S'pore girl, 4, dies after 13 months of abuse by mum & her boyfriend, who burnt corpse in barrel

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of a child abuse case. Audience discretion is advised.

Megan Khung, a four-year-old Singaporean girl, died in a condominium in Paya Lebar after she was physically and psychologically abused over a period of 13 months.

The perpetrators are the mother and her boyfriend.

Megan's mother, Foo Li Ping, 29, and Wong Shi Xiang, 38, her boyfriend at the time, caned and hit the child repeatedly, starved her, and humiliated her by shaving her head and drawing on her face.

They also made her eat mucus and food from the dustbin, and forced her to sleep in a planter box exposed to the afternoon sun until the child got heatstroke.

The offences were committed from February 2019 onwards in a unit at the Suites@ Guillemard condominium in Paya Lebar rented by the couple.

Foo also withdrew Megan from a preschool that she had been attending since 2017, after staff there noticed signs of the abuse.

In February 2020, Megan was fatally punched by Wong in the stomach, and left to die while the couple took drugs in the unit.

A regular visitor to the unit, Nouvelle Chua, 35, a friend of the couple, did nothing to stop the abuse but recorded it on her mobile phone on various occasions.

After Megan's death, her corpse was left in the unit for months, before Wong and Foo burnt it in a barrel to avoid detection.

Megan's death was discovered after her father Khung Wei Nan, who is local influencer Simonboy, lodged a police report on Jul. 20, 2020.

Khung said he had last seen his daughter in February 2017 before his incarceration, and was concerned about her whereabouts and safety.

Lied to childcare staff about abuse

Court documents showed that Foo and Khung were married in 2015, with Megan born in October 2015.

After their relationship broke down, Foo shifted to her mother's house with Megan in 2017.

Sometime in late 2018, Foo got into a relationship with Wong, a freelance car mechanic.

In January 2019, Foo moved out of her mother’s residence and shifted into the condo unit with Wong.

Megan would stay at the apartment on some weekends, before moving in properly in September 2019.

Chua, a friend of Wong's, also became close friends with Foo, and would stay over at the unit on weekends.

Between late February 2019 and early March 2019, Foo and Wong started caning Megan in the unit when she urinated on the bed and sofa.

When preschool staff noticed bruises on Megan's face, arms and feet on Mar. 19, 2019, Foo lied to the staff that the child got injured from a fall while cycling.

Foo claimed that some of the other injuries were from her disciplining Megan.

When the staff told Foo this type of discipline was excessive for a child of Megan’s age, Foo acknowledged this.

Three days later, another preschool staff warned Wong and Foo against using any sort of physical punishment on Megan, or the case would be referred to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

On Sep. 17, 2019, Foo withdrew Megan from her preschool, claiming that the school had not taught Chinese to Megan.

Abuse escalated

From September 2019, the abuse escalated.

Wong would cane Megan at least once a week on average for dirtying the apartment.

Foo did not stop him.

She would occasionally cane the girl as well.

Once, Wong used a water hose to hit the girl. 

He also slapped and pushed her, and resorted to punching her on occasion.

Wong also taught Foo how to not leave marks or injuries on Megan and still cause her pain.

The mother was instructed to use her thumb to press forcefully against the part of the girl's ribcage near her waist.

Foo used this technique to hurt Megan on various occasions when she was upset with her daughter.

Chua knew about these abusive acts, but did not stop the couple.

Once, after Megan did not tell her mother that her diaper was full, Foo forced her daughter to wear her soiled diaper over her head.

When Megan resisted, Foo grabbed Megan by her hair and slapped her face before forcing the diaper — which was leaking urine — over her head covering her eyes and nose.

Chua recorded this from the side using her phone.

In late-2019, Wong forced Megan to eat food from the dustbin and video-recorded this.

He also shaved her hair to humiliate her on a separate occasion.

When Megan used Foo's make-up without permission, Wong drew all over her face and paraded her in public until she cried.

Wong asked her in Mandarin if she was embarrassed and repeatedly told her to say "Hello" to strangers in passing vehicles.

He also asked her if she dared use Foo's make-up products without permission again.

Starved her, made her sleep in planter box

From around January 2020, the couple began to starve Megan as she would defecate around the house.

