New Paper: Murdered China masseuse? No, that's S'pore's WP candidate

China newspaper mixes up the two women and learns of mistake only when contacted by The New Paper

By Kor Kain Beng


The China newspaper's website which wrongly identified Miss Glenda Han as Chinese masseuse Yu Hong jin, who was stabbed to death last Sunday.
Picture: HAI XIA DU SHI BAO

HERS was one of the more recognisable faces in the last general election.

But Miss Glenda Han, 30, from the Workers' Party (WP) got a shock yesterday when she learnt that she has been mistaken for a murdered woman.

In a report published on Thursday in a China newspaper, Miss Han's photograph was used instead of that of masseuse Yu Hong Jin.

Madam Yu, 30, a China national, was found stabbed to death last Sunday morning at a healthcare centre in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10.

The male suspect, Eu Lim Hoklai, 53, who was found with Madam Yu at the healthcare centre, has been charged with murder.

The boo-boo was made by Hai Xia Du Shi Bao, a daily in Fuzhou province.

The wrong colour photograph was also used on the newspaper webpage.

Miss Han said that a reporter from Lianhe Wanbao, who had stumbled upon the website, contacted her yesterday morning and told her about it.

And Miss Han's immediate response? 'I said, 'That's terrible.' It's not very nice to be confused with a dead person, especially one whose death was rather unusual.'

Miss Han, who was part of the WP team that lost to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's team in Ang Mo Kio GRC in May's General Election, said that she has been following the murder case through the media.

When The New Paper spoke to her yesterday evening , she said that her parents still hadn't learnt about the mistake, nor has she got calls from friends asking about it.

Miss Han, who runs Les Chameaux, a cocktail bar at Robertson Quay, said: 'Maybe it's still too early.'

Miss Han, who visited the newspaper's website yesterday, doesn't know how it could have happened.

But she noted that the photograph used in the China newspaper appears to be the same one published in a Lianhe Wanbao report on Monday about her life after the elections.

Miss Han filled in an online feedback form belonging to the newspaper requesting for a correction.

She said: 'The newspaper should also apologise to me.'

When The New Paper visited the website at 5pm yesterday, her photograph was still on the webpage.

But after The New Paper contacted them at about 7.30pm, the photograph was removed.

When contacted yesterday, the newspaper's editor, Mr Sun De Jian, said that he wasn't aware about the mistake until The New Paper told him.

Mr Sun claimed his paper has a circulation of about 500,000 copies.

He said the reporter who had filed the report had passed Miss Han's photograph to the newspaper.

Mr Sun said he didn't know how it happened, but promised to find out.

He said: 'If we have made a mistake, we will definitely apologise to her.'