Elderly M'sian Rides To Singapore At 2AM For The Past 10 Years To See His Imprisoned Son
The 67-year-old father has sold three houses to hire lawyers to defend his son's case.
The story of an elderly Malaysian man who has spent the last 10 years riding to Singapore twice a month to visit his imprisoned son has gone viral on Facebook
The story was highlighted by Singapore's Chinese news programme 8world News in a four-minute video published last Saturday, 22 April.
67-year-old Cheong Kah Pin is the father of 43-year-old Chun Yin, who has been in prison since 2008 when he was arrested at Changi International Airport for smuggling heroin.
At the time, Chun Yin was only 24 years old. According to his father, he was requested by his friend's boss to bring gold bars to Singapore.
Due to his overly-trusting nature, Cheong said his son did not even question the task or check the items, describing him as a person who "will believe in you even more if you are good to him".
8world News reported that Chun Yin was promised RM8,000 to bring the gold bars into the island nation. They turned out to be drugs hidden inside the package.
Cheong Kah Pin showing a newspaper headline about his visit to Singapore's Istana, the office of the President, to kneel down and beg for mercy.
Image via 8world News
Chun Yin was initially sentenced to death, but the conviction was later commuted to life imprisonment with 15 lashes of the cane
Cheong has sold three houses to hire lawyers to defend the case.
He now lives in a house in Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru that costs RM700 a month in rent. He told the news programme that he chooses to ride 30 minutes to Singapore at 2am to visit his son because he is not confident with his riding capabilities.
"I'm old, and when I ride the motorcycle, I am afraid I will knock into others or vice versa.
"I come early and ride slowly. There's a petrol station beside the prison, and I will sit there and wait," he told the reporters.
He waits for hours until the prison opens at 8am. The 67-year-old father can only see his son for 15 minutes during each visit.
During the decade, he has seen how the surroundings of the prison have changed, commenting on how tall the trees have grown and properties there have been demolished to make way for other purposes.
"I am also familiar with the staff at the gas station, and they sometimes buy tea for me," he said, referring to them as 'kawan' (friends).
Image via 曾琬瑜/8world News
After Cheong's story went viral with over 1.4 million views on 8world News' Facebook page, he received a lot of kind messages from netizens who want to help him
In a separate three-minute video, the elderly Malaysian broke down in tears when reading netizens' comments.
8world News reporters also played some voice messages to Cheong that said that they wanted to arrange transport for him to visit his son.
He, however, rejected all the kind offers as he did not want to trouble anyone.
When a voice message told him to stay healthy as his son might be released from prison after serving 20 years and to allow the public to help him, he still insisted that he did not want to make anyone's life difficult.
According to Singapore law, when a prisoner has served 20 years of life imprisonment, the authorities will review whether the prisoner is suitable for release. Based on that, there is a chance for Chun Yin to return home in 2028.
"I don't want to trouble you all. Seeing you all care for me has made me very happy," he said, asserting, "I don't want anybody's money."
If the general public is adamant about helping him, he said they can come to visit his vegetable stall located in Pasar Awam Taman Johor Jaya, reported 8world News.
The business hours are divided into two periods: the morning market from 3am to 10am, and the evening market from 5pm to 10pm.
Watch Cheong share his story in the video below:
The follow-up video can be found here.
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