SINGAPORE – An elderly man who was helped by devotees heading to a fire-walking ceremony after he collapsed on Serangoon Road on Sunday (Oct 23), has died.

Mr Ong Peck Hock, 68, a retiree, died at Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Sunday, said his wife, Mrs Bessie Ong, 60, a stenographer.

He had shown signs of response right before he was taken away in an ambulance but doctors later told her that he had “a slim chance of survival” due to a lack of oxygen to his brain.

She said her husband had a history of heart attacks, with his first attack in 1999 and the second in 2007. After the second attack, he was in a coma for nine days and warded in the intensive care unit of a hospital. Doctors said he had six months to live. but he defied their prediction.

But Mr Ong, who also had diabetes, had started developing a bad cough two weeks before his death, said Mrs Ong.

On Wednesday evening (Oct 26), Mr U. Silvakumar, a 58-year-old army military expert , paid his respects to the Mr Ong at a wake at Block 107 Towner Road with his son and about 10 other devotees who had tried to help Mr Ong.

Mr Silvakumar had performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on Mr Ong after the latter collapsed. Other devotees clad in their ceremonial attire had also tried to help.

The images of them forming a circle around Mr Ong to help him were widely shared online and became an internet sensation.

Mrs Ong said she thanked Mr Silvakumar and the devotees at the wake. She said: “I appreciate and salute them for helping to revive him.”

On Sunday, Mr Ong had pushed his electric bike out to a nearby petrol kiosk as one of the tyres was flat.

After filling it with air, he cycled to the nearby temple as he was curious about the fire-walking ceremony that was going on.

After he collapsed, a devotee found his mobile phone in his pocket and called his home.

Mrs Ong, who picked up the call, rushed down immediately. Mr Ong appeared pale and weak, before she accompanied him to the hospital on the ambulance.

It was Mr Ong’s weekend routine to ride his electric bike to explore the nearby places, such as Mustafa, said Mrs Ong.

After he retired in 2009 due to his heart condition, her husband took care of the household and enjoyed shopping for groceries.

“He was very frugal, so he would make it a point to compare the prices,” she said.

“He was very, very caring. Up till his last day, he would worry about our son, and whether he has eaten his meals,” she added. “

“He would prepare dinner for us every day without fail. I never missed his dinners. But now… ,” she said, her voice trailing off. The couple have a 25-year-old son, who recently graduated from university.

She said she loved his fried rice dish cooked with olive oil, spring onions and eggs the most.

“Every one has to go one day. Nobody could have predicted what happened,” she said.

On Wednesday, Mr Silvakumar was given the Public Spiritedness Award by the Singpore Civil Defence Force in a ceremony. He said he would not hesitate to help a stranger again. “I think everybody should try to help, regardless of colour or religion,” he said.

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Photo Gallery

Getting ready for annual fire-walking festival

Source:

The Straits Times

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This article was first published on Oct 26, 2016.
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Like most shutterbugs, Mr Gursharen Singh has a sharp eye, but he is not interested in taking pretty pictures. His subject of interest may seem mundane, usually focusing on worksites and featuring scaffoldings, ladders and platforms.

But take a closer look at his photographs, and you will notice workers dicing with danger by not observing proper workplace safety practices.

When Mr Singh, 39, spots safety lapses at worksites and public places, he will snap a picture and send it to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) via its crowdsourcing app, SNAP@MOM.

The smartphone app, which was launched in 2012, encourages the public to report workplace safety and health (WSH) lapses that they come across in Singapore.

Mr Singh’s contribution of at least 15 reports on various WSH lapses in the four years since the app’s launch makes him one of MOM’s top danger-spotters.

His interest in the field stems from his job as a WSH officer at a manufacturing and services provider in the oil and gas industry, where he watches over the safety and health conditions of more than 200 workers.

“It’s my job to ensure that everyone comes to work and returns home safety,” he told The New Paper.

“So far, under MOM guidelines, we’ve managed to keep the workplace reportable-incident free for more than two years.”

