Lim Keng Peng

Lim Keng Peng was considered to be the most Dangerous criminal the police encountered ever since the case of Lim Ban Lim, a notorious gunman wanted for killing a policeman before he was killed by the police during a gunfight in November 1972.

On 2 April 1985, at his restaurant in River Valley Road, 43-year-old Vincent Loke Kok Nam (陆国楠 Lù Guònán) was shot dead by a customer, who was identified three years later to be Lim Keng Peng.

Lim was said to have gone into Loke's restaurant to buy a packet of food, and he left after getting his food.

However, moments later, Lim returned to the shop, and complained to Loke that his packet was leaking.

As Loke stood at the counter with Lim facing him, Lim allegedly whispered something to Loke before he pulled out a gun to fire a single shot at Loke, killing him before Lim ran off, leaving his motorcycle behind.

The motive for the killing was unknown, and the police were unable to identify a possible suspect behind the case, despite getting the description that the gunman was left-handed.

Loke was survived by his wife Carol Loke and two sons aged 10 and 15 respectively.

The restaurant was closed for weeks by Loke's wife (who became the new owner) in light of Loke's death, before it re-opened.

On 18 December 1985, eight months after he committed his first murder, 32-year-old Lim Keng Peng once again killed a person, and this time round, his second victim was a police detective.

Prior to the brutal killing, a police report was lodged by one of Lim's tenants that after a drunk altercation between Lim and her husband, Lim had stolen her handbag from her in their rented flat, and he was last sighted entering a red Toyota and leaving the flat.

Therefore, a team of two policemen trailed Lim all the way to Jalan Pelikat in Upper Serangoon.

Later, the officers approached Lim at Jalan Pelikat, and they told him to stop driving.

However, Lim whipped out his revolver and fired a shot at one of the officers before he fled.

The injured officer, 41-year-old detective Goh Ah Khia (吴亚仔 Wú Yàzǎi), died the next day due to the gunshot wound on his chest.

At the time he died, Detective Goh left behind a wife, and two children - a son and a daughter - aged 13 and nine respectively.

His wife reportedly told the press that she was proud of her husband, who died an honourable death while discharging his duties as a policeman.

The brutality of Detective Goh's killing recalled five past cases where policemen were murdered while in the line of duty during the past two decades prior to the case.

As a result of the detective's murder, 32-year-old Lim Keng Peng was immediately placed among the top ten suspects on the police's wanted list.

The police sent out public appeals for information leading up to the arrest of Lim on the charge of murdering Detective Goh Ah Khia.

They also sent a warning to members of the public to beware of Lim and also to not harbour Lim, as the crime of harbouring a criminal carries the maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment, in addition to a fine.

Searches were also conducted in flats to capture Lim.

Singaporean crime show Crimewatch re-enacted the shooting of Vincent Loke and aired it on television in March 1986, and the police sent a public appeal through the episode for information to solve the case.

By July 1987, Lim Keng Peng rose to become the No. 1 wanted criminal on the police's list of fugitives at large.

Crimewatch, a Singaporean crime show, re-enacted the case of Detective Goh's murder and aired it on television in June 1987, and the police also sent out another appeal to the Singaporean public to raise awareness of Lim's case and encourage members of the public to come forward should they have any information about Lim's whereabouts.

The Singapore Police Force also sought help from Malaysia and Thailand to help trace his whereabouts.

Lim Keng Peng (林景明 Lín Jĭngmíng; c. 1953 – 3 May 1988), better known as Ah Huat (阿发 A Fā), was a Singaporean criminal who was wanted for the murder of a police detective named Goh Ah Khia in December 1985.

While Lim did not have any prior criminal record before he killed Detective Goh, Lim was also involved in the fatal shooting of a restaurant owner Vincent Loke Kok Nam, which occurred in April of the same year he killed the policeman.

Lim, who went into hiding, subsequently became one of Singapore's ten most wanted criminals.

After a 30-month manhunt, Lim was discovered and killed during a police ambush.

A coroner's court found Lim guilty of the two murders he was accused for, and his death was ruled as a lawful killing on the part of the policemen who shot him.

Born as the eldest son in a family of seven children in Singapore, Lim Keng Peng had four younger brothers and two younger sisters.

Lim, who went to a Catholic school as a child, later studied up to Secondary Four in Queenstown Secondary Technical School.

After completing his schooling, Lim went to work at a shipyard, and he also became the owner of a construction business.

After this, Lim left the job and went to look for employment opportunities in Malaysia.

He also worked as a temple medium at one point.

Lim was a devout Buddhist, and he was able to speak Thai due to his frequent travels to Thailand.

Lim was known to be well mannered and had a good relationship with his parents and siblings.

However, he also had a heavy drinking habit and often get violent when drunk.

That habit itself would lead to him into becoming one of Singapore's most wanted criminals.

Still, the murder of Loke remained unsolved up until the death of Lim in 1988, when his involvement was finally discovered by the police.