They came to say goodbye
Many of the 1,000 who turned up knew dead girl only from news reports
By Tanya Fong
But 10-year-old Dakshahini Balan, who had painstakingly put it together, never knew the Chinese national, though they were in the same school, took the same route to and from Jin Tai Primary, and Huang Na bought sweets from her family's provision shop.
The Primary 5 pupil had frequently seen Huang Na chatting with the middle-aged woman who sells drinks at their school canteen, and always admired how gregarious she was. She had wanted to be her friend, but was too shy to approach her schoolmate.
When Huang Na went missing, Daksha, a prefect at their school, was determined to welcome her return by making friends with her. But it never happened.
Huang Na's badly decomposed body was found last week, and their paths will never intersect.
Daksha wrote in her card: 'I was really waiting for you to come and talk to you. But I have missed the chance. I will never forget you! Goodbye.'
Yesterday, many of the 1,000 people who turned up to say goodbye to Huang Na at Block 728, Clementi West Street 2, after closely following media reports of her disappearance for the last month, were like Daksha.
Said saleswoman Esther Wong, 39, in Mandarin: 'I recall Huang Na and her mother coming to the watch shop in City Plaza, where I work, to buy watches in September.
'Huang Na chose the watches, and her mum bought many. She said she was taking them back as gifts for relatives in China. When I read the news, I couldn't believe it was them. I don't know why I came. I just know I have to say goodbye to this poor girl.'
A 57-year-old housewife, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Ng, drove from Yishun with Hello Kitty soft toys for the girl, whom she had seen in television news reports.
Another woman, who said she took a bus from her home in Clementi, broke down when she arrived.
'I wanted to join in the search, and prayed for her every day,' said the 52-year-old housewife, who declined to give her name.
She added in Mandarin: 'I have three adult children, but to think of how horribly such a lovable child suffered when she was killed is very painful as a parent.'
According to the autopsy report, Huang Na, whose body was found in a sealed box at Telok Blangah Hill Park, had suffocated. Because of the body's badly composed state, it cannot be determined if she was sexually assaulted.
Said Mr Andy Tan, 25, a university undergraduate: 'We were all talking about it on campus... I came here with my girlfriend to see her for ourselves. I guess we wanted to have some closure.'
At every corner of the void deck, the mourners huddled and shook their heads as they whispered in hushed tones: 'She's so lovable', 'How could anyone be so perverted', 'She's so young', 'It's such a pity'.
Dressed in a white T-shirt and white pants, Huang Na's mother, Madam Huang Shu- ying, listlessly fed joss-paper into a burning urn beside the matt gold coffin, unaware of their sympathy.
By the time the hour-long prayers by two Buddhist priests ended at about 5pm, the 31-year-old looked close to collapse. Her husband, businessman Zheng Wenhai, 28, and Huang Na's stepfather, sat beside her and held her in his arms.
The quiet whispers ran a new round: 'How are they going to carry on with life after such a thing has happened?' and 'Hope her mother will not do anything to herself'.
At first, Madam Huang and Mr Zheng did not want to hold a wake as they found the thought of mourning over their daughter's grisly remains unbearable. 'But our family and friends felt we should give her a good send-off, no matter what,' said Mr Zheng.
'We're very touched by the large number of Singaporeans who've turned up to say goodbye. They've been very generous with their concern, and it's something we'll not be able to repay.'
The cortege will leave Clementi West Street 2 at 3pm today. Huang Na will be cremated at the Mandai Crematorium at 3.45pm.
Thousands bid tearful farewell to Huang Na
Strangers and even foreigners attended her funeral as they felt 'special bond' with her
MORE than 1,000 people, many of them in tears, followed Huang Na on her last 'visit' yesterday to some of the haunts of her adoptive home for the last 1 1/2 years: the West Coast Market, a playground and Jin Tai Primary School where she studied.
Her dazed parents led the long funeral procession which followed her coffin in a circle around the West Coast Market - an area where the eight-year-old schoolgirl, whose death moved a nation, used to play when she and her mother lived in the area.
Madam Huang Shuying, Huang Na's mother, kept her head bowed during the procession. Once, she lifted it to gaze at a playground where her daughter used to love playing on the swings.
The procession next stopped outside her school, along West Coast Road, where the Primary 2 pupil had been studying.
After the procession ended with prayers outside the school, mourners got into cars, chartered buses and taxis and headed to the Mandai Crematorium.
By the time the casket arrived there at about 3.45pm, about 400 mourners had packed into the funeral hall. After a short ceremony, the coffin was wheeled into the furnace.
Huang Na's parents, who until then had contained their grief, broke down in sobs and had to be held back as they tried to reach for their daughter's coffin.
Earlier, the crowds had thronged the Clementi apartment block where her wake was held to bid a tearful farewell to the little girl from China.
Classmates, friends and her mother's workmates stood alongside complete strangers and even some foreigners who flew here specially for the wake at Block 728 Clementi West Street 2, where mother and child used to live.
The lid of her coffin was covered with her favourite Hello Kitty soft toys, the sides plastered with Hello Kitty stickers and a Hello Kitty toy hung from each corner of the hearse.
The mourners also brought many of her favourite sweets and snacks, which were piled onto a table between her portrait and the coffin.
Among the crowd at the wake was Indonesian businesswoman Choi Lai Ting, 35, who said she had been reading so much about Huang Na since the girl disappeared on Oct 10 that she flew to Singapore to say goodbye to her.
Many who turned up at the wake and funeral yesterday also said they did not know Huang Na, but came simply because they felt a 'special bond' with her.
The turnout was so massive that funeral directors could not allow everyone to offer incense.
After the cremation, both her stepfather, Mr Zheng Wenhai, and Madam Huang had to be helped out of the funeral hall.
Thanking Singaporeans for their sympathy and support, Mr Zheng said: 'We are very touched and very grateful. There is no way we can repay this kindness, but it really showed us that everyone in Singapore has a very big, kind heart.'
With that, Mr Zheng got into the car with his wife and the couple left the crematorium firmly holding the smiling picture of their beloved daughter.
this is a sad news..... Huang (Zheng) Na case is not yet closed... however... thru this incident... we can see that how S'poreans united and come together as a big family.... everyone grieved for this 8 years old gal... everyone felt so pitied for her parents....
Let us mourn 1 min for this innocent gal... and hope that she rest in peace....
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