Singaporeans all over the island were treated to the sight of two colourful groups of youths handing out flyers and button badges in a marketing stunt to promote hairstyling products.
The groups, known as ‘the Slicks’ and ‘the Streets’ were competing for votes in a public showdown last weekend (Feb 27-28) to promote a Dance-off event scheduled for Mar 23.
One group, the Slicks, travelled in a Mini Cooper Cabriolet while the Streets were mounted on a trio of Vespas.
STOMPer Ling thought these bricks at Tampines Block 485B had dropped off a truck until she saw the shattered rear window of this car. The STOMPer is grateful that the killer litter didn’t hit anyone using the walkway.
"Saw this at around 5.30am when driving my friend to the airport.
"When I arrived at the block, there were lots of brick/stones on the road.
"Thought they were debris fell off from a rubbish truck, until I went to the lift landing and saw the damaged car.
"As this car was parked just outside the walkway to the lift landing, it could be a disaster should the bricks fell on someone instead of the car."
Like any 14-year-old, Navintheren Murugiah would often cycle around his neighbourhood with his friends.
It was no different on a clear day in November 2006 when he rode to a bicycle shop near his Tanglin Halt home to get his bike repaired.
He was riding across a pedestrian crossing when a cement mixer, which was turning left, hit him.
His left foot was crushed by its wheel.
‘I felt the impact first on my leg and my lips. I was just sitting down looking at a big truck in front of me. I thought I was going to die,’ said Navintheren, now 17.
His foot was so badly mangled that his leg had to be amputated from below the knee. He also sustained a cut on his lip.
Last month, he was awarded $390,000 by the High Court after he and his mother sued the driver for negligence in November 2008.
For the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) student, who now walks around with the help of a prosthesis, the verdict was a ray of light at the end of a long tunnel.
‘It’ll help me a lot for the future…with my treatment and all that,’ said Navintheren, who will have to undergo regular prosthesis changes for the rest of his life.
His father, a landscape technician, died recently.
His mother, a security officer who earns about $1,100 a month, is the family breadwinner. Navintheren has an older brother in national service and a younger brother, 13, who has a heart ailment that requires regular treatment.
Navintheren still has vivid memories of that fateful day. He was the first among his friends – all cyclists – to reach the crossing.
After he was hit, his friends got the attention of the driver, who stopped the truck.
‘I was shouting like crazy. When I saw my leg, I was disgusted,’ he said, adding that he was still conscious and did not feel the pain until later.
In hospital, doctors amputated half his leg after finding the foot severely crushed and the blood vessels broken.
His mother, Madam Kannagie Renganathan, recalls: ‘I couldn’t see his foot, I couldn’t see his toes, it was so hard to see his leg like that.’
Dark days followed. He was haunted by nightmares, and things got worse more than a month later when the avid soccer player returned to school in a wheelchair.
‘Friends were looking strangely at me. They didn’t even like to be with me because they had to push me around. Some even called me names. It was difficult, and I hated people who pitied me. I was independent and suddenly, I was in a wheelchair, needing people to help me.’
The driver, Teo Kian Keong, 54, later pleaded guilty to driving without reasonable consideration for others using the road.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and six months’ jail.
In August 2008, he was fined $800 and disqualified from driving for three months.
More than three years after the accident, Navintheren has come to terms with the loss of his mobility.
‘No matter what happens, just be yourself. Just stay confident,’ he said.
He plans to enrol in a polytechnic after he completes his ITE course in automotive technology in less than two years’ time.
He also wants to prevent more cyclists from getting hurt on the roads.
Statistics released last Friday show 17 cyclists died last year, five fewer than in 2008.
‘If I see someone riding very fast in front of me, I will yell at them to go slowly,’ he said, adding that cyclists should dismount when they use a pedestrian crossing.
Ms Nursakinah (right) sustained facial injury and abrasions, while Mr Nurhafiz suffered head injuries and abrasions. Both have been warded at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
A 54-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested for a hit-and-run accident at the junction of Rochor Canal Road and Bencoolen Street which injured a couple crossing the road.
Ms Nursakinah Mohamed Pauzi, a student of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa), 19, and Mr Mohammad Nurhafiz, 21, a Republic Polytechnic student, 21, were hit during the accident which took place at about 11.40pm on Monday. The car driver sped off after slamming them.
Ms Nursakinah sustained facial injury and abrasions, while Mr Nurhafiz suffered head injuries and abrasions. Both have been warded at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The New Paper on Wednesday reported that Mr Nurhafiz is still unconscious in the intensive care unit.
Police were able to track down the suspect from the debris found at the scene. These included parts of a wing mirror from his Mazda car which was spotted at a workshop in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2A on Tuesday evening. The driver was subsequently arrested.
Recounting her ordeal to the TNP on Tuesday, Ms Nursakinah said: ‘We were crossing the road towards Sim Lim Square to take bus number 960. As we were talking to each other, neither of us saw the car coming.’ As Mr Nurhafiz was walking on his girlfriend’s left, he took the full impact of the accident.
Acting Commander of Traffic Police, Superintendent Poh Lye Hin said: ‘Motorists who are involved in accidents where any party is injured should never leave the accident scene. They must stop and render necessary assistance such as calling an ambulance to attend to the injured party.’
First-time offenders can be fined up to $3,000 or jailed up to a year. Repeat offenders face a fine of up to $5,000 and jail of up to two years.
FOR three consecutive days in early 2007, an Indonesian maid working in Sengkang was physically abused, including being hit with a metal spatula until it broke.
On Feb 17 and 18, Ms Luluk Wiji Utami, 30, was slapped, punched and had her hair pulled by Munirah Abdullah, 47; the spatula incident took place on Feb 19.
The maid’s error: failing to clean one of the fans in the flat, although some accusations about missing money were also made.
Munirah’s son Mohamed Sirat Abu, 27, then an auxiliary police officer, also did his bit on Feb 17. He kicked the maid, grabbed her by her hair and swung her head around until she lost her balance, fell and hit her head.
Mother and son, found guilty earlier by District Judge Roy Neighbour, were yesterday sentenced to 12 months and six months in jail respectively.
The maid, employed by the household since August 2006, told the court earlier that she did not shout for help out of fear of Munirah.
The maid finally ran away on Feb 24. She was found crying at the void deck of a block of flats in Hougang, her black eye and bruises still visible.
Defence counsel Rudy Marican said Munirah, a divorcee with four children, had chronic asthma, which was why Sirat hired the maid to help her with the housework. Pleading for leniency, Mr Marican, who also represented Sirat, said the young man had recently lost his job.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Victor Lim said the use of the spatula was an aggravating factor.
Mother and son could have been jailed for up to 18 months and/or fined up to $1,500 on each charge.