THE funeral on Thursday of 36-year-old study mama Ms Yang Jie marked a closure of sorts to the intense media interest that had flowed since her death on September 19th.
Then, police, media and interested onlookers had descended upon Block 349 Yishun Street 11 in the early hours of the morning where her body lay face-down near a rubbish chute of the block.
We were to find out over the course of the next two weeks, that she was a 36-year-old mother of two from Shenyang, China.
Ten months ago, she was like many study mamas before - She left everything she had back home, to quietly work behind the scenes here to ensure her 15-year-old daughter was comfortable in their new home in Singapore.
With her funeral at Mandai Crematorium on Thursday, the intense media scrutiny has eased – at least until the trial of the man accused of killing her flatmates and injuring her daughter gets underway.
With few friends in here, her funeral was not attended by many – there were almost as many journalists as there were family members and friends who turned up.
Relatives who had flown in from China, waited quietly and politely for Ms Yang's daughter’s school principal and vice-principal to arrive before starting the Buddhist service. But throughout the service emotions ran high, with relatives, including her current and ex-husband, united in their grief.
Most poignant was the presence of her young daughter, who had been brought from hospital to attend her mother’s funeral - the first time the girl had been seen publicly since her mother’s death.
The sight of her slight frame sitting in a wheelchair, arm in a sling, and face masked to hide her own injuries, was a touching sight.
But the girl stayed strong, barely shifting in her wheelchair, and showing little emotion, while her relatives cried openly at their loss.
The student's stoic composure was even more remarkable given she had lost not only her mother, but also her right eye and almost her right ear in the attack.
Ms Yang's second and current husband Mr Chen Jun summed up the mood of all those present.
'We are very heartbroken....we did not expect this to happen.'
In a short eulogy he also paid tribute to his wife's “simple life” and singleminded desire to see her 15-year-old daughter receive a good education.
“Everything she did was for her daughter... but her life was unexpectedly cut short,” he said.
But it was the teen's courage that struck a chord with reporters.
In spite of her trauma, the 15-year-old has told her grandmother she wishes to stay in Singapore to fulfil her mother’s dream of giving her a good education.