Sunday, January 3, 2010

Accident in Taiwan (Republic of China)

This was flashed on the Channel NewsAsia (CNA) website today. Please see http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1028280/1/.html

Still nothing on the website of the Singaporean Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) as of now. Stunning silence. But we will keep watching.

There's no name mentioned in the CNA report. If you were a parent with a 34-year-old son serving in Taiwan, how would you feel listening to this piece of news on the radio or TV?

In an age when the Third Generation Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) can purportedly sense and kill battlefield targets within minutes, why can't MINDEF's public affairs apparatus nail down the facts for a road traffic accident involving one of its servicemen in a more expedient manner?

PAFF needs to up its game.

SAF serviceman in critical condition after accident in Taiwan

By Saifulbahri Ismail, Channel NewsAsia
Posted: 03 January 2010 1603 hrs

SINGAPORE : A Singapore Armed Forces serviceman is in critical condition after being knocked down in a hit-and-run accident in Taiwan's Pingtung County.

Taiwanese media reports have said the accident occurred on New Year's Eve and local police arrested the driver the following day.

Reports said the serviceman is a 34-year-old stationed at Checheng Township.

He left camp at around 7pm on New Year's Eve, and was hit by the vehicle not long after.

The driver, a 46-year-old woman known as Ms Yip, told Taiwanese police the serviceman was jaywalking at the time of the accident.

She added that the area was dark and dimly lit. - CNA/ms

8 comments:

edwin said...

Perhaps they were waiting till they could inform the next of kin before releasing more details?

Anonymous said...

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_473259.html

Anonymous said...

A SINGAPOREAN army officer is in a coma following a hit-and-run accident in southern Taiwan on New Year's eve.

Master Sergeant Lim Chin Hou, 34, is still in intensive care and has not awoken since the incident. He has undergone brain surgery, and both his legs are in casts, members of his family here told The Straits Times on Sunday.

The Singapore Armed Forces serviceman had begun a two-year support-training stint in Hengchun in south Taiwan in June. He was expecting his wife and two young children to join him there after the Chinese New Year.

A Taiwanese police spokesman told The Straits Times that he left his camp at about 7.30pm and was crossing a street towards a bus stop when he was run over by a van. As he lay on the road, a big tourist coach ran over his legs, fracturing his thighs.

Both drivers fled the scene, but were later arrested, the spokesman added.

The driver of the van, a 46-year-old woman known only as Ms Yeh, told Taiwan police that Master Sgt Lim was jaywalking at the time, and with the area being dimly lit, she hardly saw him.

Anonymous said...

Is the Boeyman going to reveal the name?

goat89 said...

SH*T... hope he wakes up soon and speedy recovery.

Anonymous said...

as a kaypoh member of the public, it's natural to want to see names cos' gossips carry less weight when u can't match them to a name and face. but don't think things are so clean cut. where do u draw the line between the public's right to know and the family's right to keep things private? how does a govt ministry draw the line between what to report officially and what not to? It's kinda fuzzy isn't it?

Say... what if an NSF just booked out of camp and collapses and dies at a bus interchange? Should there be an official statement cos' (1) he's an NSF? (2) it's within x hours of him booking out? (3) there's a chance that his death is related to his training? (which cannot be determined yet) or should it be unrelated to Mindef cos' he is officially "off-duty" and he's not on saf grounds.

Then what if it happened to a senior officer (say a major), who went for a run immediately after work around his housing estate? should it be reported in the Mindef website?

if yes, should all organizations follow the same stringent principles in officially reporting the newsworthy life, death, achievements and offences of their employees, even if some of these fall in personal private spaces?

Pretty confusing. Whose standards should govt ministries adopt? Surely it must meet public expectations. The guidelines shld also be strong enuff to be applied cleanly to all situations, while avoiding double standards.

To Master Sergeant Lim Chin Hou... get well soon.

To Boeyman... would love to hear your ex-journ perspective on what the best practice shld be.

David Boey said...

We are building up to IOC this week. Very busy. Will respond tonight. Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Did Generalissimo Boeyman agree with all the SPH policies when he was writing for them?