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While nothing has been confirmed, sources are saying a body found in the East River may be Richard Ng, a Columbia senior missing since last week. A boater spotted a body floating near the South Street Seaport yesterday afternoon, and the police's harbor unit picked it up. There was no "obvious trauma" to the body, but the medical examiner's office will perform an autopsy today. The Post says relatives will also be asked to identify the body today, though Ng's mother told Daily News they hadn't received any updates from the police yet. Ng's computer showed he looked up the Brooklyn Bridge, and his Metrocard was used at the Broadway and West 72nd Street subway station, raising the possibility he was headed downtown.
Ng, who had been missing since May 7, would have graduated today. There was a moment of silence for him at Columbia's School of Engineering and Applied Science's ceremony.
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suicide?
Possibly. But why kill yourself right before graduation?
Wheres the pressure??
I think it might have been.
Although, alot of people think of Harlem as right out of 'Escape from NY', in 2006 Id be very surprised if a guy suddenly got kidnapped in the middle of a day from a train platform that probably had more then a few people on it.
Either suicide, or he knowingly got himself involved in a situation that could have been dangerous(ie super shady drug deal).
Also, to the why kill yourself before graduation, not to be morbid...but graduation can be super depressing considering the 'real world' starts(unless you hide out in grad school).
He was in the middle of finals, well according to the daily news article:
"Relatives said they had no idea why Richard Ng, a National Merit Scholar who had been in good standing at Columbia, would have taken off in the middle of finals without telling anyone."
Stress?
Hiding out in grad school, drinking coffee, and reading gothamist all day rules
True. Also he must've had student loans up the ass.
And being that Columbia is $$$, sounds like a motive to kill himself to me.
Asian college kids are always offing themselves. Are C's so bad????
"But why kill yourself right before graduation? Wheres the pressure??"
Ummm.... for some people, going out into the real world and figuring out what you are gonna do with your rest life is MAJOR pressure. Basically, you are told what to do for 22 years and then thrown to the wolves with a "Congrats! Figure it out on your own!" Some of the most depressing years of my life were in my early 20's when I had no idea what I was "supposed" to do and it seemed like I was always making the wrong choices.
A girl I went to high school with killed herself the day after we graduated because (as her note said) she had no idea what to do with her life now. Of course, there were other factors involved, but I don't think it's that unusual to feel completely freaked out when a major part of your life is ending (school). If you are unbalanced to begin with - this could easily send you over the edge.
NYPOST Article on him with a bit more info:
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/68687.htm
No one really knows what's in a person's gut except that person. Kidnapped and thrown in the water? Highly unlikely.
Selfish, maybe, but also very, very sad. The day gets so dark that you can't see to the next one.
Did he have a job lined up after graduation? grad school? any plans?
the sage - i'm fairly sure you were being humorous re: "are Cs so bad?" but they are a disgrace for certain (most?) asian families. plus in chinese culture there is the additional pressure of being "number one son."
I received a C in art.
I have disgraced my family and my name. I must commit Seppuku immediately...With a Frisbee.
Graduation can be a very depressing time. I attempted suicide a week before graduation. Missed my graduation because of it. The thought of graduating and facing "the real world" is incredibly stressful for some.
The real world sucks, and, though tragic, I understand why someone would rather take their life than suffer through it.
"The day gets so dark that you can't see to the next one." - Beautiful, Tim N.
When you've gone through all of your life studying hard and nothing else... It is very stressful when you are outside of that world.
It kind of reminds me of that bird guy in Shawshank Redemption. He gets released from prison and can't deal with the freedom.
The Real World does suck and at times can be downright overwhelming. But if life seems to get you down and screw you over in every sense; just fuck it and split. Split as in not killing yourself, but do something out of the ordinary and do something you‘d enjoy.
Just because you receive a degree in a field doesn’t mean that you’re obligated to go into the workforce and be a wage slave, working from paycheck to paycheck to help support your bland miserable existence. Take a few years off; CHILLAX as I always say. Student loans due soon? Fuck it. Change your name, fake your own death, and go somewhere where they can’t find you. They can kill your credit and distroy you financially but they cant extract what you learned.
You have to LIVE life! not be held back to what your parents and others expect from you.
ok im done preaching
"But if life seems to get you down and screw you over in every sense; just fuck it and split."
Well, of course, easier said than done. If you are suffering from a severe, crippling depression to the point where suicide seems to be your *only* and *best* choice, I highly doubt that you would have the state of mind where you can just decide to do what you want and start enjoying life instead.
