In a statement to the police after his arrest, Teo said that on the morning of Jan 20, his wife had questioned why their daughter was not going to school, after Madam Choong saw that he had changed Zi Ning out of her school uniform.
The former property agent said he told his wife that he did not have money to pay the girl's school fees, and if the girl went to school, it would be embarrassing if she was told to leave.
He said Madam Choong then chided him, saying: "Other families can take care of three kids, you can't even provide for a family with one child, you're so useless."