If you are a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) specialist, you might sometimes find yourself on top of the world at a moment’s notice.

Take Staff Sergeant (SSG) Ahmad Ridhwan. Together with his team of three other Dart specialists, they scaled the 121m-tall Selegu Tower in Sentosa to save a “casualty” inside a stranded cable car cabin in a training exercise yesterday.

The tower is just 8m shorter than The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore.To get there, SSG Ahmad and his men climbed more than 90m up cat-ladders inside the stifling concrete column tower, then scaled another 30m of ladders to the top, all while carrying with them at least 200m of rope.

Even then, their job had not really begun. SSG Ahmad and his team then set up anchor points and assembled a system of pulleys, rescue harnesses and ropes.

When the pulley system was in place, SSG Ahmad attached himself onto the cable line with a cable traversing device.He sat in his harness and pulled himself with his hands along the cable line.

Dangling at a height of more than 100m, he was in full concentration until he reached the cable car, about 50m away. He secured himself on top of it, and waited for the second rescuer, SSG Firdaus Tay, 30, to join him.

SSG Tay said: “At such heights, nerves definitely creep in. But focusing on the mission and remembering our training helps to keep them at bay.”

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SCDF Dart specialists save ‘casualties’ in cable car rescue exercise

Source:

The New Paper

The Straits Times

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Rappelling

When SSG Tay reached him, SSG Ahmad rappelled down using a lever to open the cabin door. He secured the “casualty” with a harness and rope before lowering “him” onto a Marine Fire Vessel on the waters directly below the cable car.

SSG Ahmad and his team of Dart commanders were part of an SCDF high-altitude rescue exercise that took place yesterday at two locations – Mount Faber station and Selegu Tower. It was the first time the exercise was conducted at Selegu Tower.

Two teams of 10 Dart specialists were involved and they used a human dummy as the casualty in both cases. The exercise was supposed to last from 6am to 1pm, but was put on hold for about two hours in the morning because of rain.

It resumed at around 10.30am at the Mount Faber station while SSG Ahmad and his team waited to carry out their exercise at Selegu Tower. At Mount Faber station, another team of Dart specialists also went through a similar procedure to save a “casualty” who was lowered about 30m onto a grass patch below the station.

Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Chew Keng Tok, 44, said: “The exercise is staged once a year and the Dart specialists rehearse at least four times beforehand.” LTC Chew, who has been in the service for 15 years, said the team is constantly trying out new equipment and methods to make their rescue operations more efficient.

The time taken for rescue operation exercises has been reduced from 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours on average with the use of a cable traversing device. This compares to the eight hours that it took to rescue passengers after an incident in 1983.

LTC Chew said: “In the past, our officers used basic hardware like cable and carabiners, so brute strength was required to hoist themselves to the car. “The cable traversing device increases the speed of rescuers as they travel along the cables. Rescuers also expend less energy, which means they would be able to go through longer rescue operations.”

SSG Tay said mental stamina is critical in rescue operations. He said: “Mental discipline to maintain focus and concentration on the mission and tasks at hand is paramount.

“The nature of rescue work leaves very little room for error, we cannot afford to lose concentration or get distracted during the mission.”

This article was first published on October 7, 2016.
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They came, they ate, and they left. Then they came again.

A family of nine otters has been raiding a commercial fishing pond at Pasir Ris Park over the past six months to feast on the fish.

And the carnivorous mammals have quite an appetite, which has left Mr Darren Seng, who owns D’Best Recreation, with a big hole in his pocket.

He estimates that each raid by the otters – and they come almost daily – costs him about $300 to $500 worth of fish.

He said that since he bought D’Best Recreation in August 2014, he has seen two otters feeding on his fish.

But the problem has become worse over the last six months.

“There used to be only two otters, but now there are nine. Two more, and they could form a football team,” Mr Seng, 36, told The New Paper yesterday in jest.

But it’s no laughing matter when his business is losing thousands of dollars monthly to the otters, and he can’t do much to stop their raids apart from trying to keep them away.

Otters, like all wildlife in Singapore, are protected under the law, and cannot be killed or harmed.

In any case, the re-emergence of the smooth-coated otters on the island in recent years should be cherished because they were once thought to be extinct.

So Mr Seng has come to terms with his predicament, though it still hurts when he tallies up his losses.

