Parents can't recognise SKIN & BONES daughter in court
China scholar so stressed she turns anorexic, weighs only 35kg at 1.7m
Depressed, she steals credit cards from NTU schoolmates

SHE was so thin that her parents could not recognise their only daughter.
By Chong Shin Yen

21 August 2007

SHE was so thin that her parents could not recognise their only daughter.

Hu Weiming, 20, about 1.7m tall, weighed only 35kg - down from 65kg a year ago.

Standing in the dock, Hu looked frail. Her bones were jutting from her skeletal frame.

Her mother, Madam Sha, 50, a marine engineer, realised the girl in the dock was her daughter only when a court officer called out her name.

That was in May when Hu, a Chinese national, was charged in court with theft and cheating.

Her parents didn't know it, but she was suffering from anorexia and depression because she had been stressed out by her studies in Singapore.

Madam Sha told The New Paper in Mandarin: 'I could not believe that was her standing in the dock. How could my daughter be so skinny?

'She was all skin and bones and her eyes were sullen. My heart ached when I saw her.'

She and her husband, also a marine engineer, had rushed here after being told that their daughter was in trouble.

Hu, a private scholarship holder, had come to Singapore in December 2005. She was enrolled in an English bridging course at Nanyang Technological University.

She was supposed to complete it before starting her undergraduate studies in engineering. Her scholarship was sponsored by various companies in Singapore.

But the court heard that Hu, who is from Qingdao in Shandong province, was facing problems with her school work and was under tremendous pressure.

Her lawyer told the court in mitigation that she broke the law so she could be arrested and deported back to China.

In April, while she was in the study room of the hostel she was staying in, she stole two of her schoolmates' credit cards.

She then used the credit cards to buy items like clothes, cosmetics and a gym bag.

Within a month, Hu made fraudulent purchases amounting to about $1,300.

She was arrested on 5 May, around 2am.

Her lawyer told the court: 'She had hoped that by committing the offences, she would be kicked out of the bridging course and hence, would be able to return to China.'

Last Wednesday, Hu pleaded guilty to three theft charges and three cheating charges. She was jailed three days and fined $15,000.

Thirty-seven other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. Foreigners who are jailed are usually deported immediately after being released.

The court heard that when Hu first arrived in Singapore, she was a healthy 65kg. But she weighed only 35kg when she was arrested.

She lost 20kg in just four months - from January to April this year.

Madam Sha said she did not know her daughter was having problems and facing so much pressure in Singapore.

She said: 'She would make long-distance calls back to China and we spoke at least twice a week.

'Every time I asked her how she was, she would say she was doing fine and would tell me not to worry.'

Madam Sha said Hu was obedient and quiet and had never been a problem for her.

'She was one of the top students in her secondary school in China and her teachers had recommended her for the scholarship,' said Madam Sha.

Hu came to Singapore with more than 300 PRC students and had been staying at a hostel, Labrador Lodge.

Madam Sha said: 'We did not go with her but a month or so later, we visited her during Chinese New Year.'

They were here for a few weeks.

'She seemed to have adjusted well. She was even among the top 10 students of her English class.'

About three months later, during the May school holidays last year, Hu flew back to China for a visit.

Madam Sha said Hu was moody and stressed. She saw a Chinese physician who prescribed some traditional medicine.

Madam Sha said that when Hu left for Singapore a few weeks later, she appeared fine.

She and her husband kept in touch with their daughter through regular phone calls.

Madam Sha said: 'Then, earlier this year, she mentioned that she was unable to catch up with her schoolwork.

'I told her to do her best. I didn't know it was so serious.'

Hu did not tell them the extent of her condition. Since January, she had been losing weight rapidly and was sinking into depression.

In May, her parents received a call from Hu's teacher here, informing them that she had got into trouble.

Madam Sha and her husband rushed to Singapore and saw their daughter only when she was brought to court.

A family friend put up bail for Hu. She then stayed with her parents in a hotel while waiting for her court case to be concluded.

She also stopped her studies and had been seeing a doctor for treatment.

Madam Sha said Hu has since gained 2kg.

District Judge Victor Yeo said before sentencing her that theft and the fraudulent use of credit cards were serious crimes.

But he added that each case had its own merits. And he had carefully considered the circumstances of the case and the state of Hu's mental health at the time of the offences.

The judge also noted that the victims - Hu's schoolmates - had forgiven her and had pleaded for leniency on her behalf.

Hu will be making full restitution.

Madam Sha and her husband were in court when she was sentenced. She said their main concern was their daughter's health.

'We just hope to go back to China as soon as possible so that she can continue with her treatment,' said Madam Sha.

For theft and cheating, Hu could have been jailed seven years and fined on each charge.