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Her family touched by well wishes from friends and strangers
By Andre Yeo
August 09, 2009 Print Ready Email Article
WHEN Singapore celebrates her 44th birthday tomorrow, one of her children will be absent from the party.
Absent, but not forgotten.
Tng Jie Min lies heavily sedated in an intensive care unit of a hospital after sustaining head injuries in a traffic accident earlier this week.
Though she was just one of several thousand participants, parade organisers have not forgotten the effort she had put into the rehearsals.
They visited her in hospital with a message for her and her parents: Our thoughts are with you.
The New Paper reported yesterday how Jie Min, a Secondary 1 student from Mayflower Secondary, was hit by a taxi on Tuesday.
Jie Min, who will celebrate her 13th birthday next month, was on her way home after finishing rehearsals for the National Day Parade (NDP) when she was hit by a Comfort cab.
ComfortDelGro said the taxi driver has been suspended.
Her principal, Mrs Doris Lim, 52, said yesterday that several NDP organising committee officials called her school in the morning after reading the report.
She said Colonel Desmond Tan, 39, chairman of the NDP show committee, was among the first to call her.
Said Mrs Lim: 'He asked how Jie Min was. He said he might go down to the hospital to show some support.'
She said after Col Tan's call, other NDP officials from the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) also called to find out how Jie Min was doing.
'I didn't expect them to call. It tells us Singaporeans still care,' she said.
'It's Mindef, a very disciplined organisation, showing care for one schoolgirl out of the thousands of participants. It shows Singaporeans have a heart.'
Brigadier-General Tan Chuan-Jin, chairman of the NDP executive committee, told The New Paper in a statement: 'We are saddened by the accident to Jie Min. Our thoughts and prayers will be with her and her family. We wish her a full and speedy recovery.'
The New Paper met Col Tan and Brig-Gen Tan at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) yesterday after they visited Jie Min and gave her parents a hamper.
They declined to comment, saying that this was a private matter for her family.
Jie Min's parents, technical support officer William Tng, 51, and Madam May Leong, 49, a buyer of electrical parts, have been by her side at the ICU since Tuesday. They said they were grateful to both men for visiting and found it encouraging.
Moral support
Said Mr Tng: 'It gives us the moral support to be strong.' He said that he and his wife had taken leave as they can't concentrate at work.
In an e-mail reply, a ComfortDelGro spokesman said it was disappointed to learn of the accident and its concern now was for Jie Min's speedy recovery.
She said company representatives visited the family yesterday at the hospital.
'We are in touch with her family and will render them assistance during this difficult time.
'We are also assisting the police in their investigations and have suspended the driver pending the outcome of these investigations,' the spokesman said.
Madam Leong said Ms Rita Cheok, Comfort's vice-president of customer service, also visited them yesterday.
Jie Min's parents said about 20 of her classmates and her form teacher from 1 Integrity dropped by despite knowing they would not be able to enter the ICU.
They gave her parents a card telling them to be strong and reassuring them they will help her when she returns to school.
Mr Tng said Mayflower had been supportive, with teachers calling them to enquire about her condition. He said even Mrs Bilveer Singh, the principal of the girl's primary school, Da Qiao Primary, called after reading the report.
On Thursday, Mr Tng said: 'One of her teachers (at Mayflower) had even asked us if we needed blood. He said he would round up the teachers if we needed any and to just give him a call.'
Mrs Lim said the teacher, Mr Sandridge Ong, was in charge of the 100-member dance group, which Jie Min is part of. She said he had made the offer on his own and added: 'It's the right thing to do.'
She said the school will look at how it can help Jie Min when she resumes her studies.
Said Mrs Lim: 'She might need to study from home and we may have to send our teachers over to do tutoring.'
Mr Tng said Jie Min had been looking forward to taking part in the NDP at the Marina Bay floating platform as she loved the atmosphere of such major events.
She was among 100 Mayflower students who took part in a dance item for the opening ceremony of the Asian Youth Games in June.
Her friends in school are eager to welcome her back.
Said Mrs Lim: 'NDP will be over but Jie Min will still be here.'
