SINGAPORE – A trailer driver was fined the maximum $5,000 and disqualified from driving for 11 months on Thursday (Jan 26) for causing grievous hurt while performing a negligent act.

A second charge for a similar offence was taken into consideration.

Chan Chong Jin, 49, was transporting a piling machine at around 4.15pm on Dec 9, 2015 along the single-lane, two-way Tampines Road when he spotted a lorry travelling in the opposite direction.

He drove his trailer slightly to the left to allow the lorry to pass but failed to keep a lookout for some overhanging tree branches in his path.

They hit the piling machine and it dislodged from its original position.

Its counterweight smashed into the lorry, causing it to fall onto its right.

Part of the piling machine also hit a tree on the other side of the road.

Chan, who heard a loud bang and the sound of the tree falling, stopped his vehicle and stepped out to see what was happening.

He saw the overturned lorry and helped the driver, Mr Yeow Yew Ghee, 62, out of the vehicle.

Its passenger, Mr Mohamed Hussain Mohamed Yousuf, 30, was trapped inside and Chan then called for an ambulance.

Officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, who arrived at the scene, managed to extricate him.

Mr Yeow and Mr Hussain were rushed to Changi General Hospital.

Mr Yeow was found to have injuries including fractured ribs and a lacerated liver. Mr Hussain suffered cuts on his head, neck and legs.

For causing grievous hurt while performing a negligent act, Chan could have been fined and jailed up to two years.

This article was first published on Jan 26, 2017.
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SINGAPORE – Ms Linda Cheng’s father used to sit outside her flat to take in the elaborate Chinese New Year decorations she put up each year.

This year, the corridor outside the Bedok Reservoir flat is festooned with lanterns and decked out with flowers, chickens and golden eggs.

But the patriarch, who died last October at age 80, will not be able to see her efforts.

Nonetheless, she has put up more decorations than years before, in his memory.

Ms Cheng, 56, a sales promoter for Elizabeth Arden, started to decorate the common area outside her house seven years ago because she wanted to bring back memories of their kampung days for her father, who suffered from dementia.

He would clap when he came to her house, and sit outside looking at the decorations until it was time for dinner, she said.

It started with just lanterns, but the decorations became more elaborate each year as she saw how her father enjoyed it.

Most of the ornaments were made by Ms Cheng herself, and she spent more than $500 on the materials and for an electrician to put up the lights, she said.

Her son helped to “sponsor” part of the cost, she added.

Neighbour Nabilah Mohamed Nasir Khan, who sent photos of the decor to the media, said in an email that Ms Cheng has been “putting up the decorations till late at night after she has finished working, running everywhere to get whatever she needed”.

One of the items that gave Ms Cheng some trouble were the golden eggs she needed to complete this year’s theme: “Abundance in the year of the Rooster”.

She tried spray painting plastic eggs, but it didn’t work. Luckily, she found some gold eggs at a stationery store.

She bought all the eggs they had, and even asked them to order more for her. She ended up with 80 eggs.

As for the chicken’s “nest”, she rummaged in the trash at her market to get crates which were discarded by the stall holders, cleaned them and spray painted them.

“May the year of the Rooster lay an abundance of golden eggs, that is my wish to everyone in the new year,” she said.

But it’s not all about gold and wealth, she pointed out that she has crates of peaches which represent longevity and good health.

She also tries to re-use the ornaments from previous years, she said.

Two years ago, Ms Cheng was featured in The New Paper for her year of the goat decor, while last year’s monkey-themed decorations were shared on social media, she said.

But this year’s decorations mean a great deal more to her.

“I’m doing this to remember him,” she said.

chuimin@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 26, 2017.
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SINGAPORE – Resale transactions for Housing Board flats rose by 7.8 per cent for the whole of 2016, increasing from 19,306 cases in 2015 to 20,813 cases.

This is despite the number of resale transactions falling 9.1 per cent, from 5,514 cases in third quarter to 5,012 cases in fourth quarter of 2016, according to a HDB release on Thursday (Jan 26).

Resale prices for HDB flats fell slightly by at 0.1 per cent for the whole year of last year, compared to a year ago.

This year, HDB will offer about 17,000 new flats for sale in Build-To-Order (BTO) exercises.

For first BTO exercise, to be launched in February, HDB will offer about 4,100 flats in Clementi, Punggol, Tampines and Woodlands.

The number of applications approved for subletting of HDB flats also fell by 1 per cent, from 10,789 cases in the third quarter of 2016 to 10,678 cases in fourth quarter.

As of Dec 31 last year, 52,941 HDB flats were sublet, which is an increase of 1 per cent from 52,394 units in the third quarter.

This article was first published on January 26, 2016.
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