Maid poured sulfuric acid down baby's throat.

[fab]

 

Like most boys his age, Samuel Lim Hong Xiang, 13, loves music, enjoys sports like badminton and spends hours on the computer, surfing the Internet and playing games.

But unlike other teenagers, Samuel has never tasted food. For almost his entire life, he has been breathing and feeding through tubes inserted into his body.

He was three months old when his family’s then 17-year-old Indonesian maid Sumiyem poured sulfuric acid down his throat. She was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2000. 

The horrific attack left the infant with terrible scars, and also severely damaged his tongue, throat and vocal chords. His upper airway was completely blocked.

“Nobody expected him to live,” recalled his father, Lim Boon Keong, 41. “The surgeons said they would try their best. The rest would depend on him.”

Amazingly, baby Samuel pulled through.


Samuel with his mother, Tan Poh Ling. Straits Time Photo/Dios Vincoy Jr. Photo taken from the jakartaglobe.com websiteSamuel with his mother, Tan Poh Ling. Straits Time Photo/Dios Vincoy Jr. Photo taken from the jakartaglobe.com website


“It’s a miracle that he survived. Doctors later told me that he is a very special child. The pain that my wife and I went through was indescribable,” said Lim.

But ask Samuel today and he describes his life as if everything is pretty normal.

What is different about him is that he depends on the tracheotomy tube to breathe. It is inserted in the front of his neck and into his windpipe.

He also relies on a gastronomy tube inserted into his stomach for feeding.

He told The Sunday Times he got through the Primary School Leaving Examination last year with a score of 219 and is in Secondary 1 at Yuan Ching Secondary School, in Taman Jurong.

“When I am in school, I go to the pantry for my meals,” said Samuel, covering the opening of his tracheotomy tube with his chin to make his speech clearer.

“I am afraid people can’t understand me. So I don’t like to speak.”

His mother, Tan Poh Ling, 41, piped in: “That makes him a good listener and earns him many friendships too.”

When he was seven, Samuel started piano lessons. In Primary 4, he learned to play the guzheng, the Chinese zither.

Lim said: “We wanted him to be able to use music to express his feelings when he got older.”

Samuel’s love for music grew and his talent has been recognized by Club Rainbow, which gave him a talent development fund grant for the fourth time this year.

“I have passed my Grade Three practical piano exams and Grade Five for theory,” said Samuel softly. “I don’t like to speak, I like to play the piano. Now I play the piano daily and the guzheng twice a week.”

His passion for music and opportunities to perform on stage helped to develop his self-esteem and he has grown to be a cheerful boy, said his parents.

The couple, former engineers, work in Lim’s family hardware business, which gives them the flexibility they need to care for Samuel and their younger children, son You Jun, 10, and daughter Yong Zhen, seven.

“Samuel is always surprising me with what he does,” said Lim. “Just the other day, he told me that he signed up for the hip hop dance class as part of his physical education program. That’s him, never afraid to try new things.”

Samuel walks and runs like a typical teenager. On weekends, the family plays badminton together.

When Samuel was younger, he would go with the family on outings to McDonald’s, even though he could not eat. He has never complained or asked to eat, said his mother.

Samuel said: “I just find food disgusting.”

His birthdays used to be at a Swensen’s restaurant, complete with an ice cream cake. But as he grew older, he told his parents he preferred not to have such celebrations.

Tan recalled how Samuel would attract a lot of attention in public, and she would find herself fighting back tears when strangers asked about his condition.

But she and her husband wanted their special son to have as normal a childhood as possible and did not believe that he should be kept at home, away from stares.

“We wanted it to be easy for him to grow up, so we did not see the point in hiding him at home,” she said.

“We took him to swim at public pools and we taught him to take care of himself and not let water get into his tracheotomy tube. We would find a quiet corner in public to feed him.”

Lim said: “Now that he is older, he has no problems feeding himself in public when he goes out with his friends.”

Samuel’s school principal, Saraspathy Menon, told The Sunday Times that her staff help to make sure Samuel takes his meals punctually, at three-hour intervals, in the privacy of the staff pantry.

“In class, he is just like everyone else and he has been participating in most activities,” she said.

“Samuel is a pleasant and friendly boy who interacts with classmates and teachers actively through non-verbal communication such as gesturing, writing and Facebook posts.”

She added: “Samuel is a remarkable child. He has a smile for everyone and he has never complained about the challenges that he is grappling with.

“He exemplifies resilience and courage and all of us in Yuan Ching Secondary School have much to learn from him.”

What lies ahead for Samuel?

Associate Professor Daniel Goh, head of the pediatric department at the National University Hospital, has been seeing Samuel since the day of the acid attack and monitoring his progress.

He said that later this year a team of pediatric surgeons will attempt to reconstruct Samuel’s gullet, and another team will re-evaluate his upper airway for possible reconstructive surgery later.

