:: Crash in car given by dad kills new driver ::
"SINGAPORE -- A 20-year-old student died in her red BMW when it burst into flames after a crash on early on Tuesday morning.

Ms Chua Xing Ling, a third-year student at the Singapore Polytechnic, had attained her driving licence less than a year ago, and the BMW Three Series had been a gift from her father.

She was driving along Sungei Kadut Drive towards Kranji Way at about 12.10 am on Tuesday when the accident happened.

While negotiating a slight left bend, her car slammed into a curb, hit a tree, flipped over, and then careened down the road for almost 50 m, where it burst into flames.

She was killed while trapped in the car."

she was a schoolmate... i didn't know her at all, but when something like this happenes, especially in a close-knitt department like mine, it just hits you in the guts, and you feel it wrenching your insides. i mean, this is someone who would have graduated with me... someone who would step up to the podium to receive our diploma with me come july... and in a flitting moment, her life has ended, and she's no longer with us.

for a by-stander, someone who gave her an occassional smile of greeting in the corridors of lecture rooms... or casual chit chats, i feel a sudden loss for the schoolmate who no longer is... so i really can't imagine how her family would be feeling now... or her friends, classmates, maybe even a boyfriend? my deepest condolences goes out to them...