Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Murder of Ex-Lover's Boyfriend

A 60-year-old married man, who pestered his former lover after she broke up with him, stabbed and slashed her new boyfriend in a jealous rage at a Choa Chu Kang void deck in June 2021.

- Selina Lum

After knifing the 52-year-old man, Ong Eng Siew assaulted his 42-year-old former lover.

Ong then fled the scene before sending his former lover numerous voice messages asking her and her new beau not to call the police, saying that it was "all her fault".

On Jan 23, Ong, now 64, pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of attempted murder and a charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

Another three charges - two for causing hurt and one for obstructing the course of justice - will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced.

An ancillary hearing is being held to determine whether Ong's psychiatric disorder had contributed to his actions, which could have a bearing on his sentence.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kathy Chu told the court that Ong, a father of three, had been in a relationship with a woman identified in court only as "Berlin", for 1½ years from November 2019.

The woman found out in September 2020 that he was married and confronted him, but he lied that he was separated from his wife.

In January 2021, Ong started drinking excessively and spending most of his salary as a driver betting on horses.

In April that year, the woman told him that she wanted to end their relationship, as he continued to gamble, hardly met her and forgot her birthday.