SINGAPORE, Nov 4 — His boss had just terminated his work permit, a month before he was set to get married.

Desperate for cash, Ahmad Muin Yaacob borrowed from his cleaner colleagues at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, including his supervisor Maimunah Awang.

But things took a tragic turn after an argument on the afternoon of November 24, 2016. Ahmad Muin stabbed the 54-year-old woman in the chest with a pair of grass cutters, stole her gold jewellery, pushed her body into a drain and fled across the Causeway.

He pawned the jewellery to fund his wedding back in Malaysia, before being arrested some three weeks later.

Today, the 27-year-old, who hails from the northeastern state of Kelantan, was sentenced in the High Court to life imprisonment and 18 strokes of the cane.

Following a trial that began in September last year, he chose not to testify in his defence on Wednesday. 

Justice Aedit Abdullah convicted him of a reduced murder charge under Section 300(c) of the Penal Code, which carries either life imprisonment or the death penalty.

The prosecution agreed not to seek the death sentence.

Ahmad Muin’s lawyers — Eugene Thuraisingam, Johannes Hadi and Chooi Jing Yen — told the court that his wife has since divorced him.

The killing

Two weeks before the incident, his employer CSP Maintenance told Ahmad Muin that he had to be let go as it was not profitable for the company to have four foreign workers there. 

Ahmad Muin was on a temporary work permit while the others were on permanent permits.

After some pleading, Ahmad Muin was allowed to continue working temporarily to earn money for his wedding, which was set for December 9, 2016.

At about noon on November 24, Ahmad Muin went to the storeroom where Maimunah was having lunch. They got into an argument and he punched her face.

She pushed him away in self-defence. Angered, he grabbed a pair of grass cutters nearby and thrusted the blades into her upper chest.

He then struck her head repeatedly with it. She died from haemorrhage due to a stab wound to the neck, with a head injury.

Ahmad Muin took the two gold necklaces and two gold bracelets that Maimunah was wearing, pushed her body into the drain outside the storeroom, closed the drain cover and left the ferry terminal. He also took her mobile phone.

He sold and pawned the jewellery in Malaysia for his wedding dowry and used some of the money to gamble.

He then got married but about a week later, on December 18, he was arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police and taken back here.

Attack not unprovoked: Lawyer

In seeking the maximum 24 strokes of the cane, Deputy Public Prosecutors Kumaresan Gohulabalan and Selene Yap argued that his actions “demonstrate an absolute lack of remorse”.

In mitigation, his lawyer Hadi told the court that Ahmad Muin had fully cooperated with the Singapore authorities and was remorseful.

The lawyer said that Maimunah had called Ahmad Muin’s family “bodoh” (stupid in Malay). 

“If the insult had just been directed at him and not his family, it would not have mattered so much,” Hadi added.

When questioned by Justice Aedit on why the death penalty was not warranted, the lawyer replied: “The attack was not unprovoked. Although it is agreed with the prosecution and defence that (Ahmad caused the fatal injuries), it was a brief altercation. Things happened in the heat of the moment.” ― TODAY