Two killed by falling trees

Ansley Ng

May 16, 2007

HE WAS a young physical education trainee teacher out camping in Johor. She was a middle- aged clinic assistant on an early-morning walk.In a space of two hours early yesterday, a freak twist of fate saw both Singaporeans killed in eerily similar circumstances, as the rain poured down on both sides of the border.

Madam Ho Siew Lan, 43, died when a huge raintree fell on her at about 7am, minutes after she had left her home forher usual brisk walk at the Bukit Batok Nature Park.Two hours earlier, at Mount Ophir in Malaysia, 27-year-old Mohammad Rohaizam Tumadi was crushed after a tree crashed down on the tent in which he lay sleeping. In both cases, friends who were with them narrowly escaped with their lives.

Mdm Ho's family only realised something was amiss when the mother of two failed to report for work at 9am at the dental clinic, and the dentist called their home.Puzzled, her younger son and her husband headed to the park to look for her. Then, husband Quek Lye Seng got a call on his mobile phone — it was the police, telling the shocked factory supervisor that his wife had died, pinned under a tree.

Hurrying to the scene, son Quek Choon Kiat, 17, a polytechnic student, said: ''I recognised my mum. There was blood on one side of her face. Added Choon Kiat, whose elder brother is in National Service: ''My mum worked hard all her life to care for us. She didn't get to enjoy life at all and now she's gone.''

Said Mr Quek, 54: ''There should be investigations. Many people use the park on weekends.''Two of Mdm Ho's companions were injured in the accident. The women, both in their 40s, suffered cuts and bruises and were discharged from hospital after receiving 30 to 40 stitches each.

When Today visited the scene yesterday, the uprooted tree — measuring at least 40m long — was lying across a jogging path. Two squashed umbrellas, one belonging to Mdm Ho, lay under its branches; there were bloodstains on the grass. At the edge of a slope lay the upturned base of the tree's roots, which measured about 10m across at its widest.

Regular park-goer Gunasana-kare Supramaniam reckoned the soil around the roots could have been loosened by the rain. The National Parks Board, which manages the 36-hectare park, is investigating. Describing the accident as ''very unfortunate'', its operating officer Dr Leong Chee Chiew said in a statement: ''Our priority right now is to extend our assistance to those affected.''

The other victim, Mr Mohd Rohaizam, was a first-year post-graduate diploma student teacher with the National Institute of Education (NIE). He was part of a group of 54 trainees in an Outdoor Experiential Camp being held outside of Singapore for the first time.

At about 5.15am, he was sleeping in a tent with three others when a tree fell on their tent during a downpour. He was rushed downhill to the Tangkak Hospital in Johor, where he was pronounced dead. NIE director Lee Sing Kong said the institute would conduct a review of the incident.

The National Environment Agency has warned that more rain can be expected in the next few weeks. -- with Additional reporting by Daphne Chuah