'I thought I would never return home': Former cop recalls 1972 shoot-out and being hit in the neck

Making it home safely isn't necessarily a concern for most workers in Singapore, but this former cop used to live each day like it was his last.

Speaking to The Sunday Times recently, 75-year-old Davy Chan, a security operations supervisor, recalled a shoot-out with one of Singapore's most wanted men, Mustapha Hassan, 50 years ago.

According to Chan, Mustapha and his sibling Abdul Wahab were known as the Hassan brothers and wanted for various offences including gun smuggling and armed robbery.

The incident occurred at Labrador Park on Oct 29, 1972 — Chan was only 25 then and had been a police officer for five years.

When Mustapha failed to surrender after being confronted, Chan fired a shot and hit him in the abdomen. Mustapha returned fire and struck Chan in the neck.

The bullet even hit a nerve in his neck and he was temporarily paralysed for five days.

"I remember that I could talk slowly but I could not move any part of my body, including my fingers and toes. It took me a while to recover but I'm lucky to be alive."

For his bravery, Chan was awarded the Police Gallantry Medal in 1976.

Don't take chances with suspects

It was reported that Chan was reminded of his own brush with death after he heard about the incident between police officers and the knife-wielding man at Bendemeer Road. The confrontation resulted in the latter being shot dead.

Chan, who served on the force from 1967 to 1979, said police officers have a duty "to protect life and property" and are "trained to protect the public". He also said that they should not take any chances when dealing with suspects.

He explained to The Sunday Times: "If they take the chance, they may lose their own life or someone innocent may get killed."

"When I was a police officer, I left home for work not expecting to return home each day. So when I was shot, I thought I would never return home again. Thankfully, I did," he added.

ALSO READ: Why not shoot to injure knife-wielding man killed in Bendemeer? Shanmugam explains

bryanlim@asiaone.com