No offense, but it drives me bat-shit insane to hear advice for depressed people that basically equates to "just snap out of it". Don't you think they WOULD if they COULD? And 99.99% of the time it is people who have never suffered from severe depression saying this...Big difference between the blues and full-on depression.
The whole problem with depression is that it makes you feel as if you have no options whatsoever. And you have nothing but irrational thoughts all day, every day.
Just wanted to say:
Chris, I'm glad you're still here...
Alright. It is a little hard to just snap out of it. But when I say just 'Fuck It', I’m not implying you should just snap out of your depression, but take a 'spiritual sabbatical' of sorts.
Sometimes a break from life to think about what you want to do next can be helpful.
Kojak: the student loan theory might actually be valid. I know I was almost driven to something resembling suicide from collection agency calls on my own defaulted loans (and yes I did consider changing my identity, but didn't want my family to be involved).
It’s a freighting reality… for someone who just graduated, with an entry level job or unemployed to pay off something akin to a small mortgage. It limits you horribly financially in all respects from moving out of your house, paying for a car, ext. Some people have loans well above 150 thousand dollars.
I’m sure a good number of people have taken their own lives because of student loan payments alone. Collection agencies can be exceptionally ruthless when trying to make you pay up to. All very valid reasons as to why someone would want to take their own life.
Give me a break! Making excuses for suicide is just so lame. Get over your bad self, there are ALWAYS people who have it worse. Killing oneself is just fucking stupid.
Obviously Jack is 100% satisfied with every aspect of his life and couldn't imagine how it feels to despair. I envy him.
Who said anything about him disppearing in Harlem? The body was found near the South Street Seaport, which is very close to the Brooklyn Bridge, which was where he was headed. Couldn't it have happened there? And if you bothered to read the articles, he didn't disappear in the "middle of the day." It was after 10 p.m. when he left his dorm and would might have been close to midnight by the time he got to the bridge, assuming he got there. Sunday close to midnight isn't the busiest time on any subway platform. I'm not saying it is suicide, but if you're going to try to debunk a theory, at least get your facts straight. The last thing the family needs right now is totally unfounded speculation from insensitive strangers.
Wow, some of you have absolutely no conception of just how serious depression might be. None of you actually knew him, so how dare you judge his decision. You have no idea what was going through his mind, so do not merely chalk it up to school loans, Cs, and anything else like that. Unless you actually him, don't start hypothesizing conjectures because you have nothing better to do with your life. Until you actually know of the pain some people feel, the only thing you can do is listen when people ask to be heard, and have compassion. These things happen because people are lonely, and everyone else is too selfish to notice anything wrong, or at least to notice the seriousness of the circumstances.
If it's true that he told people about jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, why didn't anyone do anything? People who contemplate suicide often give hints, asking for someone somewhere to notice, for a reason. This is absolutely the saddest thing I have ever heard, and it seems like the only things you people care about is the reasons why. We never know the reasons why we do things - the mind is a mysterious thing.
So, for his and his family's sake, and for everyone else's, stop the conjecture and the gossip and do something. He had people who cared about him, people who were worried by his absence. Have a little compassion please.
Too much unfounded speculations! I remember I saw the TV news that he was looking for direction to ... at the day he's missing. If he simply wants to drown himself, please remember, it's a Manhattan ISLAND, all he has to do is walk westward and reach the Hudson.
there WAS a possible suicide attempt going down around 10pm on may 6th on the brooklyn bridge. i was attempting to cross on my bike, got half way across, and was told to turn around; helicopters were flying around and cops were everywhere. if he was last seen on the 7th, it's a possibility he tried again (?)
Channel 2 news reported he failed an important exam and wouldn't graduate.
too bad, he didn't take any collection agency workers with him.
People, if you would have taken some pyschology courses in college, then you would have known that as soon as you know you have symptons of mental disturbance and are conteplaqting suicide...see a therapist/psychiatrist.
Don't just wait for the depression to get worse!
It's been a while since I went to college, but that doesn't make sense. One exam can't break your college career unless you're on the edge. So what if he failed one course? Couldn't he make it up in summer sessions or, worst case, one extra semester?
I can't believe the insensitivity of some people on here. They obviously haven't suffered from depression before and believe it's just something that someone can fix right away.
Are there really people at Columbia who are this insensitive to the topic?
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Columbia being next to Harlem has nothing to do with it. Just because there are black peopl in the vicinity doesn't men the students there or anyone else are in danger.
He disappeared right before finals, chances are he didn't think he was going to pass his finals, and then not graduate and didn't want to face that stress and embarassment. Alot of students see counseling for those types of situations.