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Her family touched by well wishes from friends and strangers
By Andre Yeo
August 09, 2009 Print Ready Email Article
WHEN Singapore celebrates her 44th birthday tomorrow, one of her children will be absent from the party.
Absent, but not forgotten.
Tng Jie Min lies heavily sedated in an intensive care unit of a hospital after sustaining head injuries in a traffic accident earlier this week.
Though she was just one of several thousand participants, parade organisers have not forgotten the effort she had put into the rehearsals.
They visited her in hospital with a message for her and her parents: Our thoughts are with you.
The New Paper reported yesterday how Jie Min, a Secondary 1 student from Mayflower Secondary, was hit by a taxi on Tuesday.
Jie Min, who will celebrate her 13th birthday next month, was on her way home after finishing rehearsals for the National Day Parade (NDP) when she was hit by a Comfort cab.
ComfortDelGro said the taxi driver has been suspended.
Her principal, Mrs Doris Lim, 52, said yesterday that several NDP organising committee officials called her school in the morning after reading the report.
She said Colonel Desmond Tan, 39, chairman of the NDP show committee, was among the first to call her.
Said Mrs Lim: 'He asked how Jie Min was. He said he might go down to the hospital to show some support.'
She said after Col Tan's call, other NDP officials from the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) also called to find out how Jie Min was doing.
'I didn't expect them to call. It tells us Singaporeans still care,' she said.
'It's Mindef, a very disciplined organisation, showing care for one schoolgirl out of the thousands of participants. It shows Singaporeans have a heart.'
Brigadier-General Tan Chuan-Jin, chairman of the NDP executive committee, told The New Paper in a statement: 'We are saddened by the accident to Jie Min. Our thoughts and prayers will be with her and her family. We wish her a full and speedy recovery.'
The New Paper met Col Tan and Brig-Gen Tan at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) yesterday after they visited Jie Min and gave her parents a hamper.
They declined to comment, saying that this was a private matter for her family.
Jie Min's parents, technical support officer William Tng, 51, and Madam May Leong, 49, a buyer of electrical parts, have been by her side at the ICU since Tuesday. They said they were grateful to both men for visiting and found it encouraging.
Moral support
Said Mr Tng: 'It gives us the moral support to be strong.' He said that he and his wife had taken leave as they can't concentrate at work.
In an e-mail reply, a ComfortDelGro spokesman said it was disappointed to learn of the accident and its concern now was for Jie Min's speedy recovery.
She said company representatives visited the family yesterday at the hospital.
'We are in touch with her family and will render them assistance during this difficult time.
'We are also assisting the police in their investigations and have suspended the driver pending the outcome of these investigations,' the spokesman said.
Madam Leong said Ms Rita Cheok, Comfort's vice-president of customer service, also visited them yesterday.
Jie Min's parents said about 20 of her classmates and her form teacher from 1 Integrity dropped by despite knowing they would not be able to enter the ICU.
They gave her parents a card telling them to be strong and reassuring them they will help her when she returns to school.
Mr Tng said Mayflower had been supportive, with teachers calling them to enquire about her condition. He said even Mrs Bilveer Singh, the principal of the girl's primary school, Da Qiao Primary, called after reading the report.
On Thursday, Mr Tng said: 'One of her teachers (at Mayflower) had even asked us if we needed blood. He said he would round up the teachers if we needed any and to just give him a call.'
Mrs Lim said the teacher, Mr Sandridge Ong, was in charge of the 100-member dance group, which Jie Min is part of. She said he had made the offer on his own and added: 'It's the right thing to do.'
She said the school will look at how it can help Jie Min when she resumes her studies.
Said Mrs Lim: 'She might need to study from home and we may have to send our teachers over to do tutoring.'
Mr Tng said Jie Min had been looking forward to taking part in the NDP at the Marina Bay floating platform as she loved the atmosphere of such major events.
She was among 100 Mayflower students who took part in a dance item for the opening ceremony of the Asian Youth Games in June.
Her friends in school are eager to welcome her back.
Said Mrs Lim: 'NDP will be over but Jie Min will still be here.'
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