A 64-year-old woman was taken to hospital with severe injuries and later died after her husband allegedly drove his car into her by accident on Tuesday (April 25) night.

After hitting her, the husband panicked and drove into the pillars at a Housing Board block about 10m away, an onlooker told The Straits Times.

The incident happened at about 7.50pm at a carpark at Block 332, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told ST on Tuesday that it was alerted at 7.51pm to a traffic accident at the carpark and one ambulance was dispatched.

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A 64-year-old woman was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and the hospital was alerted to be on standby to receive her, SCDF said.

The police said officers were alerted to an accident involving a car, a pedestrian and two motorcycles at 7.49pm.

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“A 64-year-old woman was unconscious when taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where she subsequently succumbed to her injuries. Investigations are ongoing,” police said.

Student Goh Xinyi, who had been at her mother’s optical shop at Blk 332, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, near where the accident happened, said that she and her mother heard a loud bang at around 8pm.

“We went out and saw an old woman on the ground with a pool of blood around her head. A man in his 50s or 60s was kneeling on the ground next to her, looking very distraught,” she said. “He kept saying in Mandarin, ‘she’s my wife, why did I hit her?'”

Ms Goh said that she called the ambulance and that two people tried to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the woman after being advised by paramedics.

She added that the man told them that he hit his wife by accident in the opposite carpark, about 10m away, and then later panicked and stepped on the wrong gear, which led to him crashing into the pillars near Block 332.

Another passer-by, who did not want to give a name, said the car also toppled over two motorbikes when it crashed into the pillars.

The man looked unstable, Ms Goh said, and she and her mother invited him into their shop to sit down.

She said that she believes the man does not live in the area as he had asked them for the block number when he was making a call.

This article was first published on Apr 25, 2017.
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Madam Esah Lim, 60, has not taken a vacation for 27 years.

The youngest of her three children, Ivan, 27, has severe autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

He is non-verbal and requires constant supervision.

While Ivan sees a psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health every three months, Madam Lim shares her experiences with parents of similar children in a caregiver group.

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Her contributions to the group earned her a Courage Fund Healthcare Humanity Award yesterday, after she was nominated by a medical social worker.

This year, 98 healthcare workers, caregivers and volunteers received awards. Recipients will also get $1,500 to $2,000 each.

Madam Lim, who became a single mum after her husband died from liver cancer 20 years ago, found out about Ivan’s autism when he was three.

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She told The New Paper: “I cried a lot back then. Sometimes, I felt like there was no way out. But I realised that I needed to be strong for my children and fight on.”

As Ivan grew older, more supervision was needed – self-inflicted injuries caused him to lose some vision in his right eye.

In his teens, he ran away from home twice.

The first time in 2007, he was hit by a car and lost his two front teeth.

Three years later, Ivan slipped out of the house and ended up on the MRT tracks, and was rescued by SMRT employees.

While he is calmer now, Ivan is still put on a restraint to prevent him from running off and causing harm to others and himself.

JUDGEMENTAL LOOKS

For “leashing” Ivan, Madam Lim has received judgemental looks from passers-by.

Madam Lim, who is supported by her two daughters, told TNP: “People stare. They don’t understand and think it’s strange, but I do this for Ivan’s safety so I don’t care about what they say.”

He main concern now is how Ivan will cope when she is no longer around.

“Ivan’s two sisters have their own lives so I can’t ask them to take care of him 24/7,” she said, hoping that more can be done for autistic individuals whose caregivers have died.

Senior medical social worker Teo Ginnyueh, who nominated Madam Lim, said: “Madam Lim has shown that with positivity, challenges can be managed and obstacles overcome.”

This article was first published on Apr 26, 2017.
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More than 200 people turned up yesterday to bid a tearful farewell to Muhammad Hambali Sumathi, 13, who died on Monday after a goal post fell on him during a football game.

