Hall 12 residents remember staff member killed in bus crash

By Kezia Tan

Residents and staff from Hall of Residence 12 remember Ms Wong Lai Cheng, who was killed after being hit by a private bus last week, as a pleasant and friendly lady, as well as the “go-to person” if anything around hall premises needed fixing.

Ms Wong, 47, had been an operations assistant at Hall 12 for more than one-and-a-half years.  

Hall 12 resident Shyan Hoe, 20, said Ms Wong had gone to her room with a few technicians to fix her air-conditioning unit just a day before the accident.

“She was really nice,” said Hoe, a second-year student from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. “I was very tired that day, and she told me to just lie down and rest while they did the fixing.”

Ms Wong was cycling home from the University when she was hit by a speeding private bus at Pioneer Road North last Thursday (12 Jan). Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

Videos from dashboard cameras posted online showed the bus careening off a slip road before mowing down a tree, crashing through a road divider and hitting several cars. The 29-year-old bus driver was arrested for causing death by a negligent act, The Straits Times reported.

Another Hall 12 resident, Cheong Bao Yue, recalled how she would seek Ms Wong out whenever she had any issues with hall facilities. “When the corridor light was spoilt, I went to find her and it was fixed the next day,” the 20-year-old second-year Nanyang Business School student said.

Hall 12 Senior Hall Fellow, Associate Professor Lee Yong Tsui, said he would often chat with Ms Wong whenever they met along the corridors.

“When I heard about (the accident), I was very stunned. It’s so sad that she’s gone,” he said.

Several of Ms Wong’s colleagues had presented her family with condolence money from the NTU Staff Welfare Fund last week when they attended her funeral, said Chief Housing and Auxiliary Services Officer Jimmy Lee.

Ms Wong was married and had an 18-year-old daughter.

Mr Lee added that the University is currently helping her family with insurance claims.