- Joined
- Jan 13, 2009
- Messages
- 377
- Points
- 0
Stranger yells 'mati' and slashes him
By Koh Hui Theng
WHEN he went to buy a newspaper after dinner on Sunday, retiree Lee Kaw never thought his daily routine would end in agony.
But the trip landed him in hospital after a stranger attacked him and slashed his throat.
Recalled Mr Lee, 77, in Mandarin: "It was about 8pm. I had just stepped into the lift to return home. A man was already inside. He asked me which floor I was going to and I told him.
"As the lift door opened on the 10th floor, he suddenly stepped up behind me, yelled "mati" (Malay for die) and slashed my throat."
Speaking from Changi General Hospital where he was warded, Mr Lee added: "He was about 1.65m and quite skinny. After slashing me, he ran out of the lift and fled towards the end of the common corridor."
The attacker had used a blade like the type found in a penknife to attack Mr Lee, leaving him with an 8 cm cut across his neck.
Bleeding profusely, Mr Lee said he stepped out of the lift and saw a neighbour staring after the fleeing culprit.
The neighbour tried to help the injured man, but the language barrier made it tough to communicate.
"My neighbour spoke in English, which I don't understand. I speak only Cantonese and Mandarin, so I was gesturing after the guy running away,"Mr Lee said.
Mr Lee then stumbled to his unit and called to his wife, Madam Loke.
The housewife, who is in her 60s, was washing dishes in the kitchen. She was horrified when she saw him.
"There was blood dripping on his shirt,on the floor, it was everywhere.
"I gave him a towel to stop the bleeding because we didn't have gauze or bandages at home," she said.
The elderly couple live alone in their three-room Chai Chee Avenue flat. They had moved in less than a year ago.
Madam Loke said: "All this time, our neighbour kept talking, but I could only make out the word 'help'.
"We're very grateful to him. He was the one who called the police and the ambulance service."
She was so shaken by what happened that she could only think of calling her elder daughter for help.
Mr Lee is now recuperating in a general ward.
Missed voicebox
Said their younger daughter, Ms Lee Fong Ing, 44: "Luckily, the blade missed his voicebox. If it had pierced through, doctors told us he probably would have died."
The accounts executive remains perplexed over the attack.
"The man didn't rob my father. He didn't take any money, and the gold chain my father wore was also untouched. So I don't understand why he would just slash a random stranger like this," she said.
Is Mr Lee shaken by what happened?
"I think my wife is more affected," he said.
Following the incident, Ms Lee intends to have her parents move in with her family temporarily.
The police said they have arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with the case.
Officers from Bedok Police Division determined the suspect's identity using CCTV footage.
They arrested the suspect at about 2.30am yesterday at Blk 37, Chai Chee Avenue.
The suspect will be charged in court today for attempted armed robbery with hurt.
If convicted, he can be jailed up to 20 years. He can also be caned at least 12 strokes.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
thats sinkie mentally brainwashed by their own lazy goverment ..
