THE door bell rang on the morning of July 20, 1991. When Mrs Poon opened the door, she found a group of Customs and Excise Department officers anxious to get in.
A warrant was produced and the mother, flustered and confused, dutifully let them search her home. By the end of the morning, she would discover her 18-year-old daughter, who was supposed to be camping in Lamma with friends, had been arrested in Singapore for drug smuggling.
By the time the uniformed strangers had conducted their restrained but thorough search, the 55-year-old housewife's quiet existence had been shattered.
Her daughter, Yuen-chung, a Christian, had been caught at Singapore's Changi Airport after flying in from Bangkok with a friend. Airport officials had found 6.52 kilograms of heroin in their luggage.
There were so many questions. What was she doing in Singapore? Why would she want to smuggle drugs? What would happen to her now? Mrs Poon was devastated. Desperate, she phoned her other daughter, Mary, at work.
When the tearful mother finally finished telling her what limited information she had over the phone, Mary too broke down in tears in the office.
But the full horror of what was happening did not become apparent until the next day. Hong Kong newspapers widely reported the story of the arrest of the two girls. There was one piece of information the Poons did not know: if convicted, Yuen-chung couldbe hanged.