Stabbing victim's favourite colours fill the sky as mourners bid farewell

Summary

• At Yap Shing Xuen's funeral in Kuala Lumpur, family and friends release blue balloons and a white hearse departs for Shah Alam for cremation.

• The 16-year-old was allegedly stabbed to death by a 14-year-old at their Bandar Utama school on Oct 14. The suspect has been remanded.

• Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh vowed to fight incel culture, and the cabinet is considering establishing police presence in schools.

About 100 balloons in Yap Shing Xuen’s favourite shades of blue filled the sky above the Nirvana Centre in Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur, this morning, as family and friends said their final farewell before she was taken to Nirvana Memorial Park in Shah Alam for cremation and interment.

According to media reports, family members, friends, and teachers released the balloons in a quiet tribute, following a 100m funeral procession led by Yap’s elder sister and a white hearse carrying her casket.

“The family hopes that today’s farewell is not a ceremony of sorrow or anger, but one of love – to let kindness and blessings continue on,” the emcee told the guests, according to a KiniTV video.

“Although Shing Xuen’s life was very short, she taught us many things. She taught us to face each day with a smile and to treat everyone around us with kindness.

“What Shing Xuen leaves behind is not only our tears, but also a conviction – that the world can become more beautiful through gentleness.”

According to reports by Free Malaysia Today and Malay Mail, more than 200 people attended the final wake that began around 9am.

The funeral rites commenced at about 9.45am with eulogies and the traditional three-bow ceremony performed before the casket.

The service concluded around 10.30am, after which the hearse departed for Nirvana Memorial Park at about 11.20am.

Repeatedly stabbed

The 16-year-old died on Oct 14 after she was allegedly stabbed repeatedly by a 14-year-old. The incident occurred at a girls’ toilet at their school in Bandar Utama, Selangor.

Selangor police chief Shazeli Kahar subsequently confirmed that the suspect has been arrested and remanded until Oct 21 to assist police investigations into the case.

Separately, Petaling Jaya district police chief Shamsudin Mamat reportedly said the police will seek an extension of the remand order upon its expiry tomorrow.

On Oct 16, Yap’s mother Wong Lee Ping held a press conference where she claimed that her daughter was stabbed 200 times from the upper right side of her body, down to her leg area.

At the same press conference, Yap’s stepfather, How Boon Chin, pleaded for social media users to refrain from spreading falsehoods about his stepdaughter as the family is focused on finding answers for the victim.

Following this claim, the police confirmed Yap suffered multiple stab wounds but could not confirm the number, as they are still awaiting the autopsy report.

Yeoh vows to fight incel culture

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, in a social media post today, vowed to do whatever it takes to fight against incel culture among the young.

“Incel”, short for “involuntarily celibate”, refers to a subculture of mostly heterosexual men who express resentment or anger over their perceived inability to form romantic or sexual relationships.

“As the nation bids farewell to our young Shing Xuen today, the Youth and Sports Ministry honoured her by placing our Team MAS jersey in her resting place.

“Shing Xuen, who was brutally murdered in a Bandar Utama school, enjoyed volleyball and lived an active life. I told Lee Ping, her mother, that I wanted her to have our national jersey, and she said Shing Xuen would have loved it.

“Sending our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family for their painful loss. Malaysia mourns with them. In the days to come, I will do whatever I can to fight the incel culture among the young,” said the post.

Yap’s tragic death sparked discussions on safety in school and the “incel” culture, prompting Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari to say on Oct 17 that the state government will expedite safety measures, including using metal detectors and CCTV installations in schools.

Government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil said that the cabinet is mulling establishing police presence at schools in response to a surge of violent incidents in schools nationwide.

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