'I want to apologise to my father for all the pain that he's gone through': Daughter in Boon Tat stabbing

Tan Nam Seng has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

Mandy How | September 22, 2020, 09:52 PM

On Aug. 20, 2020, 72-year-old Tan Nam Seng pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Tan had stabbed his son-in-law, 38-year-old Spencer Tuppani, three times in the chest in broad daylight at 121 Telok Ayer Street in 2017.

Tuppani died of his injuries shortly after collapsing at Boon Tat Street.

It was reported that a number of factors, over the span of a decade, eventually contributed to the stabbing.

Most salient, however, was the fact that Tuppani allegedly cheated on his wife, Tan's daughter, and had two children with another woman while being married.

Tan also became convinced that Tuppani was planning to divorce his daughter Shyller, and cheat him of his business.

For the crime, which happened in July 2017, Tan has been sentenced to eight and a half years' jail, The Straits Times reported.

He cannot be caned as he is over 50 years old.

Even as Singaporeans have come to empathise with Tan for his actions, Shyller expressed her guilt in an interview with Lianhe Wanbao.

"I want to apologise for all the pain that he's gone through," Tan's 46-year-old daughter said.

Although her parents had a failed marriage, Tan always did his part as a father, she revealed.

"My father is very important to me, and he has always been a responsible father. Now that the sentence has been meted out, I just want to tell him I'm sorry."

According to Wanbao, father and daughter have a good relationship.

Shyller has been visiting Tan in prison for the past three years.

During the school holidays, she would bring her children along as well.

However, the pair would avoid talking about the case whenever they met, Wanbao reported.

The Chinese daily also quoted Shyller revealing that Tan is in poor health, and would carry heart medication with him in anticipation of a possible medical emergency.

In the past three years, Tan has gotten tuberculosis and two heart attacks, and required a bypass surgery.

The elderly man also suffered from major depressive disorder.

"He's a good, dutiful father. I'm worried that I might lose him during his term in prison," Shyller said.

Top image via Crime Library Singapore/Facebook