Lee Kok Cheong

Associate Professor Lee Kok Cheong (1939 – December 14 1993) was the Head of the English Proficiency Unit at the National University of Singapore. He was murdered on December 14 1993; the identities of his killers remained unknown to Singapore police for more than two years. The 1998 trial of Too Yin Sheng, one of the men accused of the murder, generated controversy in the Singapore homosexual community, over what some perceived as homophobic bias in the media.

Murder

According to the statement of Too at his trial, he had met Professor Lee at a coffeeshop; soon after that, the professor gave Too his telephone number and invited Too to visit his home. When Too did visit, the professor made overtures to have sexual intercourse with him, which he declined. Before leaving, Too noticed that the Professor had valuable antiques in his home.

When Too mentioned this incident to two friends—Ng Chek Siong and Lee Chez Kee (alias "Kim Beh"), Lee suggested robbing the professor. He also suggested that Too arrange a meeting on the pretext of introducing Lee to the professor, so that the group could gain entry to Professor Lee's house.

On December 12 1993, the three went to Professor Lee's house in a car with Ng as the driver. Too and Lee entered the house, where they tied the Professor up, then stabbed and strangled him to death. They ransacked his house and stole his ATM card, which Too later used to withdraw money from the Professor's bank account. The Professor had lived alone, and his body was found only two days later in a partly decomposed state.

For a long time, his killers remained at large. Only an anonymous tip-off, two years after the murder, enabled police to make progress in solving the case. Too Yin Sheng and Ng Chek Siong were arrested in 1998. Too was charged for murdering the Professor, and sentenced to death by hanging on 28 August 1998. Ng got off more lightly—he was convicted of robbing the Professor's home, and sentenced to eight years in jail.

Lee Chez Kee fled Singapore to Malaysia shortly after the murder. In June 2005, he was arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police for theft, and jailed. On 18 February 2006, Singapore police announced that they had extradited him back to face trial for the murder, having made arrangements with Malaysian police to extradite him upon his release from prison. He was charged in court on 19 February 2006. [cite news | publisher=Channel NewsAsia | title=36-year-old man charged with murder of university professor | date=19 February 2006 | url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/print/193971/1/.html | accessdate=2006-05-12]

Controversy on media coverage of Too's trial

The coverage of Too's trial in "The Straits Times" was perceived by some to have given too much attention to the fact that the Professor was homosexual. For instance, on 19 August the newspaper headlined its coverage of the trial with "Victim was homosexual", even though he had not brought this up at the trial in his defence. On 29 August, a day after the verdict was announced, "The Straits Times" published a photograph showing the Professor sitting with a semi-naked male student on his bed, and an article detailing the his "secret life" and "promiscuous ways". This "overemphasis" on the Kok Cheong's homosexuality was viewed by many as discriminating against homosexuals.

Also, some felt that the publication of the photograph was an insensitve gesture to professor Lee's family and the student in the photograph, since the student could be identified by his torso even as the newspaper blurred his face.

However, others pointed out that writing style of "The Straits Times" remained true to the facts of the case throughout the trial, and that the newspaper had not used derogatory words to describe homosexuality or homosexuals. The lesson from the professor's murder was that it is dangerous to invite strangers to one's home, and that to derive any other conclusion from the reports was to read between the lines.

References

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Others

* [http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_1998/yax-107.htm Critique of "The Straits Times"' coverage of the Prof Lee murder trial] , [http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=372 mirror]