When Megan told Foo she was hungry, her requests for food were often denied.

Whether Megan got to eat depended on Wong's mood.

If he was in a bad mood, Megan would not be given food the whole day.

The court noted that Megan looked emaciated in a video taken on Feb. 4, 2020.

Sometimes, the couple would disallow Megan from wearing clothes.

This was because Megan had developed a habit of peeling on her scabs from her cane wounds and the couple wanted to avoid blood stains on her clothes.

On one occasion, Megan asked Foo for permission to wear a shirt but Foo said "No".

Around the start of 2020, Foo and Wong started making her sleep at a planter box outside the master bedroom, to prevent her from dirtying the unit.

The planter box was an area measuring about 3m by 1m, walled in by a panel of glass doors and a 1-metre high parapet wall, and faced the afternoon sun.

When Megan suffered a heat stroke in the planter box, Wong placed ice on her body but did not send her to the doctor.

Sometimes, Megan would be forced to sleep in a compartment underneath the wooden planks without pillows or blankets.

On Jan. 5, 2020, when Megan cried and her nose mucus splashed on Foo and Chua, Foo slapped her.

Foo then blew out her own mucus on a handkerchief and wiped it on Megan's face, before forcing her to eat the mucus.

Between January to February 2020, Wong became more violent and cruel in his treatment of Megan.

He would spray water on the girl's face using the toilet bidet when she misbehaved.

On another occasion, Wong asked Megan to choose between a cane and a baton for her punishment.

When she chose the cane, he took the baton instead to hit her.

Once, Wong hit her until her jaw was dislocated, and Foo noticed Megan's jaw was crooked but did not bring her to a doctor for fear the abuse would be found out.

Instead, Wong tried to fix it himself using a method he found on Google to push her jaw back into place.

He failed.

What led to her death

On Feb. 21, 2020, the day prior to her death, Megan was not given any meals for the entire day.

That night, Wong wanted to discipline Megan so he made her stand against the wall in their bedroom.

After scolding Megan, Wong punched her in her stomach.

The impact caused Megan’s back to hit the wall 10cm away with a loud thud.

Foo was scared that Megan would faint, so she told Wong in Mandarin that the girl looked like she “cannot make it". Wong stopped.

After midnight, Chua arrived at the unit to see Megan lying on the bedroom floor, clutching her stomach and saying she was in pain.

When Chua told Foo and Wong about this, the couple dismissed it, saying the child was just trying to get attention.

The three then gathered in the living room to take drugs together.

Hours later, Chua saw Megan in the same position, and alerted Foo, who found some vomit with "clear membrane and black contents" beside Megan.

The three tried to wake Megan, but she was unresponsive.

They then tried performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Megan.

Wong took a 30-cm tube and the three took turns to blow air into Megan's mouth.

Foo did not call for an ambulance, afraid the abuse and drugs would be discovered.

Instead, Wong and Chua left to get a defibrillator.

Wong found one but did not take it as he was afraid an alarm would be triggered.

Foo, who was still performing CPR on Megan in the unit, realised she had passed away and told the other two over WhatsApp, “Megan is gone”.

Undeterred, Wong improvised a defibrillator using two wires with metal chopsticks taped to them.

He inserted it into a socket and tried to rescuscitate the girl, but failed.

Wong also instructed Foo and Chua to smoke drugs and blow the smoke through a tube into Megan's mouth, but this had no effect.

A forensic pathologist with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) found in an October 2021 report that Megan had likely died from a serious blood infection due to factors such as ruptured internal organs or abdominal haemorrhaging.

Left her corpse in apartment for months

On Feb. 23, 2020, the trio left Megan's corpse in the apartment.

They stayed in hotels and serviced apartments until June 2020.

During that time, Foo and Wong discussed how to dispose of Megan's corpse, and had the idea of incinerating the body.

Wong suggested using a smokeless burn barrel, which uses a blower to introduce oxygen to feed the fire, so the corpse would be completely combusted.

Foo researched on this method online.

The couple experimented with different barrel designs using empty drink cans, burning paper inside using a handheld leaf blower that Wong had bought for the experiment.

