<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>MP Seng recounts fiery attack by resident
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kor Kian Beng
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Mr Seng Han Thong receiving occupational therapy at SGH. Set on fire by a resident at a Jan 11 community event, the MP had to undergo several skin grafts and still needs physical therapy. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF MR SENG HAN THONG'S FAMILY
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->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.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><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>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.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Even then, the Yio Chu Kang MP was not aware of the seriousness of the injuries he was to suffer from a fiery attack by a resident at a community event.
Instead, he was more worried for a grassroots leader who had suffered burns in a bid to put out the fire with his hands.
Only when he was being taken to hospital in an ambulance did Mr Seng notice that his own hands and fingers were 'black and charred'.
'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.
He said their visits and concern made him more determined to fight on and also boosted the morale and confidence of his family members who were caring for him.
He is married to housewife Toh Moi Sng, 61, and they have a daughter, 34, and a son, 28.
Mr Seng's attacker was former cabby Ong Kah Chua (aka Lao HERO), 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.
Mr Aw Chui Seng, 69, a temple chairman seated next to Mr Seng, suffered burns of about 10 per cent on his body when he tried to put the fire out.
In the article, Mr Seng, who joined politics in 1997, wrote that being set on fire was the 'last sort of misfortune one expects at a community function'.
=> So did he reflect on what makes an ordinary Peasant wanna inflict such karma on him and his Papaya dogs?
He had even told his wife he would pick her up after the event so they could attend another community event together. 'She was waiting for my call, but when the phone finally rang, she learnt I was burned and being rushed to SGH. She met me there, shocked and in tears.'
He said that shortly after he arrived at SGH, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister of State Balaji Sadasivan, and their wives visited him.
Both men are from Ang Mo Kio GRC, which works with the same town council together with Mr Seng's single-seat ward.
They were the last people he responded to before he was sedated for the night.
He recalled: 'PM urged: 'Just concentrate on getting well and we (the MPs from Ang Mo Kio GRC) will cover the work of Yio Chu Kang'.'
=> In other words, donch worry about the $ part!
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.
He recounted: 'I couldn't talk. Nor could I eat or drink, or sleep well. Skin had been removed from my thighs and back for grafting on the burnt parts of my body and the pain was excruciating.
'But each day, I felt a little better.'
=> Can compare to the pain Sporns face under the relentless economic genocide of his Familee masters? And for Sporns, the paid get worse by the day!
Despite his ordeal, Mr Seng, who was discharged on Feb 7, is philosophical (aka talk cock) 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.
The former deputy chief editor of Lianhe Zaobao, who displayed a positive tone throughout the article, said he managed to keep his spirits high despite the attack.
'I have...moved on,' he added as he prepares to return to public life as early as next month when his medical leave ends.
He said: 'As President S R Nathan told me during his visit: 'In life, we must have faith to deal with the unexpected.'
=> Die also wanna bootlick!
'My mother and wife have also said to me: 'Something worse could have happened to you. Let us move on.'
'I have taken their advice and moved on. Now I'm preparing to return to the life I knew.' [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kor Kian Beng
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Seng Han Thong receiving occupational therapy at SGH. Set on fire by a resident at a Jan 11 community event, the MP had to undergo several skin grafts and still needs physical therapy. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF MR SENG HAN THONG'S FAMILY
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->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.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><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>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.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Even then, the Yio Chu Kang MP was not aware of the seriousness of the injuries he was to suffer from a fiery attack by a resident at a community event.
Instead, he was more worried for a grassroots leader who had suffered burns in a bid to put out the fire with his hands.
Only when he was being taken to hospital in an ambulance did Mr Seng notice that his own hands and fingers were 'black and charred'.
'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.
He said their visits and concern made him more determined to fight on and also boosted the morale and confidence of his family members who were caring for him.
He is married to housewife Toh Moi Sng, 61, and they have a daughter, 34, and a son, 28.
Mr Seng's attacker was former cabby Ong Kah Chua (aka Lao HERO), 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.
Mr Aw Chui Seng, 69, a temple chairman seated next to Mr Seng, suffered burns of about 10 per cent on his body when he tried to put the fire out.
In the article, Mr Seng, who joined politics in 1997, wrote that being set on fire was the 'last sort of misfortune one expects at a community function'.
=> So did he reflect on what makes an ordinary Peasant wanna inflict such karma on him and his Papaya dogs?
He had even told his wife he would pick her up after the event so they could attend another community event together. 'She was waiting for my call, but when the phone finally rang, she learnt I was burned and being rushed to SGH. She met me there, shocked and in tears.'
He said that shortly after he arrived at SGH, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister of State Balaji Sadasivan, and their wives visited him.
Both men are from Ang Mo Kio GRC, which works with the same town council together with Mr Seng's single-seat ward.
They were the last people he responded to before he was sedated for the night.
He recalled: 'PM urged: 'Just concentrate on getting well and we (the MPs from Ang Mo Kio GRC) will cover the work of Yio Chu Kang'.'
=> In other words, donch worry about the $ part!
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.
He recounted: 'I couldn't talk. Nor could I eat or drink, or sleep well. Skin had been removed from my thighs and back for grafting on the burnt parts of my body and the pain was excruciating.
'But each day, I felt a little better.'
=> Can compare to the pain Sporns face under the relentless economic genocide of his Familee masters? And for Sporns, the paid get worse by the day!
Despite his ordeal, Mr Seng, who was discharged on Feb 7, is philosophical (aka talk cock) 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.
The former deputy chief editor of Lianhe Zaobao, who displayed a positive tone throughout the article, said he managed to keep his spirits high despite the attack.
'I have...moved on,' he added as he prepares to return to public life as early as next month when his medical leave ends.
He said: 'As President S R Nathan told me during his visit: 'In life, we must have faith to deal with the unexpected.'
=> Die also wanna bootlick!
'My mother and wife have also said to me: 'Something worse could have happened to you. Let us move on.'
'I have taken their advice and moved on. Now I'm preparing to return to the life I knew.' [email protected]
