Choo Zheng Xi & Deborah Choo
Desperate for information on the circumstances surrounding their son’s death, David Widjaja’s family arrived in Singapore on Wednesday hoping to meet with Professor Chan Kap Lup. The Professor was David’s mentor at the Nanyang Technological University who was allegedly stabbed by David before the latter fell to his death on March 2.
On Friday, David Widjaja’s parents, brother and an uncle paid a surprise visit to Professor Chan Kap Lup’s home, accompanied by several members of the Indonesian press.
The group arrived at the professor’s condominium in the afternoon at about 3.30pm, hoping to meet with the professor to ask him about what had taken place on March 2 at his office in NTU which led to the alleged stabbing and David’s death.
Affixed to the top right corner of the entrance outside Professor Chan’s house was a small CCTV camera. William rang the doorbell and the family waited expectantly. They were answered with silence.
It was the second time that the family of David Widjaja was in Singapore. The family’s first visit was on March 3 – the day after the stabbing incident.
Expressing his disappointment, William Widjaja, David’s brother, told TOC outside Professor Chan’s house that all he wants is clarity on what took place in the professor’s office on March 2. “I just want to ask him what exactly happened in the room”, said David’s father.
In an interview with TOC earlier in the day, the family said they had also planned to meet several of David’s friends, NTU President Dr. Su Guaning, the police and the press.
David’s relationship with his friends were very good, his father said. “It’s impossible that he committed suicide by jumping down a building and he wouldn’t use a knife to stab anyone,” he insisted. “Definitely, he won’t.”
“We want to find proof that David did not commit suicide”, said William.
Earlier, they told TOC that they were paying the Straits Times office in Toa Payoh a visit as well. William said the purpose was to “clarify” certain reports carried by the local media which they felt were “misleading”. These included assertions by the media that David Widjaja had stabbed the professor, slit his own wrists, and committed suicide by jumping to his death. “The police are still investigating this case and the results [have not been] released yet,” explained William. “So how can the media report that David stabbed the professor, slit his wrists and committed suicide?” Asked if they were considering taking legal actions against the Singapore media, William said they were not and only wanted to clarify some “wrong statements in the Singapore media.”
The family feels that many questions are still unanswered. Having received the autopsy report via the mail on April 4 from NTU, they were puzzled at why the autopsy was not sent directly to them. Asked if they had authorised NTU to collect the report on their behalf, William said, “We didn’t.” His father also insisted that the family did not give any such authorisation.
“The police only told us when they would be giving us the autopsy report,” said David’s father. “They said it would take one month.” He explained that the report should have been passed to the Indonesian embassy in Singapore and the embassy would then be the one which passes it to the family. “It is strange why the autopsy report was given by the police to NTU and not the Indonesian embassy,” said William. They were told by experts in Indonesia that the report would have to be “legalised” first by the embassy before it could be given to the family.
They have sent the autopsy report to medical experts in Indonesia. “The report mostly contained medical terms. Thus, we will seek professional help to decipher them,” William had told The Jakarta Post. The results are yet to be released.
William mentioned that his cousin knew a friend in NTU who told him that there was an Iranian girl who witnessed David’s fall, and that the family would like to get in touch with her but have so far not been able to. William, however, said they did not know if the story was true. They are also appealing for eyewitnesses to step forward and contact them.
The family returns to Indonesia on Sunday morning.
As of now, TOC has not been able to contact NTU because of the holiday. A separate notification will be put up once we have managed to contact NTU.
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