Yu Chih-pin, an MBA graduate of Royal Roads University in Canada, formerly worked for Semiconductor Wafer in Hsinchu, and was described by his mother and the media as a filial son. He quit his job with Semiconductor Wafer last year in order to care for his mother, who was diagnosed with Lymphoma, or lymph cancer.

Yu took his mother to her doctors in Taipei everyday, and promised her that he would look after her for the rest of her life. All this made his sudden and abrupt death all the more painful for his mother, who has told the media that the arrest of the five suspects does not make a difference to her, as their arrest will not bring Yu back to life.

Yu and his girlfriend drove to a popular 17 km-long scenic area in Hsinchu City, known as the Hai Tian Yi Xian park, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on May 10. At about 2:30 a.m., the pair encountered the five suspects, who were drunk and began provoking Yu.

When Yu attempted to stand up and flee, the five suspects proceeded to violently beat Yu with wooden sticks and their bare hands. The five suspects fled the scene and Yu was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

"If he got into fights and was beaten to death, I would have accepted (his death), but he was such a good boy, why are they (the suspects) so cruel?" Yu's mother exclaimed, adding that she could never forgive the five suspects.

Students from National Tsing Hua and National Chiao Tong universities started a 'one man, one letter' campaign, flooding the mailboxes of President Ma Ying-jeou, Premier Liu Chao-hsuan, and Ministry of the Interior Affairs Minister Liao Liao-yi's mailboxes with angry letters highlighting Hsinchu's deteriorating security. The Internet was also rife with similar commentary.

The five suspects arrested are all aged between fourteen and sixteen. One of them, surnamed Cheng, aged sixteen, is a school drop-out who admitted that him and his four friends had been drinking that night, and that they simply beat Yu because they didn't like the way he looked.

Police, feeling the public pressure on them to crack the case, set up a special taskforce, who used surveillance tapes and fingerprints to track down the five suspects.

The Interior Minister Liao announced their arrest at a press conference yesterday afternoon, thanking the police for their efforts and assuring the public that public security was a top government priority.

The public however, are not completely convinced of the government's resolve or ability to crack down on crime, particularly those caused by young people who race around in cars or motorbikes at night.

"Ma is also becoming chairman of the Kuomintang, but he really should become Director-General of the National Police Agency!" one Internet posting read.

"President Ma and Premier Liu, they have loads of bodyguards protecting them when they go out, can they really understand the common man's fear of being robbed or killed?" another read.