Blue balloons drifted slowly into the late-morning sky as a final gesture of love for 16-year-old Yap Shing Xuen, who died after being stabbed at a Bandar Utama secondary school last week.
Just before noon, her casket was placed into the white hearse bound for cremation and to be laid to rest at Nirvana Memorial Park, Shah Alam.
Each mourner was given a balloon in blue — Yap’s favourite colour — to carry along the short, silent 100m procession.
Leading the walk was her elder sister, who held back tears, while relatives and friends trailed behind. When the time came, they released the balloons together in a simple act of farewell.
More than 200 people, including family members, teachers and friends, attended the sombre ceremony here at Nirvana Centre earlier this morning.
Around 10am, the casket had been sealed after a Buddhist prayer led by a nun. Yap’s mother, Wong Lee Ping, was seen weeping uncontrollably as eulogies recalled her daughter’s bright and compassionate nature.
Outside the hall, rows of white chrysanthemums, a symbol of mourning, lined the walkway.
Over the past few days of the wake, several political figures, including education minister Fadhlina Sidek, and youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh, had come to pay their last respects.
Even the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim and Raja Permaisuri Agong Raja Zarith Sofiah sent a condolence wreath.
The tragedy occurred on Oct 14 at SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (4) in Petaling Jaya, when a 14-year-old boy allegedly stabbed Yap in a locked cubicle in the girls’ laboratory. The suspect remains in custody with investigations still ongoing.
