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She would have been relieved when her father escaped from the gallows after his murder charge was reduced to wrongful death.
But Ms. Shyller Tan, 46, now faces the dreaded prospect of never seeing him alive outside of prison again after he was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in jail on Monday for killing her ex-husband.
When his father, Tan Nam Seng, now 72, was in pre-trial detention for the 2017 incident, he had numerous medical problems, including tuberculosis and two heart attacks, which required bypass surgery.
With his jail sentence retroactive to his arrest and a one-third good behavior referral, Tan could be out in about two and a half years.
Still, Ms. Tan told the Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Wanbao: “I am worried about losing him in prison.
“Two of his arteries are 95 percent blocked. Now he wears a bottle of pills around his wrist to buy some time in case of another heart attack.”
He added that his family has always been concerned about his father’s health.
On July 10, 2017, Tan stabbed his son-in-law, Spencer Tuppani, 39, three times in front of a lunchtime crowd at a Telok Ayer cafeteria.
While Mr. Tuppani was dying, he called the oldest of his three daughters to tell her what he had done and that he was not afraid of going to jail.
Ms. Tan told The Straits Times Monday that she was driving to work at the time and “became hysterical.”
When he arrived at the scene crying, his father was quietly waiting for the police.
He added that he had not been himself since he learned of his impending divorce from Mr. Tuppani.
Her marriage, which produced three children, began to unravel after she learned that Mr. Tuppani had a second family with another woman, who gave her two children conceived through in vitro fertilization.
Around this time, Tan also discovered that his son-in-law might be trying to usurp the business he had entrusted to his daughters and Mr. Tuppani, whom he treated like family.
Noting that her father was under great pressure, Ms. Tan told ST: “He loved us so much that he broke up … no one wanted this to happen.”
A psychiatric examination found that Tan’s depression affected his mental responsibility for his actions, leading to the murder charge being reduced.
Recalling the ordeals she has faced in the past three years, Ms. Tan said, “I have been under tremendous stress to keep my family in their place.”
Now a stay-at-home mother said she is honest with her three children about what happened. All three were present at Tan’s sentencing on Monday and had previously written to the judge asking for clemency.
Ms. Tan said that she visited her father regularly in jail, taking the children with her during school holidays.
But they do not speak of the fatal incident.
“Betrayal is not an easy emotion to suppress, and I too spent many sleepless nights, but I can only imagine that it must have been a fraction of what my dad went through,” she said.
“Losing everything is devastating, but what I still have today is my dad and my family, and that’s what matters.”
Tan, who spoke briefly with his father in court Monday, said he had told him to take care of the family and promised to take care of himself as well.
Ms. Tan said that her father had refused to postpone the court hearing despite his health problems.
“We asked him if he was uncomfortable or not feeling well … He said no and was prepared to face his actions and consequences.”
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