M'sian woman, 44, pleads guilty over knife attack at Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre, suffered from schizophrenia

The 44-year-old Malaysian woman involved in the knife attack at Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre in October 2025 has pleaded guilty in court to her offences on Feb. 23, 2026.

She was assessed to have suffered from schizophrenia and was having a relapse episode at the time of the incident.

Charged at others with knife

Chong allegedly attacked two victims, aged 36 and 44, using a 12cm-long "Jaya Mata" knife at Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre on Oct. 26, 2025.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Chong went to Manmin Resource Centre in the mall to look for her aunt, armed with the knife.

Chong was a known figure at the centre as she had previous instances of violence there.

On arrival, she asked a woman named Caroline about the whereabouts of her aunt.

Caroline told Chong she did not know and walked away to help find the aunt.

Caroline was then informed by other congregants that Chong was holding onto a knife.

Chong then threatened and charged at Caroline.

While running, Chong tripped and fell and accidentally slashed another woman, Lu, who was nearby.

As Chong continued charging at Caroline, two other congregants, Wong and Chan, attempted to stop her.

Chong swung the knife around and slashed Wong on her right forearm, causing her to sustain two full-thickness lacerations on her forearm.

This resulted in injuries to her artery, nerve and muscle tendons, which required surgical repair.

The other congregant, Chan, also suffered a laceration on his right leg.

Suffered from schizophrenia

Chong was assessed at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to have suffered from schizophrenia and was in a relapse episode at the time of the incident.

However, she was assessed as not of unsound mind at the time of the incident and was fit to plead in court.

During the court hearing on Feb. 23, in mitigation, Chong told the court that she had lost her job at the time and was "emotionally unstable", leading to the mistake, according to The Straits Times.

"I am very sorry and I plead for leniency," Chong said, ST reported.

Chong was convicted of voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and causing hurt by a rash act.

Chong's risk of reoffending was assessed to be high if she were released without supervision, court documents stated.

According to ST, the judge asked for Chong to be remanded at IMH for two weeks.

Chong will be sentenced on March 16, 2026.

According to charge sheets, Chong faces several other charges, one of which involves punching another individual at the same Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre location earlier on Oct. 2, 2025.

Another involves fighting another individual at Woodlands Checkpoint in September 2025.

Top image Mothership