For the mother of a 16-year-old girl who was stabbed to death at a school in Malaysia last year, time has not healed the pain of losing her daughter.

In a Facebook video post on Monday (Sept 14), the mother, who goes by the name Aaple Wong, recounted the memories she shared with her late daughter, Yap Shing Xuen. 

"I never expected it...Oct 14, 2025, will be the darkest and most unacceptable day of my life. That day, I suddenly received the news of your death (and) at that moment, I completely collapsed," Wong recalled. 

That day, Yap was stabbed by a 15-year-old male schoolmate in the girls' toilet of SMK Bandar Utama 4 in Selangor.

He was arrested and later charged with murder, while the court ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation following an application by his lawyer.

He was subsequently acquitted of murder after the High Court found that he was of unsound mind at the time of the incident, the New Straits Times (NST) reported on Sept 14. 

Wong, a mother of two, also reflected on the years she spent raising her children as a single mother after her marriage ended when Yap was just two years old.

She said as she worked to support the family, her daughters stayed with their grandparents during the week, while she spent time with them on weekends.

"That's why we especially cherished every day we could be together," she said, adding that she would spend the weekends going running, hiking and visiting the beach with her daughters, where Yap enjoyed picking up seashells.

"I know I'm not a very wealthy mother, but I always told myself (that) as long as I have the ability, I will do my best to make my children happy and give them a childhood free of lack of love," she said.

Describing Yap as a disciplined, caring and determined child, Wong said she was also aware of the sacrifices her mother had made for the family.

Learning to live with loss

In the months since Yap's death, Wong said she has continued with her daily life — working, eating and sleeping — but feelsthat something is permanently missing.

"After my daughter left, I felt like my life suddenly lost its direction," she said.

"I'm still living. Still eating, sleeping, working. But the most important place in my heart is always empty."

She added that she often cries whenever she thinks of her daughter and sometimes does not know whom to share her pain with.

Wong said that people have told her that time will slowly heal the wounds, but she said that she has come to realise that some forms of grief do not simply disappear with time.

"Some pain don't disappear just because time passes. It's just that we slowly learn to live with this pain," she said.

"You will always be my daughter. (In) the next life... Mom still hopes that we can be mother and daughter again."

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xingying.koh@asiaone.com