He displayed outstanding valour and bravery when he rescued trapped passengers during the 1983 cable car incident
Was it not in the grapevine that he was the one who delayed the rescue unncecessarily? Anyway he's not among the real heroes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Cable_Car_disaster
The
Naval Diving Unit of the
Republic of Singapore Navy was assigned to conduct the underwater search for the passengers in the two cabins which had plunged into the sea. It took the unit three hours before they recovered four bodies from the cabins.
On land, the Army established an operations HQ and medical facilities at the wharf-side.
In the air, the
120 Squadron of
Republic of Singapore Air Force was tasked to rescue the people who were still trapped in the four cabins, as the cabins could not be moved along the remaining cables. Though an extremely risky measure, it was considered the fastest and safest way as the cabins might plunge into the sea at any moment.
The first
Bell 212 rescue helicopter from the squadron (
call sign Rescue One Zero) was piloted by Lieutenant Kao Yit Chee, fitted with floodlights, approached the first stranded cabin and despite the strong winds and danger, the winchman – Lance Corporal Phua Kim Hai was winched down. He was blown off on the first attempt but on the second attempt, he reached the door of the cabin, unlocked it and went inside. He came out with the first passenger strapped to his body by a harness. The winch pulled both of them to safety.
The riskiest rescues were undertaken by a
Royal Australian Navy Lieutenant (now Commodore) Geoff Ledger, who was on loan to RSAF to help train helicopter pilots. Despite the windy condition encountered above the harbour and the strong downwash of the rescue helicopter's main rotors, he managed to pilot the second Bell 212 rescue helicopter (call sign Rescue One One) close above the cars to allow winchman Lance Corporal Selvanathan to enter two cabins hanging only by their towline. <SUP id=cite_ref-0 class=reference>
[1]</SUP><SUP id=cite_ref-1 class=reference>
[2]</SUP> Overall, the entire rescue mission took three and a half hours of risky hovering in pitch black darkness and high wind conditions to accomplish.