More Details Behind the Suicide of Ming Dao’s Brother
On January 5, 2020, Taiwanese police found the remains of Ming Dao’s (明道) 41-year-old older brother Lin Ming-hung (林明弘), his 40-year-old wife, and their 10-year-old son. Officials have confirmed that Lin died from suicide by hanging, while his wife and son died by asphyxiation.
The family of three were last seen on the afternoon of January 4, 2020 through CCTV footage. Lin was seen taking his wife and son on his motorbike en route to a mountainous region in the Neihu District of Taipei, where he later killed them and himself. The remains of the three were not discovered until the following afternoon around 1 p.m., when locals called the police.
According to officials, Lin’s wife and son had deep bruises on their necks. However, they did not show signs of struggle or violence. It is speculated that they were drugged before Lin strangled them to death.
After assuring that they were no longer breathing, Lin arranged them side by side and covered their bodies with a blanket, demonstrating intimacy and respect. Lin then ended his own life by hanging himself on a tree branch.
Due to his poor gambling habit, Lin had lived a life filled with debt, and his inability to pay off his most recent debt of NT$2 million was said to be the reason for his suicide. Ming Dao had always respected his older brother, and used to take on the responsibility of paying off his debts and being the family’s breadwinner. He even showed leniency after knowing his brother had used his name and private information as mortgage to borrow money.
However, there is a limit to everything. Realizing that his brother would never change, Ming Dao harshly ended his brother’s financial stream so he would learn to solve his own problems. Unfortunately, Lin never changed his bad habits, leading to this tragic end.
Source: Sina.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Ming Dao’s Older Brother Suspected of Killing Wife and Son Before Committing Suicide
Poor Ming Dao, try to do the right thing (I would do the same if I was in his situation), and it turns out quite badly, which will scar him and no doubt affect his life from now on, but some people just couldn’t be helped. I understand that people who thinks of suicide and then kill their family then proceed to take their own life thinking it’s the best for the family, but it’s not, since they are the problem, should just take their own life and leave the family if you are going to do that anyway :/ hope Ming Dao can think more openly and live well from now on
@littlefish
I agree and feel so bad for Ming Dao. I always heard about his brother’s gambling addictions for years now and how it affected their relationship. But this is just so tragic as he is now an only child with no siblings. Therefore, once his parents pass away, he will be all alone until he marries and has his own family but he will have no immediate family members left. This will scar him for life since it was so tragic. His brother should have at least spared his wife and son. I hope Ming Dao and his parents will stay strong and get through this. I am just so sad for him and speechless.
This really reminds me of what happened to Korean Super Junior’s Leeteuk. His father murdered his grandparents and committed suicide too. It was so tragic and I did not think that there can be anything as tragic. But now I see what happened to Ming Dao… I just still cannot believe it. I pray and hope that he and his parents will be ok….This will scar them for life.
@hetieshou I wasn’t even thinking about being alone lol. As I’m an only child, and have many trouble uncles: addicted, don’t have a job, etc, I don’t find that a curse lol. I found it tragic because he must be guilt ridden, what happen to his brother, it’s out of his control and he brought it up himself, but the wife and son are innocent, and could possibly be saved, and the thought of what if can kill a person. I do hope him and his family stay strong for this
@littlefish
Oh sorry and I did not know you were an only child. I had a late father, uncles and relatives that were addictive gamblers too. However, they never accumulated such a big debt. I agree that MingDao and his parents must be guilt ridden, heartbroken,etc… I just feel so bad for him and his parents. I hope they stay strong through this difficult time.
@hetieshou lol, no need to say sorry xD thing about siblings though is that if one is creating trouble for so long, the relationship isn’t as good. And this is from my experience as I have trouble uncle from both my mum and dad’s side, and each has different way of dealing with it, but amount to the same thing: avoidance and no talking about them, and no invitation to family dinners lol. That’s why I don’t think the sudden being the only child is that bad, comparing to the guilt ridden fact that he must have felt for his sister-in-law and nephew
@littlefish
You are so right as I have many siblings and we have problems, especially the ones that are married and only listen to their wife. I have plenty of annoying uncles from my mom’s side too. But since my parents passed away, they do not bother us as much as before.
Yes, I cannot imagine the guilt he felt towards his sister in law and nephew. I am sure Ming Dao would have taken good care of them if they were spared.
@littlefish They kill their family so the debtors will have no one to go after for money. And they don’t want their family to emotionally suffer; that’s why they kill them too.
@sas318
Sorry but even if that is the case, there is no excuse for killing the wife and child too, especially the child who had his whole life ahead of him. If he spared them, Ming Dao would have paid the debt and taken care of his sister in law and nephew. There was no true reason to kill them too. He was just a selfish coward.
