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A 22-year-old Malaysian woman, who came to Singapore to teach at a tuition centre was found floating in the Api Api River in Pasir Ris on Jan. 18.

She was reported missing three days prior to her body being found.

The deceased woman, Khoo Yee Joo, was from Kedah, Malaysia.

Parents can't make it to Singapore

Due to the pandemic, her parents are unable to come to Singapore to see their daughter off, according to Oriental Daily, a Malaysian news publication.

Her body will be cremated in Singapore and then sent to the cemetery in her hometown.

The deceased woman leaves behind a 59-year-old father and 50-year-old mother, as well as an elder sister, Oriental Daily reported.

Khoo's last rites in Singapore are overseen by her aunt.

The deceased woman was living with this aunt in Toa Payoh previously.

She will be cremated on Jan. 21.

Her ashes will then be taken to a male relative in Johor Bahru, and then brought to Khoo's elder sister, 23, who works in Kuala Lumpur.

The ashes will then be brought back to Kedah.

Funeral expenses taken care of by employer

Khoo came to Singapore to start work in September 2021.

Her father said the owner of the tuition centre in Singapore took care of the funeral expenses, which lightened the burden on the family.

The father added that his late daughter had graduated from Universiti Malaya and was hired to work in Singapore after going through an online interview process in August 2021.

She arrived in Singapore the next month in September.

She taught Chinese to children aged three to eight at the tuition centre.

Only went to Api Api River recently for first time

According to Oriental Daily, the mother said her late daughter would usually go out to the mall with her friends.

But on Jan. 13, it was the first time she went to Api Api River with her friends, but the deceased woman's mother did not know the reason why her daughter went there.

It was on Sunday, Jan. 16, past 6pm that contact was lost with Khoo, the mother said.

That was the first sign something was amiss.

The mother said her late daughter would keep in contact with the family every day and exchanged pleasantries.

Khoo would speak to her sister about family and work, but seldom talked to her parents about her work, the mother also said.

Message posted by sister

Following Khoo's demise, her sister took to Instagram to post a message in Chinese to mourn her loss.

A translation of it was put up on Facebook:

Each time I explain [what had happened], I can’t help but cry.

I am very grateful to all of you who had paid attention to this matter and had worked hard to help forward our appeal via social media. To every person and every voice and for your concern, I am very grateful.

The local police had confirmed that she was found on Jan. 18, 2022, 11:30pm by the waterside. She was identified from her fingerprints.

Maybe death to her was a form of release. Though she may have experienced the kindness around her, she was unable to ignore the malice in her life. She knew that she shouldn’t have [done what she had done] and she had previously sent out signals of distress. She had tried her very best, but she simply was unable to set them aside. She has chosen to end her pain in her own way. She does not want us to be sad. She is a person who will not cause trouble to others.

I still remember the last call we had, and I was talking about how I had called grandma to help her with the New Year's groceries. Grandma told me that [the duty of looking after] the house will eventually be passed to you. My daily conversations with you were always full of these dialogues [about our family and your mental state], and it hurts to listen to your uncertainties. I feel so helpless but you were willing to share them with me, and, at least, this was better than you keeping them all to yourself.

I'm sorry that I’ve not been a good sister, but I'll try my very best to live for you. In the next life, I am not going to live out that part of your life for you. Let's be together [again as sisters in our next life], is that okay [with you]?

About the case

The police confirmed that they received a call at 7:11pm on Tuesday, Jan. 18 about a body floating in the Api Api River in Pasir Ris.

The police arrived at the scene to retrieve the body.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Preliminary investigations confirmed the deceased's identity and the police ruled out the possibility of foul play.

The deceased, Khoo Yee Joo, was from Kedah, Malaysia.

She went missing after she got off work in Chai Chee on Sunday evening, Jan. 16.

She became uncontactable and her aunt, who is in Singapore, went to the police station at around 2am on Monday morning to report her missing.

On the day she went missing, Khoo was at work and knocked off at around 6pm.

Khoo was last seen by two colleagues who had walked with her to the bus stop opposite Chai Chee Industrial Park after work to take the bus home.

At that time, three buses arrived at the same time, and the other two colleagues walked towards the first bus.

They saw Khoo walking towards the third bus, but cannot ascertain if she eventually boarded it.

A public appeal was put up to seek information on Khoo's whereabouts when she disappeared.

The appeal was widely shared on social media over the next few days and has since been taken down.

Top photos via deceased woman's sister's Instagram & Oriental Daily