A SIX-YEAR-OLD girl, who was comatose after a drowning incident in a hotel pool on Monday, was taken off life support yesterday.

The incident happened at about 10.30am on Monday at the Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy hotel in Katong, Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.

The girl, Neisha, is from the Indonesian island of Bali. Wanbao understands that her mother works at a Singapore Airlines office there and was here for training, staying with her family of four at the hotel.

On the day of the incident, the mother is believed to have been out for class.

Her husband took the girl and her eight-year-old brother to the hotel pool.

They had been in the shallow pool playing when the girl disappeared.

When the father realised that she was missing, he scrambled to look for her and eventually found her at the bottom of the pool.

He dove in and pulled her out but she was already unconscious.

At the time of the incident, it is believed that there were no other hotel guests at the pool.

Neisha’s father did not know how to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

An ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital, where she was certified brain-dead because of prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Neisha’s relatives were distraught when they heard of the news and her grandparents flew over at the first opportunity.

Despite efforts spent monitoring and trying to resuscitate Neisha, she did not get better and her chances were bleak as she was already brain-dead, so the family made the painful decision of taking her off life support.

Wanbao visited the hospital Neisha was at yesterday morning.

More than 20 people – including friends, family and counsellors – were gathered outside the intensive care unit.

Her parents said their last goodbyes at about noon and she was taken off life support half an hour later.

A spokesman for the hotel said it is assisting the police in investigations.

myp@sph.com.sg

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THERE was no evidence that a 14-year-old girl who died after falling four floors at Spectra Secondary School in October last year had attempted a parkour stunt, despite allusions on social media, a coroner said yesterday.

Shina Adriana Hendricks Jones had instead voluntarily taken up a challenge to climb over a parapet but she lost her balance and fell.

Yesterday, State Coroner Marvin Bay found her fall to be “entirely accidental” and her death to be a “tragic misadventure”.

“The allusions to parkour, taunting, bullying or being out on a dare to undertake a dangerous stunt are not borne out by subsequent investigations,” he said. “These may be attributed to the pervasive and perplexing power of the Internet, and social media in particular, to spread memes, and proliferate accounts that may not necessarily accord with reality, and consequently shape impressions that are coloured or distorted.”

The coroner’s inquiry heard that on the morning of Oct 20 last year, due to the haze, Shina and her schoolmates were watching a movie instead of having their physical education lesson in a fourth- floor room. At about 9.10am, they had a toilet break.

A group of male students, who saw a classmate stretching his left leg on the railing at a corridor near the toilet, jokingly challenged him to stand on the parapet, on the opposite side of the railing. When pressured, he retorted: “You all talk so much, you all do lah.”

The comment was not directed at anyone in particular but Shina, who was standing behind the group, went forward and told the classmate that she could do it.

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The Straits Times, Shin Min Daily News

At about 9.20am, the 1.54m and 53kg girl climbed over the 1.13m railing and landed on the opposite side of the parapet. But she lost her balance and fell some 11.78m to the ground.

A teacher carried out cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The girl was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where doctors found traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, and multiple fractures of the skull.

She was transferred to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in the afternoon but her condition worsened and she died shortly after midnight.

Two schoolmates, who were close to her, told police investigators that Shina was not someone who was easily bullied and would fight back if picked on. They also said she never expressed any interest in parkour – a sport in which practitioners get from one point to another in the fastest possible way, using moves such as climbing walls and jumping over obstacles.

But a photo of her sitting on the ledge on top of a building, which she posted on her Facebook page, might have sparked an impression of her interest in parkour. The photo was shared by many online, which caused Shina to be upset and she deactivated her Facebook account, the court heard.

Shina’s father, Andre James Hendricks Jones, was composed in court but after the coroner delivered his findings, he sobbed and was comforted by relatives.

Shina’s aunt Sandra Ross told reporters that he frequently visits her grave. “We just want closure. It has been hard. Anyone who loses a child will find it very difficult (to cope),” she said.

amirh@sph.com.sg

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IN THE first 18 months of a newborn’s life, his parents can receive at least $15,000 for his care from the Government.

A retiree living in a three-room or larger Housing Board flat received on average $5,000 in state transfers last year, mostly in the form of healthcare subsidies.

These figures were given yesterday by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat to illustrate the extent to which the young are given a good footing to achieve their potential, and the elderly to grow old gracefully.

Middle-income earners are not forgotten in the Government’s effort to support all Singaporeans.

Many of them pay little or no income tax, receive support in housing and healthcare, and can use SkillsFuture credits to pay for courses to upgrade themselves.

“All these measures are not as direct as putting money in people’s pocket but it has a more meaningful long-term impact on the careers and future of Singaporeans.

“The most important support for all Singaporeans, including the middle-income, is employability and good jobs,” he said, as he wrapped up the three-day Parliament debate on this year’s Budget.

The Government’s goal is to build an inclusive, resilient society that cares for its members, he added, noting that the lower-income families receive more.

Mr Heng focused on these three groups yesterday, especially young children and seniors, as several MPs had championed their cause.

He listed the monetary help given to babies as well as education subsidies for school-going young children.

Seniors can also feel assured about meeting their basic daily needs with the Silver Support scheme, which gives the elderly poor a basic allowance to supplement their income.

But payouts will be made every three months and in advance instead of every month because this gives seniors the flexibility to manage their expenses, Mr Heng said in response to suggestions from MPs.

Equally important are the programmes for the poor and needy.

He cited the Business and Institution of Public Character Partnership scheme that encourages businesses to partner charities, as one of several programmes to encourage volunteerism.

But even as state support increases, Singaporeans should hold on to their spirit of self-reliance.

“We must be cautious that Silver Support does not undermine values like filial piety, or lead to a ‘why he gets, I don’t get’ mentality.”

He also encouraged Singaporeans to take care of each other and solve community problems as one.

“Ultimately, it is not about government schemes but building a caring and resilient society,” he said.

charyong@sph.com.sg

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