The Secondary 1 student at Geylang Methodist School had reportedly reached for the crossbar of the goalpost to do a pull-up when he fell backwards.

The structure tipped over and struck his head. He later died in hospital.

Despite the heavy rain yesterday, relatives and friends began waiting from 8am at the void deck of a Eunos Road block to pay their last respects.

Read also: Sec 1 boy dies after goalpost falls on him

Many sobbed when Hambali’s body arrived at 2pm and was carried to his aunt’s home on the second storey.

His classmates and football teammates arrived at 2.30pm in two buses with their teachers, as well as the school principal and vice-principal.

Form teacher Siti Radziatun Abdul Samat, 35, said the class is “trying to cope” with Hambali’s death.

Nyjel Rosshawn, 13, who first met Hambali in kindergarten, said: “He always knew how to bring a smile to someone’s face. I just met him on Sunday to play football. I guess it’s all fate.”

Even as she buried her son at Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery, Hambali’s mother Rajimah Jafar, 49, said she was still struggling to understand how her “happy-go-lucky” 13-year-old could have died.

Madam Rajimah, who last saw her son at 6.30am on Monday, said: “How could the metal fall on him?

“It’s impossible because the metal is strong and heavy. Why didn’t the school consider safety?”

Hambali is the fifth of seven siblings and his oldest sister, local singer Sarah Aqilah, wrote in a Facebook post yesterday that the family hopes to get more details from the school.

“For now, we cannot confirm the exact story. It is just questions running through our heads,” she wrote.

This article by The Straits Times was published in The New Paper, a free newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.

In a clear signal that the courts will not tolerate national security being undermined by those who ignore the call to serve national service (NS), the High Court ruled that the “worst” category of NS defaulters – those who do not serve their obligations at all – will face close to the maximum of three years’ jail.

This came as a three-judge panel allowed the prosecution’s appeals for heavier sentences for three men, two of them brothers, who had dodged NS for varying durations.

Ang Lee Thye, 43, who evaded NS for 23½ years – the longest possible under the Enlistment Act – was given two years and nine months’ jail. He is serving his original two-year jail term and will now have to serve a longer one.

Singaporean men have to register for national service when they reach the age of 16½ years and are obliged to serve up to 40. Ang was 41 when he returned to Singapore from the US.

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Sakthikanesh Chidambaram, 26, who failed to report for NS for five years, six months and 17 days, was jailed 10 weeks. His original term was three weeks.

Vandana Kumar Chidambaram, 23, who evaded NS for three years, four months and two days, was jailed seven weeks. His initial sentence was a $6,000 fine.

Both brothers completed serving full-time NS last year.

In considering the appeals, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said a key sentencing focus is deterrence to ensure those required to serve NS “do not evade their obligations or opt to postpone them to a time or on terms of their own choosing or convenience”.

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“Were it otherwise, over time the attitude that national service can be done on one’s own terms will weaken our national security and this is simply intolerable,” he said.

The court said it will adopt, in a modified form, the sentencing approach suggested by the prosecution. Details on the framework will be elaborated in due course.

The prosecution, represented by Solicitor-General Kwek Mean Luck, argued: “Lenient treatment of NS defaulters can invoke strong feelings of unfairness on the part of those who serve when called upon, and undermine public commitment to the institution of NS.”

He called for a signal to be sent to those who “game the system” that NS evasion will be met with stiff penalties, and suggested a sentencing framework based on three categories.

For cases where the default period exceeds two years, but the defaulter is still able to serve full-time NS in a combat role and reservist in full, he suggested a starting point of two to three months’ jail.

For those who evade for more than 20 years and will not be able to serve full-time NS and reservist, he suggested a starting point of three years.

For a default period of about 10 years or the defaulter is unable to serve full-time NS in a combat role and reservist in full, he suggested two years’ jail. The court said that even if a defaulter performs well when he serves NS, this is not a strong factor to get a lower sentence.

This article by The Straits Times was published in The New Paper, a free newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.