Workers murdered but Chinese businessman not bitter towards TT

Shu Jun Ling, the owner of Jon Ling's supermarket in Charlieville says while he is concerned about crime and violence in TT, he still loves the country and considers it his new home.

Ling's employees Wei Qin Ke, 42, and Dharmendra Maraj, 43, were killed during a robbery at his supermarket on Wednesday night.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Friday, Ling said Ke, had only been living in TT for two years and was well-liked in the community.

"Sometimes we would invite the families of Maraj to come and spend the day with us so we could cook and lime. He (Ke) has a 14-year-old son who remained in China with his grandparents. We spoke to his parents and they are not dealing well with it.

"We are kind of second guessing ourselves about opening back the store. We need to think about it. Trinidad is a very nice country, only one thing is bad and that is the crime. I hope we can all move past this at some point."

Ling said Ke will be cremated and his ashes sent back to China to his relatives.

Newsday also spoke to Maraj's wife Jemma Moonasar said she repeatedly warned her husband about the danger of his job as a security guard.

She said her husband intended to work for a few more days before eventually leaving but never got the chance.

"He was a calm person. He never mingled with anyone, always friendly. I fed up asking him to leave that job and come home, but he wanted to hold on a little longer. He wanted to come home and plant a plot of land he had.

"I used to live in Chaguanas, but I recently moved to the countryside to get away from all the crime. I don't regret moving out, he (Maraj) wanted to leave the job. He loved the rural life. He wanted to hold on for a couple more days but look what came and happened."