Intimacy and respect? He abused them and murdered them. The media should not romanticize this tragedy.
@potatochip I was like you until my partner pointed out that the reason why the suicider tends to kill other family members then commit suicide is because they think that’s the only way to take care of them. Because if they go by themselves, no one will take care of their family, so they must bring them along. Twisted but that’s why we have this tragedy :/ to the suicider, he is indeed love and respect them, even if it’s so wrong in many levels, some people is just broken internally :/
@littlefish I agree that this is possibly their thinking, but it is still irresponsible of the news to report it in this way. This is why the rates of suicide increase after such media reports. Plus, we can’t know what was really going on in his head so to speculate and give it a positive spin is really dangerous.
Strangling someone is an extremely violent way to murder. It takes great rage to do so.
@potatochip I can’t speak for anyone but I don’t find it in anyway positive :/ sometimes you just call a spade a spade, whatever other people view/perceive is really out of hand? Like you can’t just be so protective all the time to the point you can’t call a spade a spade if you know what I mean.
@littlefish Yes, a spade should be called a spade. “Intimacy and respect” is subjective. It assumes that he respects his victims, which is a positive view.
Objective reporting would be, “he placed a blanket over their bodies”, the end. The reader can fill in their own interpretations – “he did it because he hated them and didn’t want to see their faces”, etc.
But perhaps as @hetieshou said, there is something lost in translation.
@potatochip
I agree and maybe it was lost I translation. I will check the Chinese article to see what they actually said.
gambling is such a disgusting behavior. i know a few people who gamble for fun b/c they know of nothing else better to do. haven’t met anyone whose addicted to gambling yet so i really don’t know how one develops that addiction.
@m0m0 I think gambling addictions, like other addictions to drinking and drugs, form because of a person’s compulsive behavior and lack of ability to deal with problems and stress in reality. There’s a certain physical high from the adrenaline rush although there are risks involved which can destroy one’s life. When a destructive habit is so deeply embedded in someone’s life for years, it’s really hard to quit as it requires a change in lifelong habits and how to deal with compulsion.
It’s very tragic what had happened to Ming Dao’s brother. His gambling debt of $68,000 USD wasn’t worth taking his own life and his family. It’s an amount that can be paid off if broken into smaller payments.
I feel very saddened by the news and hope Ming Dao and his parents aren’t guilt ridden for the rest of their lives.
@m0m0 do you play any game that has loot box? Random items in the box that you just want to keep trying until you get what you want. Like blind box for toys. Those are based on gambling addiction behaviour. The idea of the next one I’ll get it is what make the addiction. And each time they win, even if it’s small, it fuels up the hope, and make them keep going.
@littlefish
i don’t really play games b/c i know i could be addictive. i think i understand what you are talking about the hopes fueling up and making you want more. i think some people are more prone to that than others which i suspect could be due to the wiring of the brain. if i do something that i know is bad for me, i would tell myself to stop consciously but i know some people can’t do that. compulsive eating for example, is very an addiction too to food.
@littlefish You are referring to gacha games. I used to play MMOs that have gacha concept but I have pretty good self control so I have a ceiling limit of how much I can spend on buying gacha boxes.
@rika idk what they call but yes :p the thing about those is you might be pretty good at self control, but something happens and you might slip, since you play the game, willing to spend X amount, you are so used to this that to you, it’s normal practice. So say now and then you just want to splurge out, and that when it can become a problem.
Also different people react to this very differently, like it’s well known that the aboriginal’s genetic is prone to be an alcoholic. Our society is now heavily into these gacha game concept, because we in large part vulnerable to it lol
@littlefish Actually, when I was a gamer, I bought gacha boxes to sell to other players for in-game currency. I never bothered to open them because I calculated how low the statistics were. Easier to let other whales keep buying and opening gacha boxes till the item floods the market and pushes down the price, I will swoop in to buy the item I want using in-game cash. At least, the result is guaranteed. xD
But as you said, I was aware of other players who would spend up to thousands to get certain items. Most of these players aren’t exactly high income earners either; some of them were working in fast food restaurants only. There were a few I knew who were practically living paycheck-to-paycheck but wouldn’t mind spending all their earnings on gacha boxes or upgrading their PCs for better graphics or performance. I always felt that these people have low self esteem in real life and they only get their momentary feeling of control and power from games itself when they show off to other players of their OP weapons and costumes.
@m0m0
You are lucky that you do not know anyone who is addicted to gambling. I know many in my family sadly and I also wonder how they developed that addiction? I think just like with any kind of addiction, you must have self control. If you lose that self control then the addiction will take over you.