On 8 August 1995, a 26-year-old prostitute named Ching Bee Ing (曾美婷; Zēng Meǐtíng) was stabbed seven times by her 35-year-old co-worker Teo Kim Hong (张金凤; Zhāng Jīnféng) at a brothel along Teck Lim Road.
[2] On 8 August 1995, at a brothel along Teck Lim Road, a prostitute was stabbed seven times by one of her co-workers, who was restrained by a 70-year-old male customer before the police were contacted and arrived to apprehend the attacker.
[3] The 26-year-old Malaysian-born victim of the stabbing incident, identified as Ching Bee Ing (alias To-to), was mortally wounded and died by the time an ambulance arrived.
[5] Ching, who was born and raised in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, was married with a pair of twin daughters and had one older brother and a few more siblings in her family.
Ching reportedly lied to her family that she was working as a waitress in a restaurant in Singapore and hid the fact that she was a prostitute, a truth which brought sadness and shock to her kin upon her death.
[9][10] On 17 January 1996, Teo Kim Hong's trial for one count of murdering Ching Bee Ing began, and her case was heard at the High Court.
Teo was represented by both Winston Mok and Tan Teow Yeow while both David Khoo and Beverly Wee were appointed as the trial prosecutors.
However, the prosecution argued that based on the evidence before the court, it was evident that Ching never provoked Teo or even acted negatively towards the defendant, and it was clear that Teo herself had the premeditated intent to commit murder and voluntarily inflicted seven knife wounds on the defenceless victim while she was resting in her room, with a view to cause severe bodily harm that was sufficient to lead to Ching's death.
Judicial Commissioner Choo stated that it was clear that Ching was unarmed and defenceless and that she was resting alone when Teo barged in to slap her and confront her, which made her more of an aggressor in this case.