Police in New Taipei City took a 35-year-old man into custody as a suspect in the stabbing death of his elder sister, in a family tragedy that police say resulted from the man’s frustration due to years of failing the civil service entrance examinations.
The incident occurred on Thursday, when the suspect, surnamed Lee (李), is accused of having killed his older sister with kitchen knives in their house in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
Lee’s family members called the police, and the woman was rushed to a local hospital for emergency treatment, but she died from her injuries, five cuts to various parts of her body.
According to the police, Lee had graduated from university with a degree in mathematics, but for the past seven years, he had been trying to secure a government job by taking the annual civil service entrance examinations.
Since graduating, Lee had not held a steady job, but only took part-time work, then in recent years he quit working altogether to study at home in the hopes of gaining a government job, a member of the family said.
The results of this year’s examination were announced on Wednesday, and once again Lee found he did not make the grade, and he seemed to be frustrated at his plight, the family member said.
Then, on Thursday afternoon, his elder sister, who had suffered from chronic depression, made a ruckus and woke Lee from his afternoon nap.
According to the family, Lee yelled at his sister to tone it down, then in a fit of anger grabbed three knives from the kitchen and proceeded to stab her, while he shouted: “I failed my civil service examination because of you.”
Lee’s father, a carpenter, was grief-stricken, and told the police he had not pressured his son to obtain a government job, and that he should have taken his daughter out of the house to prevent the tragedy.
Yeh Chih-pin (葉啟斌), head of psychiatry at Taipei’s Tri-Service General Hospital, said he had some patients who suffered from stress, sleep disorders, memory loss and other problems due to long years of studying for the civil service entrance examination.
“If unable to succeed at the examination, then I advise them to talk about their frustration with families and friends, and adjust their expectations. They should also assess their personal interest, to see if maybe they are more suited to other kinds of jobs,” Yeh said.
He added that parents should not pressure their children into only studying, earning advanced degrees and obtaining government jobs, but should allow them to pursuit their personal interests and choose from among the many different careers available.
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