Kwa Choon Eng, 67-years-old, was sentenced to 9 weeks imprisonment yesterday (27 May) and disqualified from holding and obtaining all classes of driving licenses for 8 years after he finishes his jail term.

The part-time Grab driver had failed to spot an elderly man crossing the road and crashed into him, causing the 82-year-old victim to die from his injuries.

The incident happened on 11 November 2020 at about 8.35am.

Kwas was driving along Bukit Batok West Avenue 4 towards Bukit Batok West Avenue 2, and the victim, Mr Lee Hoi Pong, was crossing the road without looking out for oncoming traffic.

Kwa had failed to keep a proper lookout and didn’t notice the elderly man and crashed into him, and after feeling an impact on the front of his car, he stepped on the brakes and reversed his vehicle.

Kwa then alighted from his vehicle and saw Lee lying on the road.

A passer-by came over to help and Kwa saw the elderly man unconscious, he waited for ambulance to arrive.

The elderly man was seen bleeding from his nose and mouth, along with dark colorations around his eyes, which is likely to be a sign of skull fracture.

He was then conveyed to Ng Teng Fong Hospital, but he suffered a cardiac arrest whilst en route to the hospital.

Efforts to resuscitate the elderly man were stopped at the hospital at about 9.40am, and he was pronounced dead.

A 49-year-old local worker fell 9.5m through a skylight and onto the factory floor while preparing to commence roof cleaning work, and later died.

The worker, a freelance labourer contracted by Vina Specialist, died in Ng Teng Fong General Hospital after his conveyance, according to MOM who spoke to Straits Times.

The worker’s death takes the number of workplace fatalities this year to 24 cases.

MOM added that Vina Specialist is also the occupier of the unit where the incident happened, at 36 Joo Koon Circle.

Vina Specialist have been told to stop all work where their workers have to be elevated, and MOM is investigating the incident.

In another unrelated incident, a workplace accident took place on 26 May at 190 Orchard Boulevard, where a 31-year-old worker was hit by a formwork component for a lift shaft that was dislodged on the 29th floor.

It had hit the worker who was on the 14th floor, and he is currently at Tan Tock Seng Hospital being treated for an injury to his back.

The injured worker is an employee of Xiang Tai Construction.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force issued multiple statements earlier today about an “incident” that happened at No.2 Gambas Crescent, which has since been revealed to be a chlorine gas leak that saw 20 people evacuated.

SCDF’s first statement

[Incident @ No. 2 Gambas Crescent]

SCDF is currently mitigating an incident at the abovementioned location.

Members of the public are advised to avoid the area.

More details will be shared soon.

SCDF’s second statement

[Hazardous materials incident @ No. 2 Gambas Crescent]

At about 7.15am today (28 May), SCDF received a call for assistance at the abovementioned location.

Upon arrival, SCDF firefighters used chemical detectors and detected the presence of chlorine gas within a rubbish compactor room on the ground floor of the premises.

The firefighters immediately deployed a water jet to dilute the vapours surrounding the room. Two blower fans were also deployed to contain the vapours within the room.

The air concentration outside the affected room remained at a safe level. Nevertheless, as a precautionary measure, SCDF evacuated about 20 people from the affected premises.

There were no reported injuries at the time of this post.

SCDF’s final statement

[Final update: Hazardous materials incident @ No. 2 Gambas Crescent]

To ensure that there was no more traces of chlorine, SCDF responders, with the assistance of a contractor, emptied the entire contents of the compactor room onto the floor. A water jet was then used to wet the contents and dilute the concentration of the gas in the room.

SCDF responders also used chemical detectors to ensure that there was no longer any presence of the chlorine gas.

Arrangements have been made to have the contents of the compactor room transported away from the premises.

There were no reported injuries in this incident.

At the start of SCDF’s operation, we had sent out an sms text message to members of the public within the vicinity to avoid the area. We would like to thank the public for their cooperation and support. Public safety is always our concern and by avoiding the area, this allowed our responders to carry out the mitigation operation safely and as quickly as possible.

Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong said that he found countries that impose export controls to be regrettable but unsurprising, adding that as a “consumer country that imports food, we are adversely affected.”

He was speaking to the Singapore media on the last day of his visit to Tokyo.

He was asked if Singapore will be seeking redress at the World Trade Organisation when the global trading rules are violated, he explained that the process will be lengthy and take time, and the immediate priority is to secure food supply for the country.

PM Lee also highlighted the importance of thinking ahead and being prepared for future disruptions.

He said that “this time it is chicken, next time it might be something else. We have to be prepared for this.”

He also further added that Singapore has been building buffer stocks and diversified our food sources to cope with disruptions.

A netizen shared a story about how he tried to flag a taxi for about 2 hours but no taxis wanted to pick him up, and he ended up walking past 6 bus stops trying to find a taxi.

Here is what he said

I was having a gathering with my colleagues and friends at Prinsep until about 3am plus, and after that we all tried to either book Grab or flag a taxi.

No, we were not drunk. We were at Cash Studio singing karaoke and only drank soft drinks.

The Grab booking fare at the time was $40++ to travel from Prinsep to Sembawang, siao ah I’m not paying that much.

So I walked along the stretch of road to try to flag a cab, along with my friends who were also flagging taxis because their Grab fares were too expensive as well.

They all managed to flag a taxi and I was the last one still trying to flag one to head back to my place, and there were also many people trying to flag a taxi as well, standing right ahead of me by the roadside cb.

So I kept walking further down, but no matter how much further down I walked, there were sure to be people waiting for taxis.

I ended up walking past 6 bus stops.

And the freaking problem is I saw at least 12 available taxis who refused to pick me up, the sign on top of their vehicles were green but as soon as I raised my arms to flag them, they switch the sign to “hired” or “on call”.

Ccb “hired” your mother ah, I can clearly see no passengers inside, you ferrying who? The hungry ghosts ah?

I wait and wait for almost 2 hours as all the taxis drove past me and refused to pick me up, i finally flagged down a cab at 4.50am, almost 2 hours later.

Eh all the taxi drivers, what is your problem ah? Kpkb say business bad lah, economy no good lah etc, but then when got customer you don’t want to take, smlj

And you know what is the kicker here? My final fare when i reached home was $38. THEN I MIGHT AS WELL JUST BOOK GRAB AT THE START RIGHT CB