Ng Theng Shuang

Ng Theng Shuang (黄庭双 Huáng Tíngshuāng; 1 January 1966 – 14 July 1995) was a Penang-born Malaysian and criminal who was one of the two armed robbers involved in a robbery attempt of the Tin Sing Goldsmiths at South Bridge Road in November 1992.

Ng, together with his Malaysian accomplice Lee Kok Chin, later engaged in a shoot-out with Cisco guard Karamjit Singh, whom he injured in the leg.

Ng had also shot two other bystanders, a customer and a salesman.

Lee was shot in the chest and died, while Ng alone escaped after stealing a woman's station-wagon as his getaway vehicle.

Ng Theng Shuang was born in the Malaysian state of Penang in 1966, and he grew up in Bukit Mertajam.

Ng was a compulsive gambler since young.

He often would commit petty crimes whenever he lost money.

For almost a year, Ng would gamble in Taiping and spent most of his time at gambling dens with his friends.

For an unknown offence, Ng was imprisoned in 1986 before his release in 1988, and he went to work as a coffee shop helper.

It was revealed that in the past, Lee had committed vehicle and snatch thefts in Singapore and was jailed in 1987, before he was released in 1989.

In fact, Lee was also placed on the wanted list by the Royal Malaysia Police for several armed robberies committed in Penang, including a bank robbery in Bukit Mertajam and holding a businessman hostage and injuring the victim during a robbery at Butterworth.

In the most recent offence he committed in Singapore before the current case, Lee also used a gun to rob a moneychanger and his brother on gunpoint at Golden Note Trading on North Bridge Road.

In this case, Lee had allegedly fired his gun and killed the 34-year-old moneychanger Ng Teck Kwang, and even injured the victim's 32-year-old brother Ng Kiang Kwang.

At the press conference conducted after the shootout, Police Commissioner Tee Tua Ba defended the actions of Singh, who was criticized by some people for endangering the lives of the civilians during the shootout.

Commissioner Tee stated that during situations where a civilian's or officer's life was threatened by the imminent risk of death, the officers are bound to have the right to act in self-defense and act accordingly to protect innocent lives as far as possible.

He commented that for their defiance against the members of law enforcement, the robbers deserved death.

Later, Ng was also convicted of stealing a car at Kedah in April 1991 and was jailed a second time before his release on bail a month later.

On 19 November 1992, both 26-year-old Ng Theng Shuang and his 27-year-old accomplice Lee Kok Chin (李国成 Lǐ Guóchéng), who was also a Malaysian, armed themselves with guns and grenades and went to commit robbery at Singapore's South Bridge Road, after they allegedly entered Singapore illegally by boat.

Targeting the Tin Sing Goldsmiths, both Lee and Ng wore crash helmets with visors and together, they forcibly entered the shop with their guns, threatening the 30 employees and eight customers inside the shop at gunpoint.

One of them was a Cisco officer named Karamjit Singh, who was 22 years old and only joined the force a year ago.

Despite being warned by the robbers to not shoot or he would get shot, Singh reached for his service revolver.

It resulted in one of the robbers, Ng Theng Shuang, who was armed with a 9mm Luger semi-automatic pistol, to fire his gun at Singh, injuring the officer's right thigh.

Afterwards, Singh took cover behind a counter and asked the other hostages to also take cover and hide.

A gunfight therefore ensued between Singh and the two robbers, who all exchanged gunshots on both sides.

During the gunfight, Singh managed to shoot one of the robbers, Lee Kok Chin, in the chest.

Two other people, a 57-year-old salesman named Ou Kai San and a 39-year-old female customer Rosie Kee Lye Choon, were also injured during the exchange of gunfire.

The two robbers decided to make an escape after they shoot six times.

They stole a motorcycle and rode it off together, with Ng sitting in the front while Lee was at the back.

Singh tried to give chase, but Ng fired another shot and injured Singh on the right ankle.

Singh therefore gave up and instead went back to the shop to contact the police.

Shortly after getting onto the motorcycle, Lee fell off and collapsed on the street, having died due to the gunshot wound on his chest.

After Lee fell off the motorcycle, Ng went on to rob a woman named Elizabeth Jeeris of her station-wagon and used it as a getaway vehicle to drive away.

After managing to escape and later abandon the stolen car, Ng then ran off to Malaysia.

The three injured victims, including Singh, survived their injuries.

While Ng managed to escape, his accomplice Lee Kok Chin, who was mortally wounded in the chest, was pronounced dead at the spot where he had fallen from the motorcycle.

The police, who managed to identify Lee through his fingerprints, also found a semi-automatic pistol, a Llama .38, and two live grenades in his possession.

These weapons were confirmed to have been smuggled into Singapore.

Ng fled to his native state of Penang in Malaysia, where he was arrested a year later on 29 December 1993, and extradited to Singapore, where he was charged under the Arms Offences Act for armed robbery and illegal discharge of a firearm to cause injury.

Ng was unemployed as of 1993 when he was caught for committing a firearms offence in Singapore.

Ng was found guilty and sentenced to death in September 1994, and he was hanged on 14 July 1995 after losing his appeal.