Funeral director charged over ex-boyfriend's death

A funeral director was charged in court yesterday over her alleged involvement in the death of her ex-boyfriend in May, during the circuit breaker period.

Alverna Cher Sheue Pin, 38, was charged with one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

According to court documents, Cher is accused of an act which caused the death of 32-year-old Wee Jun Xiang between 1.44pm and 5.15pm on May 16 at Deck 4B of a multi-storey carpark at Block 145A Bedok Reservoir Road.

Court documents did not specify what she allegedly did.

The police said on Wednesday they arrested Cher after being alerted to a case of unnatural death at the carpark around 5.30pm on May 16.

Yesterday, Cher, who turned up in court via video-link, requested to make three phone calls.

She said she wanted to call her family, a friend to pass some money to her daughters, and another friend to find a lawyer for her.

She told the district judge she is a single mother with two daughters aged 13 and six. She is also the sole breadwinner for her family."Please, I just want to pass money to them... It's their livelihood, they don't have (any) income," she said, adding that her mother is a stroke patient.

The police prosecutor objected to her requests as investigations were still ongoing, and the judge said the investigating officer will help notify her family and see to necessary arrangements.

Local Chinese media reported that the victim, Mr Wee, also known as Sean, was a composer and had released a song in Mandarin titled "You Left", two months before his death.

He wrote the song after his grandmother died of liver cancer in 2017.

Mr Wee also co-founded Zinnia Afternote, a website that stores written wishes from users until a specified time, and provides resources such as death-related articles.

Cher has appeared on several platforms giving interviews about her journey as an entrepreneur.

She is the funeral director of City Funeral Singapore, which was involved in the funeral of actor Aloysius Pang, who died last year after he sustained serious injuries in a military accident.

Cher is also the founder of the CARE planner certification programme, which trains individuals in matters such as the drafting of wills and funeral planning.

In a post on The Asian Entrepreneur in February 2018, she said she started running a recruitment business in 2007.

When her business was suspended, she became an education coach at MindChamps.

In a post on blogging platform Dayre on May 12, Cher spoke about her previous romantic relationships and her journey as a single mother.

She divorced her older daughter's father after the marriage began to crumble two months after their child was born.

FUNERAL BUSINESS

Four years after the divorce, Cher said she got into a relationship with the father of her second child, whom she dated for seven years.

But he was sentenced to prison soon after she gave birth to her second daughter, leaving her with his funeral business. She said she then closed the business and set up City Funeral Singapore in 2015.

Cher was also among three finalists for the Exemplary Young Mother Award in 2018, organised by Jamiyah Singapore to recognise young mothers who display outstanding traits in the face of adversity.

She will be remanded for a week and is expected to return to court next Thursday.

If convicted, she could face life in prison, or be jailed for up to 20 years and fined.

She cannot be caned as she is a woman.