Death of Lim Shiow Rong

A sketch of the possible suspect and killer behind Lim Shiow Rong's murder case.

The police began to investigate the case of Lim Shiow Rong's murder, and they received several clues that may point to one suspect behind the case.

According to Lim's mother, she said there was a male customer who behaved suspiciously at the coffee shop. He would come between 8pm and 11pm whenever Lim's father was not around, and he usually order a coffee and sit for about half an hour. Of all the people at the shop, the man only talked to Lim. Several other people also witnessed the man buying Lim sweets. The man was described to be of Chinese descent, dark and stout, of average height, and does not wear glasses. Four days after Lim's body was found, the police released a sketch of the mysterious man, who was presumed to be aged between 30 and 40 years, about 1.65m tall, and of medium build. The man was also said to usually wear a polo T-shirt and shorts, and frequent the vicinity of Blocks 59, 61, 64, and 75 Toa Payoh Lorong 5.[8][9][10]

Not only that, there was a scrawl on Ang's bedroom wall written by Lim, which was a date 24 June, which was the date when Lim went missing and supposed date of Lim's appointed meeting with her father's friend, but the year '1994' was also written beside the date. Also, a piece of paper torn from a cigarette carton was found in Lim's brown pouch, which Lim left behind at her mother's stall. The piece of paper had a pager number scribbled on it. Below the number was the Chinese character Di (弟) which means little brother. It was likely that the pager number was linked to Lim's possible abductor and murderer.[11][12][13]

However, the suspect was never located. Lim's murder went on to become a cold case, but the police continued to regularly review the case from time to time over the next two decades, as unlike civil cases, criminal cases (including murder) in Singapore does not have the statute of limitations, which contains an expiry date for investigations into any offence. Lim's father approached the police in 1997 and 1998, only to be told that there were no new developments.[14] In the same year Lim was killed, Crimewatch re-enacted the case and made a public appeal for information to solve the case.[15][16]

Throughout the next two decades, while the police continued to regularly investigate Lim Shiow Rong's murder under a low profile, Lim's family moved on with their lives, still harbouring the hope that the killer would be caught and brought to justice one day. Lim's parents did not have another child again after Lim was murdered, and Lim's younger sister Lim Jia Hui reached adulthood and worked in customer service after finishing her studies. Lim's parents and sister were still struggling with sadness over the death of Lim; Lim's mother hoping that the killer would turn himself in if he truly felt regret for his actions.[17][18]

The case also made an impact on Lim's father Lim Kim Siong, who decided to turn over a new leaf and stop taking drugs, and became a good father to his only surviving child. Lim's father was said to be feeling guilty and blamed himself for Lim's death, feeling that he did not protect his family well. Lim Kim Siong would eventually die in 2016 at age 67 due to an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and up until his death, he reportedly remained attached to his elder daughter's case.[19][20]

On 10 January 2021, in light of the recent capture of Ahmad Danial Mohamed Rafa'ee for the alleged murder of missing student Felicia Teo Wei Ling (who was reported missing at age 19 since 2007 before she was found to be murdered), Lim's mother and sister became hopeful and made a public appeal for new information to help solve the case and locate the killer, who remains at large to this day.[21][22] They also hoped that the police could revisit Lim's murder and renew their investigations. The police later confirmed that the investigations on Lim's murder were still ongoing and not closed, and an informant later arrived with new information relating to the case.[23][24][25][26]

• Death of Felicia Teo
• Death of Winnifred Teo
• Capital punishment in Singapore
• List of major crimes in Singapore