Background
Ong Chin Hock, Yeo Ching Boon and Ong Hwee Kuan, all aged 20, were childhood friends since their days in Tu Li Primary School. Ong Chin Hock left school in primary three, and began working as an odd job labourer, a hawker assistant, and a construction worker until his enlistment for National Service in the army. Yeo Ching Boon was expelled from Tu Li Secondary School when he was in Secondary Three after a fight, and worked as a stock handler for three months before he was sacked for fighting. He then worked as a fitter and a wireman before he was enlisted with the Singapore Police Force for his National Service, where he was posted to the Police Reserve Unit 1 base.
Ong Hwee Kuan, a school drop-out at age 12 after repeatedly failing his Entrance Examination in 1972, has worked as a painter and an odd job labourer. He has been involved in petty crimes with other members of the "18 group" of Sio Kun Tong, a secret society. He was placed under police supervision for a year in February 1974 for involvement with the secret society, and was jailed for two years in 1973 for consorting with another police supervisee, and was under police supervision for another year upon his release. In 1976, he robbed a Malay man for his watch and cash with Ong Chin Hock and another friend. In April 1977, he was detained in the Telok Pakau Drug Rebabilitation Centre for six months for smoking heroin.
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