2010 Downtown East slashing

On 30 October 2010, at Downtown East, Singapore, 19-year-old Darren Ng Wei Jie, a Singaporean student from Republic Polytechnic, was slashed by 12 youths from a rival gang after a staring incident between one of Ng's friends and one of these youths attacking him.

Ng suffered from 28 knife wounds and died in Changi General Hospital five hours after the incident.

The case was classified as murder, and the police arrested all the suspects.

Six of them were charged with murder, but all except one were sentenced to serve lengthy jail terms with caning for culpable homicide (the sixth was instead found guilty of rioting), while the others were sentenced to varied jail terms and caning for rioting.

On 30 October 2010, a previous conflict between the leaders of two rival gangs, 21-year-old Dickson Ng Teck Seng of Fong Hong San (Phoenix Hill) and 18-year-old Stilwell Ong Keat Pin of Salakau (or gang 369), led to the two deciding to meet at Downtown East for a 1-on-1 fight.

Ong brought along 11 other youths to meet up with Dickson Ng and armed themselves with knives and other weapons; however, the gang leader did not show up.

Instead, a few of Dickson Ng's fellow gang members showed up.

One of them was 19-year-old student Darren Ng Wei Jie (unrelated to Dickson Ng), a second-year industrial and operations management student from Republic Polytechnic.

One of them had a tense conversation with Ong, and somehow, at some point, one of Ng's friends was involved in a staring incident with one of Ong's friends.

This escalated the situation when Ong brandished a chilli sauce bottle but accidentally dropped it.

Ng perceived it as a hostile move and whipped out a baton for self-defence.

It only made matters worse and Ong and his gang, out of agitation, made their attack on Ng and his friends.

Outnumbered, Ng and his friends fled the scene and Ong's gang gave chase, passing by many witnesses and some crowded shops in Downtown East Mall.

One of the youths among those running away was seen falling down outside Popeyes, a fast food restaurant, but another helped him up and continued to run.

After running some distance, Ng accidentally crashed into a glass door outside Sakura International Buffet Restaurant and before he could recover, Ong's gang caught up and together, they used screwdrivers, choppers and knives to callously slash and hack at Ng, right in front of many witnesses (including some young children), who were horrified at the violence presented in front of them.

After they ended their attack, the gang left, leaving Ng in a pool of blood outside Sakura, with a total of 28 slash wounds on his body, mostly at his left limbs and below his right rib cage.

One of Ng's friends returned to tend to his injured friend while an ambulance was contacted; Ng was soon brought to Changi General Hospital for immediate treatment, accompanied by his friend.

Five hours after the incident, Darren Ng, the only son of his family and the youngest of two children, was pronounced dead at about 10:55 pm on the night of 30 October 2010.

The cause of Ng's death was a fatal stab wound to his neck which caused massive bleeding.

Given the fact that the incident occurred in a Saturday evening, in front of a large crowd consisting of people of all ages, the feelings of the public had run high and the pro-death penalty advocates voiced out for the hanging of the main culprits for their part in the murder of the young student.

This fact had also reinforced the blatant disregard the offenders had for the law.

The government stepped in to implement guidance programmes to reach out for those at-risk young people and teenagers who were vulnerable to joining gangs.

The violence by the gang killing also sent ripples among the emotions of the public.

On 3 November 2010, Darren Ng's funeral was held.

It was attended by hundreds of family members and friends, which included Ng's parents and elder sister.

In an article reporting Ng's funeral and memorial service, Ng was described as a "cheerful" young man with "a heart of gold" by those who know him.

It was reported that during his secondary school years, there would be weekly phone calls made by Ng's teachers to his parents, indicating Ng as a rebellious student.

Ng's father, Francis Ng, however, said that when his son was dismissed from the polytechnic three weeks prior to his death, Ng wrote an appeal letter by himself; knowing this, the bereaved father knew that his son has grown up and wanted to quit his rebellious ways.

He said at the memorial service that his son died because of his "love for his friends".

Darren Ng's elder sister, Debbie, described her brother as a "little older brother" to her, saying that although he always made his family worry about him, they knew that he dearly loved them.

She said, "Jie Jie (a Chinese term for "elder sister") misses you".

Ng's then girlfriend said that her boyfriend, whom she dated for seven months prior to his death, always talk about his friends and family, and a "joker" who would always make those around him laugh.

One of Ng's childhood friends said of his friend as one who always wanted "the best for his friends".

In addition, Ng's friends from the secret society gang which Ng associated with also attended the funeral.

When seeing reporters at the scene, some of them turned aggressive and confronted them for not giving any peace to Ng's bereaved family, threatening them with fists, covering their cameras or raising their voices, which disrupted the originally peaceful and quiet funeral.

In 2011, Marvin Ng, a childhood friend and next-door neighbour of Darren Ng, revealed in an interview that he knew Ng since five years old and studied in the same primary school (Rosyth School) as him.

Marvin stated that at the time of Ng's death, he was in preparation for his GCE A-levels, which was a week away.

He said that he was sad to hear that Ng died from the grievous assault at Downtown East and when he attended Ng's funeral, he could not bring himself to continue to study for his national exams.

However, the then-19-year-old Millennia Institute student said that despite his grief, he was grateful for his family and Ng's parents, who supported him throughout the tragic period and his exam period and finally, he attained three 'A's for his A-level results.

After the incident, the police first arrested four of the youths involved; one of them resisted arrest and while making his escape, he accidentally suffered from a head injury and had to be hospitalised.