To prevent Megan's corpse from being discovered, Wong wrapped the corpse using a blanket, then layers of cling wrap, and brown tape, before putting it in a Toyogo storage box.

He also kept the unit's air-conditioning switched on to slow the decomposition of Megan’s corpse.

Chua knew these plans and had driven Wong to the residence.

On a later date, Wong and Foo went back to the unit to cling-wrap the Toyogo box before sealing its lid with cement.

Wong also boiled vinegar in the unit to mask the foul odour.

Designed barrel to incinerate her body

Some time between April and May 2020, Wong asked a signboard manufacturer to construct an “incense burning container”, discussing its design with him.

Foo accompanied Wong to the workshop, where an oil drum barrel had been modified in line with Wong's specifications.

After testing it, Wong asked for further modifications, such as adding openings for ventilation, so oxygen could enter to raise the temperature.

On Friday, May 8, 2020, the three collected the barrel and two boxes of charcoal that were procured by Wong's instructions.

At 5:25am that day, they returned to the unit to collect the box containing Megan's corpse.

Wong then drove to his godfather's workshop in Ubi.

At 6:10am, he set up the metal barrel at an open area nearby and burnt Megan's corpse in it.

Foo and Chua brought incense paper over and they also burned that in the barrel for several hours.

After the fire had stopped, Wong swept the ashes inside the metal barrel into a trash bag and put it in his car.

He then drove to East Coast Park alone and scattered Megan's ashes into the sea.

Foo and Wong also made arrangements for the metal barrel to be disposed in Tampines.

Arrested

The girl's father, Khung, made a police report out of concern for his child on Jul. 20, 2020.

Within three days, police subsequently traced Foo, Wong and Chua and brought them into the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for interviews.

They were arrested on Jul. 24, 2020 in connection with Megan's disappearance.

Drug utensils and a packet of crystal methamphetamine (Ice) was found in the unit.

Wong's urine was also found in a test to contain Ice.

Wong and Foo were both placed in police custody, and were both remanded in prison after being charged with Megan's murder.

On Feb. 28, Foo and Wong appeared in the High Court to plead guilty to their respective charges, The Straits Times reported.

Foo's case

Foo pleaded guilty to one count each of child abuse, allowing a child's death and intentional disposal of a corpse to impede investigations.

Another count of child abuse will be taken into consideration.

The prosecution asked for a sentence ranging between 15 to 20 years' jail for Foo.

In their submissions, prosecutors described the case as involving "a gross abnegation of parental duties" leading to Megan's death.

The prosecution pointed out that Foo participated in abusing her daughter over a span of about 13 months, failed to seek medical attention for her, and also planned and helped to dispose of Megan's body.

Foo's defence lawyers asked for no more than 11 years' jail for Foo, according to ST.

They said Foo's psychiatric report mentioned that she had moved from one abusive relationship to another.

They also submitted two letters written by Foo, about her past marriage to Khung and her guilt over Megan's death.

The prosecution said in response that any abusive relationship Foo was in would not have any bearing on her failure to act.

The prosecution also argued that there was no evidence that Wong had instructed Foo to abuse Megan or prevented Foo from calling an ambulance.

Wong's case

Wong pleaded guilty to one count each of culpable homicide, intentional disposal of a corpse, trafficking 24.51g of methamphetamine and consuming methamphetamine.

Another 11 charges, largely for drug-related offences, will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

The prosecution asked for a sentence ranging between 28 to 30 years' jail for Wong.

The prosecution highlighted in their submissions, that during the period Wong had abused Megan, fatally punched her and burned her corpse, he was out on bail for previous drug offences.

Wong's lawyer disputed that Wong had been in an abusive relationship with Foo.

The lawyer argued for Wong to be given 20 to 22 years' jail and 11 strokes of the cane.

Footage of some of the incidents, either recorded by the trio or from the surveillance camera installed by Wong in the unit, were played in court.

Foo appeared emotional while watching the clips, and Wong kept his head down most of the time, ST reported.

Foo and Wong's cases were adjourned for sentencing on a later date.

Khung posted an Instagram story on Feb. 28 in memory of his daughter, whom he called his "precious baby".

Top image from Simon Khung Instagram, Foo Li Ping Instagram & Shin Min Daily News