“It is hoped that he may ultimately be able to breathe and eat without the tubes. The reconstruction will likely be complicated and may require many staged operations,” he said

Describing Samuel’s condition as unique, he said: “The circumstances under which the injury occurred as well as the extent and severity of the damage are certainly not something we have seen before.

“What’s also special is Samuel himself, and his parents. Samuel has been a very brave young man who has overcome the odds and not only survived the initial ordeal but also lived to lead a good and fruitful life.

“His parents are also fantastic in supporting him through the years and have loved and cared for him very well. Despite his injuries, Samuel has grown up to be a well-adjusted, polite and delightful young man.”

Posted on October 22nd 2012 by Office in ASTI news

[Nipoet]

Psh, you only googled him because he appeared on yesterday's news about being the highest scorer in the PSLE or O levels right!? Right?! xD

Edited January 12, 2016 by Nipoet

[IkuTube]

Nonetheless, it is a good story to be shared (again).  It is said that "repetition is the mother of all learning" and to those (including myself) to read such an old article the second/third/umpteenth time, it can only create further awareness.  Personally, when I read it again, it gave an insight to how a beautiful soul the boy has.

 

 

[Guest]

Should we publish and shame the INDONESIAN maid who did this. 

 

Who is she. What is her name. 8 years is too short. We should have lifetime hard labor like North Korea.

 

.

 

 

 

[Guest Why So Vindictive]

13 minutes ago, Guest said:

Should we publish and shame the INDONESIAN maid who did this. 

 

Who is she. What is her name. 8 years is too short. We should have lifetime hard labor like North Korea.

 

 

So what's your point?  Retrial?

[alien]

What a brave boy, i admire his courage and his strong will power to live on.

[Clickclock]

damn.. sometimes I feel that acid was invented by smart people to help the people of the world and its the stupid and uneducated people who use this acid to seek revenge or do something out of spite.

[Clickclock]

anyway, that bloody monster only got 8 years? why 8 years when she pretty much destroyed the life of this boy? that's like 70 years of suffering thanks to that bitch

[azimuth]

28 minutes ago, Clickclock said:

damn.. sometimes I feel that acid was invented by smart people to help the people of the world and its the stupid and uneducated people who use this acid to seek revenge or do something out of spite.

 

I don't think education is the issue actually. Compassion is.

[Guest]

The mother is lazy and greedy to hire two maids and not willing to take care of the children herself ! 

[Guest Guest]

Where is samuel now?

[Guest Bitch]

Pour acid into her pussy! Filthy woman! 

[Guest 3rd world counterfeits]

Maids from third world country..... especially those with abrahamic religions, is not the solution. Many are cruel but put on a kindly face. We all know that from experiences with our lovely creesteans.

[sgmaven]

I realise that there is often insufficient vetting of candidates to take care of others. Some times, people are so desperate to pass on the responsibility that they let go of standards. It is just like the case of Samuel, or when some maids abuse an elderly person under their care. Care-giving is hard work, and it takes a certain type of personality to do it.

 

Whatever it is, I am glad that Samuel is doing well, even if this episode will scar him for life. One question I have is how the maid got her hands on the sulfuric acid? Sulfuric acid is a controlled substance, and not something you can just buy in any shop.

[Guest "Sexy" creesteans]

2 hours ago, Guest 3rd world counterfeits said:

Maids from third world country..... especially those with abrahamic religions, is not the solution. Many are cruel but put on a kindly face. We all know that from experiences with our lovely creesteans.

"Lovely" creesteans. Rigggght

More like "sexy" creesteans.

[sgmaven]

4 hours ago, Guest 3rd world counterfeits said:

Maids from third world country..... especially those with abrahamic religions, is not the solution. Many are cruel but put on a kindly face. We all know that from experiences with our lovely creesteans.

I think it is overly simplistic to lay the blame on maids, claiming that they are two-faced. Face it, many are separated from their families since young (due to economic conditions at home), and come to Singapore to work as maids. I doubt they have much training or are psychologically-prepared as to the amount of care they need to give. Some are psychologically not able to cope with it. Yes, they probably shouldn't continue with the job, but they are probably trapped by circumstance (many take up loans to come here to work). After some time, they may just snap.

 

Think about it, why do you think many Singaporeans hire maids? More because they loathe to do what the maids are supposed to do. Some times, it does not even make economic sense: the amount the lady earns from their job hardly pays for the maid and additional food/transport costs associated with their job. If they as a family member cannot take that stress, what more for someone who has no blood ties with the person to be cared for?

 

One question that needs to be asked is whether the employer does the due diligence properly, especially if the carer is going to be left alone with a defenseless elderly person or a child. Not any maid can do these jobs. It is very different from just cleaning the house and cooking.

 

I say all this because I did experience an incident when I was young. My maid of many years was getting married, and wanted her sister to replace her. I was a naughty kid, always playing pranks and being spoilt. The sister actually went berserk after a few days. Thank goodness it happened in front of my mum and my maid. She was then brought back home and never became our maid. I can just imagine what could have happened if no one knew, and she continued as my maid...