FOR ANGLERS

“The fishes in the pond are bought for the anglers to catch, so they will disappear anyway,” he said.

The fishing pond is open round the clock for anglers to catch saltwater fish. It costs from $43 for eight hours of fishing, depending on the time slots.

“Since the start of the year, my staff have reported an increase in the number of otter sightings,” Mr Seng added.

Over the last six months or more, the otters have emerged from the nearby Tampines River, heading to the pond almost daily to feed on the fish.

TNP was alerted to a video, which was taken on Tuesday afternoon, that captured a family of seven otters making their way into the pond.

They were filmed munching on their catch while casually floating in the water and seemingly oblivious to the humans close by observing them.

“In the beginning, the otters would come in the early hours of the morning when it is darker and there aren’t many people around,” said Mr Seng.

“Now they come and eat our fishes even when it’s bright and there are people around.”

When TNP visited the pond yesterday afternoon, there were no otters in sight.

But regular anglers told TNP that they have seen the animals.

“Every time the otters come, I do not get any bites from the fishes for a few hours. They scare away the fishes,” said retiree Billy Ng, 60.

He said he visits the pond almost every day and usually sees the otters early in the morning.

“I hope that the otters can be moved away from the pond because I’ve paid for the time to fish here,” he added.

Another angler seemed to welcome the otters. “They provide an interesting feature for visitors to the pond,” said Mr Roland Tan, 66.

Mr Seng, however, fears the otters will grow so confident that they will attack the fishes kept inside his storage nets in the middle of the pond.

“Our storage area can hold about 25 nets, and each of them can hold about 100kg to 400kg of fishes,” he said.

Worried, he has turned to the National Parks Board (NParks), the government agency that rents out the recreation area to him, for help.

“I’m hoping the authorities can help me before the damage gets out of hand,” Mr Seng said.

HEDGES

Responding to TNP’s queries, NPark’s group director of parks, Mr Chia Seng Jiang, said in an e-mail that NParks staff had gone to the pond on Sept 30 to assess the situation.

“We are currently looking into various measures, including planting hedges near the pond to deter the otters from fishing there.

“We will also be putting up advisories in the vicinity of the pond to share more information about otters with the public,” he said.

While Mr Seng hopes the measures will be successful, he is not holding his breath.

“I hope the hedges help, but the otters have legs and can move around the hedges,” he said.

Cleaner waters, more otters

Until recent years, the smooth-coated otter was a rare sight in Singapore, where it was thought to have become extinct.

But now, they are not only seen often, but have also become a problem for home owners and hotels in Sentosa, as well as commercial fishing pond owners like D’Best Recreation’s Mr Darren Seng.

Mr N. Sivasothi, a biological sciences lecturer at the National University of Singapore, told The New Paper that the high number of otter sightings can be attributed to our waterways becoming cleaner over the years.

“It was only in 1998 that the smooth-coated otter returned to the waters of Singapore,” he said.

“As the waterways get cleaner, they would have more fishes, and it is only natural that the otters would explore their surroundings.”

Mr Sivasothi, who has been involved in otter research in Singapore since the early 90s, added: “With the greening of the urban areas and the improvement in the waterways, wildlife will return to these areas.”

In particular, many Singaporeans were excited to see three smooth-coated otter pups that were born and raised in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in April last year.

The Asian small-clawed otter, the other species found in Singapore, is harder to spot because it is a nocturnal creature and can be found only in a few areas.

A spokesman for the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore said it received 42 instances of feedback on otters, mostly pertaining to sightings, from January last year to last month.

Only a small number of the feedback were on nuisance issues, which includeed the eating of fish in ponds.

It is illegal to kill or harm otters because, like all wildlife in Singapore, they are protected under the Wild Animals and Birds Act.

Mr Sivasothi hopes that the National Parks Board’s plan to plant hedges along the fishing pond at D’Best Recreation would be enough to make it difficult for the otters to gain access to the pond.

PAST CASES

August 2016

Residents at Sentosa Cove installed motion sensor lights and barbed wire fences to keep otters from feeding in their fish ponds. One resident said the otters ate 22 of the 25 koi in her pond.

Hotels in Sentosa were also affected, with one hotel reporting a loss of $85,000 worth of fish over eight months.

April 2015

A Sentosa Cove resident told My Paper she lost $64,000 worth of koi overnight.

Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort and Spa was also forced to temporarily relocate the koi from its pond after reportedly losing about $20,000 worth of the fish

This article was first published on October 07, 2016.
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During his five-day working visit to India from Oct 3 to 7 at the invitation of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met the Singaporean community in Delhi.

The reception was hosted by Singapore’s High Commissioner to India Lim Thuan Kuan at The Leela Palace Hotel on Oct 4.

Before mingling informally with the almost 150 guests and their children and patiently smiling through a plethora of selfies and photographs, PM Lee addressed the gathering.

He said: “I am very happy to meet all of you here. Glad we have a Singaporean community in India keeping their links. My last visit was in December 2012. I owe this visit to the fact that a lot has happened to strengthen the relationships between our two countries in these four years.”

He then mentioned Mr Modi’s visit to Singapore last November and the dinner the two leaders had at Komala Vilas in Little India. Among those present were several who had moved to India for work.

CEO of telco operator Aircel Kaizad Heerjee and his wife Shernaz moved to India in 2012 after 11 years in Singapore.

General manager of SUCG Infrastructure India Steven Ng, 52, has been in Delhi for three years. His current projects are with Delhi Metro and River Rejuvenation in Rajasthan.

Said Mr Ng of his stint: “I see the transitions taking place in India. It’s a much better place than I expected it to be.”

Mr Harkiran Singh Sandhu, 48, a third-generation Singaporean is country head of an American company, while his wife Inderbir Kaur, 47, is a psychology consultant. The couple moved to Gurgaon in 2009.

Said Ms Inderbir: “India’s cultural richness, its warm friendly people and the opportunity to understand our roots better, have endeared us to this country.”

Another attendee was Mrs Lado Kaur. She has been living in India for 40 years, having come to New Delhi as Gurvinder Jolly’s 20-year old bride from Singapore where her parents and siblings live. Her husband, an Indian citizen, is a retired businessman.

A recent addition to Delhi is Mr Francisco L. Avenir Jr, 57, and his family. He is a project engineering manager with CB&I, an engineering and construction company.

He and his wife Janet and their two daughters were originally from the Philippines and had lived in Singapore since 1992.

They moved to Gurgaon in February this year. He finds “India incredibly versatile and the people very hard-working”.

While in Delhi, PM Lee was hosted to a lunch by PM Modi.

The two witnessed the exchange of three MOUs on co-operation in the field of industrial property between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the Indian Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, co-operation on the establishment of a North East

Skills Centre in Assam between the Institute of Technical Education Education Services and the Government of Assam, and co-operation in skills development between the Institute of Technical Education Education Services and the Indian National Skill Development Corporation.

PM Lee also called on President Pranab Mukherjee.

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An alleged hit-and-run accident last Friday not only left a boy with a broken arm but also caused him to miss part of his PSLE.

Raiyan Haikal, 12, is bitterly angry at the lorry driver who, he alleged, did not stop after hitting him.

“I can only feel anger,” said the East Spring Primary School pupil, who is disappointed over not being able to complete his PSLE.

He took two papers, but had to miss Malay and Science, which he said he had studied especially hard for.

The accident left him with a fractured right arm – his writing hand – and a major cut on his cheek.

Raiyan said he had been crossing the junction of Compassvale Walk and Compassvale Road at 3.30pm, on his way home from the mosque, when the accident happened.

He told The New Paper that he is very certain that the lights were in his favour.

He heard the sound of a vehicle engine and the next thing he knew, the lorry had hit him.

“There was blood flowing from my right cheek and I felt pain in my whole (right) arm,” he told TNP.

“I ran towards a bus stop (where there were bystanders) and I shouted, ‘Uncle, help!’ Then I felt tired so I lay down on the grass.”

Passers-by called the police and ambulance. His mother, Madam Sofia Aziz, 43, said she was shocked when she received a call from one of the passers-by.

“When you see your son, bandaged like a mummy with so much blood… as a mother you would faint,” said Madam Sofia, who works part-time as a baker at Petite Bakehouse at Anchorvale Road.

She arrived at the accident scene and went with her son to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

She believes that the side mirror of the lorry hit Raiyan’s right cheek, cutting it. A fragment of glass was found in his wound at the hospital.

The boy was transferred to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He was discharged on Sunday and remains on medical leave till Oct 21.

When asked whether Raiyan was using a mobile phone while crossing the road, Madam Sofia said he had not been allowed to take his phone to school that day because of his exam.

