生表示，他们打算提起诉讼，但尚未确定何时提起。

她还证实，该家庭正在考虑对某些方面采取法律行动，但拒绝透露具体对象，称此事将在适当时候进行审查。

然而，对黄女士来说，这场民事诉讼并非仅仅是又一条法律途径。她说，她的女儿再也回不来了。

“我今天来这里不是为了寻求刑事案件的解决，因为我的女儿已经不在了。”

“无论我们今天做什么，我再也听不到她给我打电话了。我再也打不到她回家了，”她说着，泣不成声。

“预警信号出现了吗？”

黄女士表示，她仍然对刺伤事件发生前可能发生的事情感到不安。

“如果悲剧发生之前已经出现了一些预警信号，那么这些预警信号是否被发现了？”

她问道：“如果有人目击了这些行为，真的有人采取了足够的行动吗？”

黄女士表示，她并不是要求学校保证悲剧永远不会发生。

“但我希望，每当一个孩子表现出危险的警告信号时，我们不要等到另一个孩子失去生命才后悔，并质问为什么没有人阻止它，为什么没有人能够阻止它。

“我的女儿没有第二次机会了，”她说。

黄女士表示，她希望女儿的死能让其他孩子有更好的机会得到保护。

“这就是我今天继续站在这里发言的原因，”她说。

她还质疑，在被告少年入学的前两周里，是否有人错过了任何预警信号。

“这名学生带着刀来学校两周了，为什么没有人注意到？我认为其他学生很可能知道。”

她问道：“为什么学校老师不告诉孩子们，如果他们发现任何危险的东西，或者有人带刀之类的东西到学校，就应该告诉老师呢？”

黄的丈夫何文进也出席了新闻发布会，他强调了采取措施防止学校发生类似事件的重要性。

“学校应该是一个非常安全的地方，”他说。

从谋杀指控到上诉

去年10月14日，叶成勋在万达镇一所中学被刺身亡。

被控杀害她的少年当时年仅 14 岁，于 10 月 22 日在八打灵再也地方法庭被控谋杀。

该案随后经过精神病学评估，之后移送至莎阿南高等法院，由于被告是未成年人，审判以非公开方式进行。

一月份的精神鉴定结果显示他适合接受审判。2月12日，高等法院再次宣读谋杀指控时，他拒不不认罪。

审判于8月3日开始。

8月13日，高等法院裁定检方已确立初步证据，并命令这名青少年进行辩护。

8 月 26 日，在两名证人（被告和一名法医精神病学家）作证后，辩方结束了举证。

9月14日，高等法院法官阿德林·阿卜杜勒·马吉德认定这名少年在犯罪时精神不健全，并判其无罪释放，同时下令将其送往巴哈吉亚乌鲁金塔医院，具体时间由雪兰莪苏丹批准。

9月22日，总检察署向上诉法院提交了上诉通知书，对无罪判决提出质疑。

上诉使高等法院的裁决受到新的审视

甲洞民主行动党议员林立荣表示，总检察署决定上诉，表明检方正在挑战高等法院的裁决。林立荣的办公室曾向该家庭提供法律援助。

“至于记者们提出的我们或家属是否同意判决的问题，我认为政府已经回答了。政府不同意判决，所以才提出上诉。”他说道。

黄先生表示，家人对上诉的决定感到感动。

“当我听说总检察署要上诉时，我非常感动，因为我觉得有人在支持我，”她说。

她说，家人现在将等待上诉程序，而不是试图干预他们无法控制的事情。

黄先生还表示，家属没有机会获取某些书面证据，包括政府文件和医疗报告。

因此，在上诉待决期间，她拒绝就案件的某些方面发表评论，称上诉法院应根据全部证据作出裁决。

当被问及家人是否愿意再次与被告见面时，黄女士表示她没有这样的打算。

“我想我不会再见到他了，没有必要再见他了，”她说。

“感觉就像发生在昨天一样。”

虽然已经过去了将近一年，但黄女士仍然感觉失去亲人的痛苦尚未消散。

她说，女儿去世后，她很难重返工作岗位，之所以坚持下来，只是因为她的团队还在那里。

“我们减少了工作量。我们放慢了工作速度，减少了工作量，”她说。

“感觉就像这件事就发生在昨天一样。”

她说，在过去一年的大部分时间里，她只想休息，什么都不想。

“就是吃吃睡睡。一年就这样过去了。”她补充道。

黄女士表示，她这一年来一直在为圣雪举行佛教祈祷和仪式，包括纪念圣雪去世后第 49 天和第 100 天的仪式。

她还安排印刷了2万册佛教经文，并分发给各个寺庙。

但黄女士表示，家人必须谨慎对待与她另一个女儿讨论案情的程度。

“有很多事情我不想跟她多谈，因为这会扰乱她的生活，影响她，也会影响到我，”黄女士说。

“因为在目前的情况下，这感觉就像是我们遭受了第二次创伤。”

“所以我尽量避免让她接触这些事情。我只和她讨论重要的事情。其他的事情，我不会跟她说太多。”

黄女士表示，她很感激公众在整个案件过程中给予她家人的支持。

“公众对我们展现了极大的关心和支持，我深受感动。我感谢每一位给予我们支持的人，并对此深表感激。”她说道。

豪表示，一旦有更多细节公布，家属将就民事诉讼另行召开新闻发布会。

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