NTU's SCI A/Prof Lee Chun Wah suspects something is amiss in the murder case of Huang Na. In the article published in Pg. 6 of Lianhe Wanbao dtd 11-11-2004, he cited that something was amissed in the psychological behaviour of Huang Na's mother, Mdm. Huang Shuying, and her step-father, a certain Mr. Zheng. The expert's view was that Mdm. Huang appeared aloof and was unusually quiet for a mother who claimed to have lost her beloved daughter in a murder case. He noted that it was baffling, not only to himself but to members of the community-at-large (possibly including psychological experts at Woodbridge Hospital and NUS), that Mr. Zheng, being a stepfather to a daughter he had hardly any contact with, could behave in such a manner - wailing loudly and crying uncontrollably during the funeral procession.



The article carrying Prof. Lee's views is suggestive and appears to point towards a plausible scenario that Huang Na was silenced by her mother and stepfather, thereby making Malaysian Mr. Took Leng How as a scapegoat. Prof. Lee himself had the opinion that the case left numerous questions that have not been answered. Technically, from large numbers of death cases reported worldwide that had been examined by psychologists and other experts, it is almost certainly an unquestioned fact (and an antipicated behaviour) that the natural parents of a child who died either from an accident or subjected to an act of murder would have sobbed uncontrollably, and wailed loudly - to the point of even fainting on-site. How come Huang Na's mother did neither upon the discovery of the body and during the wake that ensued as well as at the funeral proceedings certainly raised some eyebrows in the pyschological fraternity. As tapes were reviewed through the various TV stations, it seemed that Huang Na's mother only appeared to be anxious to find her - and in particular, her dead body. It was baffling why she could appear so calm when news of her daughter's death got through to her - as if she already knew a priori that her daughter is dead. Apart from all these evidence suggestive of an inside job, the appearance of the step-father into the entire picture cast even greater suspicion that Huang Na's disappearance and subsequent murder might have been premediated by the couple. A further twist in the development of the case is the dream of Huang Na being found in the woods - literally a tell-tale sign to help guide the law enforcers and narrow down their scope significantly. It is apparent from the evidence on hand that somebody wanted the body to be found and deliberately left it in the open within the confines of a conspicuously large cardboard box in the Telok Blangah heights area.

As an expert in Mass Communication, Prof. Lee's remarks came with the understanding that there are people who deliberately creates a scene to attract the attention of the media. In a possible murder case, where the murderer is the person crying foul, the murderer may be tempted to court the media and amass sympathy from the general public to jeopardize court proceedings and verdicts/judgements. Anyone who has taken a course on human behaviour and psychology coupled with background in the mass comm. industry could easily identify the stark similarities of such classic case with the one on hand - that Mdm. Huang Shuying had deliberately courted the attention of the media, with journalists and reporters being made use of (technically classified as "tools" of the murderer).

11 Nov 2004
NTU Professor shares expert comments on Huang Na reporting in media.

NTU School of Communication and Information Assoc Prof Lee Chun Wah shares expert comments on the role of media in stirring public sentiments in the case of missing Chinese girl, Huang Na.

You can view the entire article (in Chinese) from Lianhe Wanbao Pg. 6 dtd 11-11-2004

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