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A MAN, believed to have been distraught over a relationship break-up, slashed his wrist and then threatened to jump from an HDB block.
The drama unfolded on the ninth storey of Block 817, Jurong West Street 81 on Wednesday night.
It started soon after 7.30pm and lasted for almost three hours, said neighbours who saw the drama.
Police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers tried to talk him out of jumping and finally pulledhimto safety, to applause from onlookers.
The New Paper understands that the man had slashed his left wrist before going to a unit in the block to look for his ex-girlfriend.
The young woman and her family were home but they did not open the door for him.
A teenager, who declined to be named, said he had earlier noticed the man drinking at the void deck of the same block.
"I was going out at 7.30pm and saw him drinking. He was drinking from a bottle while another bottle was broken, with glass shattered on the floor," said the teenager who lives next door to the ex-girlfriend's unit.
He said that the man looked to be in his early 20s and was well-dressed.
"He looked like a businessman. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with black pants and leather shoes."
The teenager said that when he got back soon after 9pm,he saw a lot of people gathered below the block. When he reached the ninth storey, there was a big commotion and he was surprised to see a man sitting on a ledge and threatening to jump. It was the same manhehad seen earlier.
Drunk
"He was drunk. He was making a big issue and said hewanted to jump. But he didn't," the teenager said.
He said the family living next door has three children - a daughter and two sons.
The daughter is about 21 years old. The elder son is studying in the Institute of Technical Education while the younger one is in primary school, he added.
"I think I heard the daughter ask her father to help," the teenager said, adding that he has never seen the man in the block before.
Another neighbour who lives a few doors away, Mr Hew Kwok Voon, 33, a chef, said he heard the man shouting in Mandarin.
Mr Hew said: "He was putting up resistance and asking the police officers not to go near him. He looked very agitated."
Soon after 10.30pm, the man became visibly tired and that was when the police pulled him to safety and took him away, he said.
"He didn't resist then," Mr Hew added. When the police and SCDF officers managed to prevent the man from jumping, the crowd clapped, said Madam Rena Rahim, 36, a logistics executive who lives in the block.
As she had just returned home, she managed to watch only the last 10 minutes of the drama.
When The New Paper was at the scene on Wednesday night, blood stains could be seen on the parapet and along the corridor outside the unit where the drama happened.
A left-hand print in blood was also seen on the wall beside the main door as well as on the door bell.
There was also broken glass, which looked like pieces from a beer bottle, along the corridor.
The blood trail continued to the staircase landing leading down to the eighth storey. There were also blood stains on the staircase railing.
The blood trail ended in a lift on the eighth storey. There were also pieces of glass from a broken beer bottle in the void deck.
A resident who lives in the next block said he noticed the man was injured. But he was not sure how the man had got injured.
No response
After the police left the ex-girlfriend's unit on Wednesday night, The New Paper knocked on the door, but there was no response.
When The New Paper visited the flat again last night, the family declined to be interviewed.
A neighbour described the daughter as tall, slim and pretty. She is believed to have just started working this year.
The police confirmed they received a call asking for assistance at around 7.45pm on Wednesday.
When they arrived at the scene, a man in his mid-20s was seen sitting on an upper-level ledge on the ninth storey.
An SCDF spokesman said a fire engine, a Red Rhino, two fire bikes, two rescue vehicles and an ambulance were sent to the scene.
The man was subsequently brought to safety by police and SCDF officers and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
He had a slash wound on his left wrist and his condition is stable. He was arrested for attempted suicide.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
