Police use Taser on parang-wielding man in Toa Payoh
By Fabian Koh
The New Paper
Friday, Apr 27, 2012
A man, believed to be drunk, sparked terror, sending people scurrying to safety, as he walked around with a parang. Described as looking disturbed, he was talking to himself and at one point, took out money from his wallet and threw it in the air towards a dustbin. He also hacked at a dustbin with his parang before turning the weapon on himself, chopping at his own torso, as he threatened to kill himself.
The drama unfolded near the Toa Payoh Lorong 7 wet market and food centre on Monday afternoon. When the police arrived, the 57-year-old man refused to put down the parang, which had a 30-cm blade, and continued threatening to kill himself. The officers finally resorted to using a Taser gun (an electroshock weapon) to subdue the man.
He was subsequently arrested and taken to Changi General Hospital (CGH). Mr Chan Fook Yen, 45, the manager of Qian Kee Seafood at Block 18 at Lorong 7, told The New Paper yesterday that the incident happened at around 4pm. "It was not peak period, so I was walking around the shop when we suddenly heard a loud argument from above," he said.
Soon after, he saw the man, whom he recognised as living on the third storey of the block, walk down the stairs holding a parang. Mr Chan said the man, who looked "very disturbed", started walking along the wet market and food centre wielding the weapon. "Everyone who saw him ran out of the way in fear. You see something like that, you will also run away, right?" he added.
A shop assistant at a bakery, Good Pleasure, at Block 21, said the argument between the son and his mother was what caught her attention. The assistant, who declined to be named, said the man was walking around with the parang and talking to himself. He did not hurt anyone. She added that he was shouting "what is money" as he took out his wallet and threw all his cash towards a dustbin.
"There were $2, $10 and $50 notes. Really a lot of money," she said. The man's mother soon appeared and started picking up the money while shouting at him to calm down. "He was also hacking away at a dustbin with the parang," added the bakery assistant. Mr Chan said the man then pulled up his shirt and, amazingly, hacked at his own stomach with the parang.
"Luckily the parang was old and blunt," he said. When the police arrived, the man was still worked up and unruly, the bakery assistant said. "He shouted, 'I won't kill you, I will only kill myself!'," she said. That was when the police officers used the Taser gun to stun him. Mr Chan said: "He went down immediately and they handcuffed him before taking a chair from my shop and helping him up to sit on it."
Console mother
He said the man's mother kept shouting at the police and they had to console her. "She was very pitiful. But they cannot release her son, what," said Mr Chan. "In my seven or eight years of doing business here, this is the first time I've witnessed something like this."
The mother, who wanted to known only as Madam Katijah, 78, told The New Paper last evening that her eldest son had gone drinking in Geylang earlier that afternoon before returning to their three-room flat in a drunken stupor.
"I disapprove of the friends that he regularly goes drinking with," the widow said. She said she has 10 children. Her two daughters are married with their own families. One lives in Britain. Of her eight sons, however, six have been sent to jail for various offences, including drugs and violence, in the past two years.
When talking about her children, Madam Katijah painted a portrait of filial piety. "They all contributed (money) to me when they were still working," she said. "I don't need much money, just enough for food, and the water and electricity bills." Her grandson, Iskandar, 17, whose father is in jail, also lives with her.
"My aunt, who lives in Singapore, gives my grandmother $100 a month," the ITE student said. He told TNP that Madam Katijah is on medication as she has high blood pressure and a history of heart attacks. To avoid adding on to the financial burden, the teenager said he supports himself by working part-time at McDonald's.
"My uncle has only got drunk once or twice in my memory. This is the first time he has caused such trouble," said Iskandar. A neighbour, a 60-year-old housewife who wanted to be known only as Mrs Thia, said the man was a generally nice person. "He would say 'hi' whenever he walked past my flat. And he always bought food for his mother when he returned from work," she said.
Yesterday, Madam Katijah, together with her daughter and Iskandar, went to CGH. The police confirmed that they received a call at 4.32pm on Monday. A 57-year-old man was placed under arrest for possession of a scheduled weapon and attempted suicide. He was taken conscious to hospital. Investigations are ongoing.
Madam Katijah is hoping that her son does not end up in jail like his brothers over this incident. "Very malu (Malay for embarrassing). He was the only one left to take care of me. I really hope they don't put him in jail for this."
