Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao has followed up on the sudden arrest of the 38-year-old funeral director Alverna Cher Sheue Pin.
The day before, Wanbao spoke to the deceased man's mother.
In the follow-up report, Wanbao approached a fellow industry peer for comment on his impression of Cher.
Interview with Roland Tay
In a Dec. 4 report, Wanbao interviewed the boss of Direct Funeral Services, Roland Tay, who is Singapore's most well-known undertaker, for his take on a fellow industry peer who has suddenly come under scrutiny.
Tay is known for providing funeral services pro bono, which at times involve high-profile deaths in Singapore, such as for victims of violent crimes.
According to Wanbao's reporting, Cher's arrest and suspected involvement in the death of her former boyfriend, 32-year-old Wee Jun Xiang, came as a shock to Tay.
Cher described as very capable and pleasant
Tay, who knew Cher personally, described the mother of two young daughters as someone who carries herself well, and has the means and is good at what she does to get ahead.
The report characterised Tay's assessment of Cher positively, as she is credited for turning her own funeral services company around in a few short years as a female boss, having started from scratch.
Tay, who is a veteran in the industry, was described in the report as an elder in the business.
Sweet-talker
According to Tay, Cher has a sweet mouth and a way with words and people, as she would ask her peers out for coffee and make an effort to win people over.
He spoke from experience, as Cher had previously asked to meet with him.
Tay also told Wanbao that Cher was very capable as she could turn her company around in a matter of years.
Tay revealed that Cher's funeral services business does not even have a physical store front, but it has made a name for itself.
Cher's company was involved in the funeral of Mediacorp actor Aloysius Pang, who died during a Singapore Armed Forces military exercise in New Zealand almost two years ago.
Cher has also given multiple media interviews as a funeral director.
Speaking highly of Cher, Tay said: "For the sake of her business, she would personally be running around and seeing to things, and she is very hardworking. She would see to most of the business affairs by herself."
As far as Tay was aware, when Cher took over the funeral services business several years ago, it was not established at all.
Moreover, Cher had incurred a five-figure debt when she started out.
The circumstances surrounding Cher's funeral services business have been retold in the media several times.
She had said in earlier interviews, before this case came to light, that her boyfriend then was sent to prison six years ago and she was left with a funeral services business to see to that was barely a month old.
Shocked at her predicament
Tay also revealed that Cher would be very polite with him as he is an industry veteran, and she would publicly address him as “安哥” (an ge), which is a homonym for "Uncle" and also can mean "brother of peace".
In response to Cher's arrest, Tay said: "I didn't expect her to meet with this sort of thing."