Foreign worker threatens suicide near Holland Village
Lianhe Wanbao
A foreign worker created a commotion at a construction site near Holland Village yesterday.
The four-hour drama happened at Taman Warna at about noon, when a 35-year-old construction worker climbed to the top of construction scaffoldings and began shouting in the heavy rain.
According to a co-worker, the Chinese national worker had skipped lunch and gone to sit alone at the top of the scaffoldings.
The co-worker said, "It was raining heavily at the time. He was ranting about wanting to kill himself, so we quickly asked the supervisor to call the police."
The co-worker explained that the man was recently injured at work and had tried to get compensation from the company but his claim was rejected.
"When the police and Civil Defence arrived, the man gestured repeatedly to his waist. That could be where he was hurt," said the co-worker.
According to witnesses, the man was perched in a very precarious position at the time and could have fallen to his death at any moment.
Work was also halted at the construction site while the police deployed a negotiator to talk to the agitated man. The boss in charge of the construction project also showed up to speak to the worker.
It took four hours before the man willingly climbed down from the scaffoldings. He was then arrested on charges of attempted suicide.
Source: Lianhe Wanbao, 20 October 2011.
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