BBQ Seng : Luckily I Can Still Recognize Myself!

[CENWEN]

Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
June 9, 2009
MP recounts fiery attack <!--10 min-->
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MR SENG Han Thong was about to have his lunch when he felt something like cold water trickling down his neck. The next thing he knew, he was ablaze. Only when the Yio Chu Kang MP was being taken to hospital in an ambulance did Mr Seng notice that his own hands and fingers were 'black and charred'.
<table valign="top" align="left" width="200"> <tbody><tr><td class="padr8"> <!-- Vodcast --> <!-- Background Story --> <style type="text/css"> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </style> <div id="related" class="vclear"> <div class="quote"> <div class="headline">The ordeal in his own words</div> <div class="text">On the first time that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew visited him in hospital. MM Lee visited Mr Seng five times in total:

'One day, I heard a voice saying: 'I am Lee Kuan Yew'. I then realised that Minister Mentor Lee was at my bedside, checking my condition. He was very concerned about my vital organs and senses, especially my hearing and eyesight.</div> <div class="text" align="right"> ... more</div> </div> </div> <div class="verdana10 grey">RELATED LINKS</div> <!-- Audio --> <!-- Video --> <!-- PDF --> <div class="padb4">

PAP magazine article: Face it</div> <!-- Photo Gallery --> </td></tr> </tbody></table> 'What I didn't realise was that my injuries went far beyond this,' said Mr Seng, giving his first account of that fateful day on Jan 11 this year when a resident allegedly poured thinner on him before torching him. It appeared in the latest issue of the People's Action Party (PAP) magazine, Petir, published once every two months. In his two-page article titled Face It, Mr Seng looked back on the attack, the impact on his family, and his journey of recovery from the 14 per cent burns on his face, shoulders, arms and chest.

He was hospitalised for 28 days at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), underwent several skin graft operations and is now attending weekly therapy sessions. Mr Seng, 59, expressed his thanks to Cabinet ministers, current and former MPs, grassroots leaders, unionists and community leaders, former colleagues and editors from the media, and ordinary Singaporeans, including taxi drivers, who had visited him at SGH.

Mr Seng's attacker was former cabby Ong Kah Chua, 70, who is now in remand at the Institute of Mental Health. Ong is accused of pouring thinner on Mr Seng and setting him alight at Yio Chu Kang Community Club, where the MP was handing out hongbao to the needy and bursaries to students. In the first five days when he was in the intensive care unit, Mr Seng said his swollen arms were tied to the bed to prevent him from pulling out the tube that was placed in his mouth.

Despite his ordeal, Mr Seng, who was discharged on Feb 7, is philosophical about the injuries he suffered. 'In life, we always encounter challenges and situations which need our immediate response...The best and only way to deal with such a blow is to face it, rather than fear it, and overcome it rationally and decisively,' he said.
Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[CENWEN]

Re: BBQ Seng : Luckily I Can Still Recognize Myself

The ordeal in his own words

On the first time that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew visited him in hospital. MM Lee visited Mr Seng five times in total:

'One day, I heard a voice saying: 'I am Lee Kuan Yew'. I then realised that Minister Mentor Lee was at my bedside, checking my condition. He was very concerned about my vital organs and senses, especially my hearing and eyesight. I could sense the anxiety in his voice but could not respond to him.'

On his attitude towards the recovery process, which required weekly therapy sessions:

'Despite what has happened, I have managed to keep my spirits high. The impairment is just physical and I know that I'm making great progress. In fact, when I was taken off the respirator and swallowed my first drop of water, I'd told myself: 'The worst is over.' I also reminded myself not to look back. A nurse asked me if I had looked in the mirror to see my progress. I told her that it wasn't necessary. I could see how I was doing in my daughter's face.'

On the pain of going through skin grafting:

'I suffered 14 per cent burns. My younger sister told my mother: 'Brother in fact suffered 28 per cent as the skin grafting would take 14 per cent of his good skin from his thighs and back.' She was right. The extra pain and bleeding was somehow worse in the night. I couldn't tell my family about it, as they had already suffered too much from my situation.'

FACE IT
By Seng Han Thong

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/pdf/20090609/FACEIT.pdf

 

[halsey02]

Re: BBQ Seng : Luckily I Can Still Recognize Myself

The ordeal in his own words

On the first time that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew visited him in hospital. MM Lee visited Mr Seng five times in total:

'One day, I heard a voice saying: 'I am Lee Kuan Yew'. I then realised that Minister Mentor Lee was at my bedside, checking my condition. He was very concerned about my vital organs and senses, especially my hearing and eyesight. I could sense the anxiety in his voice but could not respond to him.'
>

He thought he must be in PAP heaven, without the vestal virgins!, and a strain of "whiter shade of pale' was playing in the background, when he heard his MASTER's VOICE, I AM, lee kuan yew"!

or was that hell?:p

What was BBQ Seng expecting to hear?, I AM your Lord, your God!....that must be heaven!

 

[commoner]

Re: BBQ Seng : Luckily I Can Still Recognize Myself

btw,,,,,,,, LKY is their God la,,,,, act like 1 speak like 1

eerily isn't it,,,, he thot he was in heaven then a voice pounded "I AM LEE KUAN YEW"

 

[angry_one]

Re: BBQ Seng : Luckily I Can Still Recognize Myself

'One day, I heard a voice saying: 'I am Lee Kuan Yew'. I then realised that Minister Mentor Lee was at my bedside, checking my condition. He was very concerned about my vital organs and senses, especially my hearing and eyesight. I could sense the anxiety in his voice but could not respond to him.'
>

MWAHAHAHA!! He thinks he's Luke Skywalker hearing obi-wan's spirit talking to him!

 

[Conan the Barbarian]

He took one for the team, and he was glad someone took notice of it.
He will be rewarded, if not on earth, then in heaven. All of us die one
day, and will be judge by what we have done.

 

[Watchman]

LoL this is child's play !

Probable nothing ! If were me I would use napalm !

No rubbing away and no dowsing of flames !

No redemption !

 

[Watchman]

When he was lying on bed he heard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a502RejLz8s

 

[KuanTi01]

luckily, he heard the voice of lau lee calling him. It could have been the Grim Reaper or Tua/Dee Ya Pek from the netherworld calling his name! He will definitely learn from this hell-raising and skin-burning experience not to take his constituents for granted. Actually I think lau lee called him and visited him so many times in hospital also to check 1st hand for himself whether he's well enough to recover, if not he will call for by-election and arrange for a new protege to be shafted in, er, I mean drafted into Pap government service. No shortage of talents-in-waiting!