SINGAPORE - A barber who fled Singapore 28 years ago after fatally slashing a stall assistant has been jailed seven years. In 1983, then 29-year-old Lee Hong Mun slashed a stall assistant over a mahjong debt owed to an acquaintance. 

He fled the country, but returned five years later to start a family and live out the rest of his life. The Straits Times reported that Lee Hong Mun sneaked back into the country, went on to raise two sons and lived an uneventful but productive life. However, police investigations revealed his past after he was nabbed at a betting outlet during a routine police check in April last year.
Lee, now 57, pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide for killing Mr Ng Tian Soo. He was jailed seven years.

Blood donor

According to The Straits Times, the High Court heard that Lee was a committed blood donor and was a prominent temple medium who gave spiritual advice to devotees for free. He also ran a hair salon.
The dispute arose when Lee and his childhood friend Chan Whye Keong, then 30, met with Ng in Telok Blangah Rise on Nov 13, 1983.
Chan urged Ng to return a Mr Peter Tee money, but was attacked by Ng with a chopper. He was injured and received treatment in hospital. When Chan next saw Mr. Ng, he offered to organise a 'settlement talk' and invited Mr Tee and Lee to attend it.

Knife

Lee went to the talk with a knife and confronted Mr Ng about his attack on Chan. He then slashed Mr. Ng on the arms and thighs.Ng bled to death from an 8.4cm-deep gash in his thigh.
Chan was arrested the next day and pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide in 1985. He served a seven-year jail term.
Lee hid for a few days, and fled to Hong Kong on fears of being hanged for murder. He stayed in Hong Kong for one year and then moved to Thailand.
He paid someone in Malaysia to smuggle him into Singapore in the boot of a car. He reunited with his wife and had two sons, in 1989 and 1991.

(Asia One)