Mum spoke to son as if he was still alive

She was shocked to find his lifeless body on grass patch

1 Boy falls to death

She left her seven-year-old son alone in their 11th storey Aljunied Crescent flat to take her daughter, nine, for her tuition class nearby.

Mr Jumat Mohd, 55, who lives on the same floor, said the boy's relatives told him the boy was fast asleep at the time. It was around 4pm on Thursday.

The woman, who is originally from China, decided to rush down with her daughter as she thought she would not take long, he said.

When she returned to her Block 103 flat, she found her son missing.

Mr Jumat, who works in the oil and gas industry, told The New Paper: "When she found that her son was not at home, she immediately rushed down to look for him. She kept calling his name."

To her horror, she found her son's lifeless body on the grass patch at the rear of the block.

Mr Jumat said: "Her son must have been shocked to find himself alone at home when he woke up, and tried to climb out of the window to look for his mother.

"With windows so wide and grilles left open, it is easy for a child to fall over," Mr Jumat added, referring to the child's 1.2m-tall frame. 

2 Neighbours' shock

A 16-year-old who wanted to be known as Priya was walking home to her Aljunied Crescent flat with her friend when a loud sound startled them.

They turned towards the direction of the sound and saw a body on the grass patch a few metres away from the walkway they were on.

Priya was stunned. Her friend burst into tears.

Said Priya: "I was so scared, I didn't know what to do. This is the first time I have seen such a thing."

The student immediately called her elder sister and parents to tell them what had happened.

She then sent her friend, still in tears, off in a taxi.

"I couldn't sleep that night. The image still appears in my mind every now and then," Priya said.

3 A mother's pain

A 21-year-old NSman who wanted to be known as Aravin was five minutes away from Block 103, Aljunied Crescent when he learnt of the seven-year-old's plunge from Priya's sister, who is his fiancée.

Both of them quickened their footsteps as they were concerned about the boy.

"I knew a boy landed on the grass patch, but I didn't know if he was alive or dead," he said.

Meanwhile, the mother, by then sobbing uncontrollably, first laid her son on her lap for a while, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Then, she carried him to the void deck of her block, just several metres away from the grass patch.

By the time Mr Aravin and his fiancée arrived at the scene, all he saw was the mother cradling her son at the void deck, surrounded by "kaypoh" neighbours.

Nobody was taking any action and some were just asking her questions. Mr Aravin said he did not understand as they were talking in Mandarin.

"The mother was very confused and still in shock. The boy's eyes were half-open, and she kept talking to the boy as though he was still alive," he said.

With his nursing knowledge acquired from the Institute of Technical Education, Mr Aravin promptly tried checking for the seven-year-old's pulse.

But he couldn't feel anything.

"I told the bystanders not to tell her anything (that the boy had stopped breathing) until the paramedics arrived, as she was already in such a broken state," Mr Aravin said.

He stayed till the paramedics and police arrived.

The mother could be heard saying "he couldn't have died", Shin Min reported.

Both mother and son were taken away in an ambulance soon after.

4 Not his first time

This is not the first time the boy has been caught climbing out of the flat through the window, Madam Mimi Azora Daud, 46, said.

Two months ago, she caught the boy propped on a chair, climbing out of her flat's window.

"I was sitting on the couch in the living room when I saw. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing right," Madam Mimi said.

She jumped out of the couch and rushed towards the boy as she thought it was her youngest son, who's nine this year.

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"I realised it was a Chinese boy only upon closer look. He said he had climbed down from the 11th floor as he was looking for his mother."

Madam Mimi contacted the mother who was in another neighbour's flat.

She said the boy's mother apologised profusely when she realised what her son had done.

She suspects that the seven-year-old may have done it again this time round.

"When I came home on Thursday night, the pack of rice which was originally on the table was now on the floor, rice grains scattered all over. The same green chair he had used to prop himself up two months ago was by the window," she said.

5 Adorable little boy

Neighbours said the family of four has been living on the 11th storey of the Aljunied Crescent flat for close to a decade.

They first moved in when their daughter was still a toddler, said the mother's neighbour and friend who wanted to be known as Ms Wong.

Both children study at Geylang Methodist Primary School.

Ms Wong, who is in her 30s, said: "She is a very good mother who knew how to take care of her children. She often has to rush around to take her children to school and fetch them home, but she tries her best to make sure she is always there for her children."

TNP learnt from Mr Jumat that the boy's father, a "hardworking taxi driver in his 40s", was overseas.

Another neighbour who wanted to be known as Madam Chen, 60, said the boy was "very cute and handsome".

"I watched him grow up. He would come by my flat every day and ask me for sweets, and I would always give them to him.

"He was always bright-eyed and polite. It's difficult not to like him," she said, choking up.

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Previous incidents involving kids left alone at home

MAY 2011

A boy, nine, survived a fall after he climbed out of the living room window on the fifth storey.

His parents were not at home.

APRIL 2011

Marson Heng Jing Quan, five, died after he fell five storeys from his three-room flat at Tampines Street 42.His parents were not in at the time.

APRIL 2011

Anisha Reddy, six, fell nine storeys to her death at her home at The Waterside condominium in Tanjong Rhu Road. Her mother had gone to the bathroom and the girl was alone.

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