REGRET

The pupil, who took his Maths paper last Friday, regrets that he did not have a chance to do his Science paper on Tuesday.

“I was looking forward to it. I like to do science a lot and I learnt a lot in school,” he said.

Madam Sofia said that before Raiyan went into the operating theatre, he had asked her whether he could recover by Monday so that he could take his Science paper.

She said that pride and sadness overcame her.

She added that her son had put in so much effort for the PSLE papers that it even got to the attention of his teachers.

When asked about medical fees, Raiyan’s mother said she has not yet received the bills, but admitted she is worried.

“This will affect our finances a lot, we already have six children. My husband is the main breadwinner, I only work part-time. My eldest daughter is only in Secondary 2,” she said.

The New Paper understands that Raiyan’s father delivers letters and documents to offices.

For now, Raiyan is trying to recover. He needs help bathing as he cannot use his arm yet. Some of his teeth are also shaky.

As for the PSLE, his mother said the school has explained that they will compute his score based on his scores in Primary 5, and 6, all the way to his preliminary exams.

Madam Sofia said: “As a parent of course we will be worried but we just have to accept fate and life has to go on.”

East Spring Primary School told TNP that the school has contacted the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) to do the necessary follow-up request for special consideration.

“We are also providing him support to facilitate his recovery,” the school added.

A SEAB spokesman said: “We have a process in place to give special consideration to such candidates who missed papers with valid reasons.

“We will take into consideration the candidates’ performance in the other papers and their peers’ performance so that they are not disadvantaged.”

Police said investigations are still ongoing.

This article was first published on October 07, 2016.
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After robbing the woman in her flat, he made her strip before sexually assaulting her for an hour.

Raymond Lee Ling Soon also made his victim squat naked at the door and threatened to kick her private parts if she called the cops.

The facilities maintenance supervisor then made off with $400 cash, but did not get far as officers arrested him that day.

Yesterday, Lee, now 39, was jailed 11 years and ordered to be given 24 strokes of the cane for robbery and sexual assault.

His offences were described as heinous by District Judge Low Wee Ping, who also called the accused cruel and depraved.

Court papers said the victim, who cannot be named due to a gag order, had been working as a freelance masseuse out of her rented flat in Chinatown since December 2015.

She was assisted by a friend, who ran online advertisements for her services.

Lee saw the advertisements and guessed she stayed alone, based on previous experiences.

He made an appointment for a massage.

PENKNIFE

But his true intention was to rob the masseuse as he was in need of money, having been fined in court earlier for a National Environment Agency summons.

He also recalled a previous occasion where he robbed a victim in a lift using a penknife and decided to do the same.

On Jan 19 this year, at about 7.30pm, he arrived at the woman’s flat armed with a penknife.

As soon as the masseuse let him in and closed her room door, he whipped out the weapon and held it to her throat.

He announced it was a robbery and ordered the masseuse to strip naked and lie on her bed, which the terrified woman did.

Lee then rummaged through her belongings and found $400 in cash, which he kept in his bag.

He then lay beside the woman, while still pointing the penknife at her.

For the next hour, he sexually assaulted and molested her, and made her perform oral sex on him.

Throughout this, she told him she was in Singapore to earn money to support her family back home.

After he was done, he told her to squat naked at the main door of the flat, close her eyes and count to 20.

He threatened to kick her private parts if she called the police.

She called the cops as soon as Lee left her flat.

Officers tracked him down that night after he had deposited the stolen money into his bank account.

Yesterday, Lee pleaded guilty to one count each of robbery by night and sexual assault by penetration.

Two other charges of molest and sexual assault were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Defence counsel Low Jian Hui said in mitigation his client was remorseful and had to care for his elderly parents.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kavita Uthrapathy argued Lee showed no remorse for his actions – having been jailed seven years and caned for robbery with hurt in 2000, when he was 23.

The court also heard that Lee had been convicted and jailed for cheating and for property offences in 2012.

DPP Kavita also said Lee committed the offences in the victim’s home, where she was entitled to feel safe.

Judge Low, in sentencing, said the court was shocked when it read Lee’s criminal record.

The judge added Lee had subjected his victim to robbery, molest and sexual penetration.

“I have no hesitation in sentencing you to 11 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane,” the judge said.

This article was first published on October 07, 2016.
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