Mum of NUS student who died in Clementi crash: 'She is my source of joy'

Friends and family of the student who died in a car crash at Clementi on Thursday (Apr 19) remembered her as a caring and fun-loving teenager who enjoyed nature and was passionate about the environment.

Miss Kathy Ong, 19, was sitting in the back-seat of a taxi with three other friends from National University of Singapore (NUS) when it was involved in a collision with a car at the intersection of Clementi Road and Commonwealth Avenue.

A video of the accident was uploaded on Roads.sg's Facebook page, showing the moment when the Toyota collided with the cab.

Miss Ong was nearly thrown out of the vehicle upon impact.

Both drivers and the four students were taken to the National University Hospital, where Miss Ong succumbed to her injuries.

Her three friends are still in hospital.

According to The Straits Times, hundreds of her friends gathered at her wake on Friday (Apr 20) and Saturday (Apr 21).

They were mostly from NUS's Tembusu College where Miss Ong was a resident.

The wake was held at the Church of St Teresa in Kampong Bahru.

Her mother Jacqueline Ong, 45, said that it was where Miss Ong was baptised and felt "most at peace".

"We were very close as a family. We talked a lot, she's very open, and discusses everything with me," she told The Straits Times.

The environmental studies undergraduate, and only child, was in her first year at NUS.

Despite being a first-year student, Miss Ong was very active and joined various school committees.

Her friends described her as a genuine, friendly and fun-loving girl who enjoyed the occasional pranks.

"Once, she made cookies out of cricket flour and fed them to us without telling us," said a friend. "She told us only after we had finished eating."

"She was the nicest person in Tembusu - the nicest person I know," said another friend, who also declined to be named. "She was someone who put others before herself."

Another girlfriend remembered her as a filial child who was extremely close to her parents.

"Everything she did, she had her parents in mind," she said. "She would talk about them all the time. We could all tell they meant a lot to her."

Mrs Ong said that her daughter took after her and that they had similar characters.

"She is my source of joy," she said.