Wife whacks martial arts expert
Hit so hard on the head, he goes deaf in one ear
He holds a black belt in taekwando. But whenever his wife attacked him, Mr Tay Joo Meng, 35, was meek as a lamb.
For three years, the odd-job labourer was treated like a punching bag. He was screamed at and physically assaulted in his own home. Once,
he was hit so hard on the head that he lost his hearing in one ear permanently.
Still, he suffered in silence. He loved his wife.
But on 6 Nov last year, she went too far. As his 27-year-old Thai wife, Chaifu Charin, staggered home drunk at 3am, Mr Tay helped her into the bedroom of their four-room flat in Jurong West. Suddenly, for no reason, Charin lashed out at Mr Tay, punching and kicking him. A violent and often drunk Chaifu Charin beat her husband, causing him numerous injuries and once charged at him with a knife.
She then ran into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and charged towards him. Mr Tay dodged but was cut slightly on the abdomen. Still hysterical, Charin ran into the living room. She picked up two of her husband's bowling balls and flung them out, over the corridor outside their 11th-storey flat.
VIOLENT FITS
For injuring Mr Tay and putting the lives of others at risk, Charin was sentenced to three months in jail on Wednesday. Charin worked as a massage therapist and often returned home drunk. She would turn violent and often threw things, such as a handphone, out the window. Once she even threw a knife out. Her fits were so violent the police had to be called to the flat several times since the family moved in about a year ago.
Neighbours The New Paper spoke to said the couple mostly kept to themselves. They didn't know much about the family, but the late-night fights were a hot topic of gossip. Often, they would be jolted from their sleep by the sound of slamming doors in the middle of the night. Mr Tay lived in fear of Charin. But despite the abuse, he usually did not raise a hand against her.
'I just didn't want to hurt her,' he told Shin Min Daily News. The only time he lost control was during a particularly bad quarrel.
BRUISED EYE
He punched Charin and bruised her eye. '
That was when I realised that because of my taekwando background, I have difficulty controlling the power of my punches,' said Mr Tay to Shin Min Daily News. 'I told myself I better restrain myself next time.'
And so, he quietly endured the abuse.
In October last year, she hit him on the head, causing him to lose his hearing in his left ear. 'I wanted to call the ambulance, but my wife had already smashed the phone,' he told Lianhe Wanbao. Charin suspected that Mr Tay was having an affair and would check his handphone up to 40 times a day. Sometimes, she would call his friends in the middle of the night to find out what he had done that day. 'My friends were so frustrated and called me to complain. It was so embarrassing,' said Mr Tay.
Mr Tay met his wife on a trip to Bangkok in 2000. After a whirlwind romance, they married in Thailand. The couple moved back to Singapore where they had their first child, a daughter, in 2003. That was when the fights began. Mr Tay told Shin Min Daily News that Charin had to help her family in Thailand overcome some financial difficulties. Frustrated, she began drinking heavily.
Mr Tay gave her $1,000 a month for household expenses, but she would spend half of it on beer instead. Mr Tay said she downed up to 15 bottles a day. Her drinking problem worsened three months ago, when she found a job as a traditional Thai massage therapist. 'She told me that I cannot stop her, because she was now earning her own money,' said Mr Tay.
FORGIVE
Despite what he has been through, Mr Tay maintained he still loves his wife deeply and will wait for her release. He has forgiven her, but harbours fears that she will blame him for landing her in jail. 'I don't regret marrying her,' he said. 'I am just sad that I couldn't help her with her problems.'