DEDICATED

His dedication to his work means that even when he is off-duty, he still keeps a keen lookout for safety violations when he is out in public.

He said: “I usually chance upon (these cases) while I’m out with my family or visiting friends. It could be while workers are fixing lights, laying cables or even maintaining traffic lights.”

His wife, Ms Imelda Lock, 37, and their three young children have become accustomed to delays during their outings because sometimes, Mr Singh will just wander off.

“Sometimes when we’re walking on the street, I turn around and find him gone. When I retrace my steps, I often find him talking to a worker he has met along the way,” said Ms Lock, a housewife.

“I’ve told him not to be so kaypoh (Hokkien for busybody) and that it’s none of his business. But he will say, ‘I’m a safety officer, it is my business’.

“Sometimes I roll my eyes, but I’ve learnt to accept it. After all, it’s for the safety of others.”

Mr Singh usually tries to talk to the workers on the spot and reach out to their supervisors over the phone. If they are unwilling to co-operate, he will report the issue to MOM via the app.

Earlier this month, he came across a worker sweeping a slippery second-storey ledge without a safety harness. The ladder he used to climb to the ledge was also not properly secured.

When he asked the worker if he was aware that what he was doing was dangerous, the worker said he had no choice because his supervisor insisted that he get on with the task.

Mr Singh said he has also encountered irate supervisors who raised their voices at him because they thought he was interfering with their work.

But he does not mind because he has a clear objective, which is to prevent people from getting hurt.

“If I don’t give feedback, (the act) might happen again, and you never know if a life will be lost. Revenue can be generated every year, but a life once lost can never be replaced,” he said.

An MOM spokesman said Mr Singh’s feedback has resulted in enforcement action being taken against companies with WSH lapses.

“(His) concern for WSH is commendable, and he has certainly contributed towards making Singapore a safer workplace,” the spokesman added.

“We would also like to encourage the public to play their part to report any WSH lapses they observe to MOM so that appropriate action can be taken.”

VALUE OF LIFE

Before becoming a WSH officer, Mr Singh was a machinist in the aviation industry for five years.

His interest in WSH issues started in 2007 when a friend asked for his help to pose as a construction worker for an advertisement.

As soon as he donned the blue safety hat, yellow shirt, boots and held a walkie-talkie in his hands, the importance of workers’ safety was impressed upon him.

“It just struck me – the value of life. If you don’t take care of your workers, nobody else will,” he said.

“Some people might wait until someone gets injured before instilling the importance of workplace safety, but I think that’s too painful a lesson.”

He became a WSH officer a few years later after going through the necessary courses and qualifications.

Mr Singh said he looks out for WSH lapses not because he wants to “catch people”, but rather to educate and guide them.

To better communicate with workers in his company and those he meets on the streets, Mr Singh said he has picked up languages such as Mandarin and Malay.

He added: “I never want to be in the position where I ignore a safety lapse and read about it in the newspapers later. I don’t want to ever have the thought, ‘I should have done something to help him’.”

MP: Workplace deaths could have been avoided

The one thing that workplace deaths this year had in common is that they were preventable, said National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay this month.

Mr Tay, an MP for West Coast GRC, told The Straits Times that top-down enforcement can only go so far.

“Everyone along the value chain has to play his part. Leaders of organisations need to take ownership,” he said.

“Supervisors need to lead by example. And workers on the ground cannot be complacent, they must be proactive.”

PUBLIC CAN HELP

One way the public can help is by using the Ministry of Manpower mobile app SNAP@MOM, through which anyone can anonymously report safety lapses.

The Workplace Safety and Health Institute released a study on the beleaguered construction sector last month.

It found that of the 33 construction deaths between June last year and this May, nine in 10 were due to unsafe behaviour by workers, such as not wearing protective gear.

Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say warned last month that the fatality rate is likely to hit 2.2 per 100,000 workers this year.

Last year’s fatality rate was 1.9 per 100,000 workers.

tammei@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on October 27, 2016.
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