Ngee Ann Poly lecturer, 59, dies 1 day after brother, 56, dies of cancer, leaving their mum behind

[Raubern]

 

A lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Film and Media Studies, Susanne Chan Pek Lin, 59, was found to have passed away due to a heart attack at home on Sep. 1.

She was 59.

Just one day before her passing, her younger brother, Leslie Chan Peng Fai, 56, passed away on Aug. 31 morning after battling lung cancer.

A cousin of the siblings shared about their passing in an interview with 8world News.

 

Younger brother diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer weeks ago

 

According to the cousin, Leslie, who worked as a private hire vehicle driver, started feeling unwell two months ago, reported 8world.

When he visited the hospital, his medical examination results showed that he had Stage 4 lung cancer.

"As his condition was quite serious at the time, he received chemotherapy. However, the cancer cells had already spread to his liver, and he passed away on Aug. 31 after being admitted to palliative care," added the cousin.

During Leslie's treatment, Susanne "took thorough care of him" and was devastated after losing him to cancer.

On the day of his passing, Susanne also helped arrange Leslie's funeral with their cousins and only returned home in the afternoon.

Elder sister passed away the next day

However, when the cousin tried to contact Susanne on Sep. 1, he did not receive a reply, reported 8world.

The family members became worried after she did not show up at Leslie's wake at 11am or pick up any of their subsequent calls.

When a female cousin went to Susanne's home and noticed no one answered the door, she alerted the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

With the help of the police and a locksmith, the female cousin entered the flat and made the heartbreaking discovery: Susanne had passed away on her bed in the bedroom.

Sibling's 89-year-old mother grief-stricken
The passing of two family members in two days left the rest of the family in shock, especially for the sibling's 89-year-old mother, the cousin told 8world.

"Their mother is grief-stricken, as she never thought her children would pass away one day apart. However, she is also very strong," he shared.

The cousin added that Leslie and Susanne had a good relationship with each other and were very filial to their mother.

"Ever since their father passed away several years ago, Leslie and Susanne had been taking care of their mother together. Leslie lived with their mother while Susanne lived on her own," he said.

 

Family to hold sea burial for siblings

The family will be holding a sea burial for the siblings, which was their last wish, reported 8world.

"Leslie had told me previously that no one would come to his funeral because he was single. Additionally, he did not want to trouble his family members, so he wanted to be buried at sea. Likewise, Susanne had also mentioned that she wanted a sea burial," said the cousin.

The rest of the family members will also care of the sibling's mother, he added.

Elder sister had good relationship with students, colleagues
Besides her family members, Susanne also had a good relationship with her colleagues and students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, reported 8world.

Many of them attended her wake on Sep. 3 and 4.

One student shared that it was Susanne who helped change her mind and regain her confidence when she was crying over her major, which she did not like, and thinking of dropping out of school.

Another student also shared that Susanne had only retired recently in late February 2024 because she wanted to travel the world and do what she liked.

In 2023, Susanne received the Long Service Medal as the lead of her department at the polytechnic.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the medal is awarded to individuals who are "of irreproachable character" and whom the president is satisfied to have completed at least 25 years of service in educational organisations, amongst others.

https://mothership.sg/2024/09/singapore-siblings-pass-away-1-day-apart/

[Ender]

Seems like she passed on from a broken heart. RIP

[13177]

[Benarsenal]

Sad. RIP

[Stary]

Must be heart-breaking for the mother. 

Very hard for parents to see their children go first, not to mention one child after another within 2 days.

RIP

[Cheesey74]

On 9/4/2024 at 10:06 PM, Ender said:

Seems like she passed on from a broken heart. RIP

Yeah seem so n she just retire from work to enjoy life, human count still lose to heaven count, rip to her 😔..

[RadX]

Heart goes out to the mom! At 89 it’s gonna be a tough road.

 

treasure life bros. We dunno when our time is up and it can just be today! 🙏🏽

 

 

[Throttle2]

And meanwhile, in USA, a teenage shooter guns down his schoolmates and teachers.  
 

Very unpredictable world, yet we think that we have control.  

[ER-3682]

White Hair cannot send off 2 Black Hair...

Edited September 5, 2024 by ER-3682

[kobayashiGT]

my condolences to the mother. 

[Arogab]

Life is fragile and unpredictable. RIP......

[macrosszero]

On 9/5/2024 at 12:22 AM, Stary said:

Must be heart-breaking for the mother. 

Very hard for parents to see their children go first, not to mention one child after another within 2 days.

RIP

Something I read sometime back.

You either get to see your child’s entire lifespan, or you don’t.

[Sosaria]

On 9/5/2024 at 8:50 AM, ER-3682 said:

White Hair cannot send off 2 Black Hair...

RIP..... In this case, the "children" themselves are aged already, all 3 are "white hair", so to speak.

I always read this type of situation with a little sadness, where elderly children, unmarried and childless, stay with and look after the even more elderly parents.

Situation like that becoming more common these days and going into the future. So much that we are now going to have "retirement flats" with support very much like retirement villages concept in US... only recently heard about this on the radio and looked it up.

https://www.mohh.com.sg/atlas-care/community-care-apartments

This arrangement can provide better care and support in the long-term when both caregiver and the care-recipient are both elderly.

Edited September 5, 2024 by Sosaria

[inlinesix]

On 9/5/2024 at 10:54 AM, Sosaria said:

RIP..... In this case, the "children" themselves are aged already, all 3 are "white hair", so to speak.

I always read this type of situation with a little sadness, where elderly children, unmarried and childless, stay with and look after the even more elderly parents.

Situation like that becoming more common these days and going into the future. So much that we are now going to have "retirement flats" with support very much like retirement villages concept in US... only recently heard about this on the radio and looked it up.

https://www.mohh.com.sg/atlas-care/community-care-apartments

This arrangement can provide better care and support in the long-term when both caregiver and the care-recipient are both elderly.

I went to 2 facilities at https://saintb.com.sg/

Each terrace house has about 8 occupants.  Each occupants has a single room.

There are 2 live-in helper to take care of the occupants.

It is for elderly who are living alone but can ownself take care of ownerself.

[RadX]

And that’s why we gonna see more lonely deaths going unreported

 

there have been more initiatives to watch for these ppl

and we are employing tech to help mitigate this. I’m involved in a few such startups that harnesses the current tech. Part of the govtech initiatives 

[PSP415]

Died in her sleep. 

Sea burial per both their wish. 

The only "consolation" is that she was found early than body already in  decomposed stage. 

Yes, hopefully some of her relatives will step up to care for the aged mum and ensure she will live well during the few good years left. 

RIP