Woman horrified to see boy, 4, held on ledge by granddad

Woman horrified to see boy, 4, held on ledge by granddad

SINGAPORE - She was horrified by the sight of a little boy sitting on the window ledge of an apartment on the sixth storey of a condominium as his grandfather held his hand.

The ledge is wide enough to place an air-conditioning unit or pots of plants.

Her first reaction was to shout at the man to carry the child inside.

He seemed to hear her but did not react immediately.

Madam Huang, a bank executive, witnessed the scene at the block facing her condominium at Jalan Taman in Bendemeer on Saturday evening.

She filmed the incident and told Shin Min Daily News: "I shouted at him in English, 'Are you crazy? Carry the child in!"

"He even went inside for a while to get a cloth to wipe the child's hands before carrying him back into the unit."

Madam Huang said the incident lasted about 10 minutes.

When Shin Min visited the apartment at St Michael's Place, the grandfather explained that his four-year-old grandson had dropped his shoes on the window ledge.

The man, who is in his 60s and declined to be named, said he could not reach the shoes on the ledge and he lifted his grandson over the barrier on to the ledge so that he could retrieve the shoes.

"I was holding on to his hand the whole time," he said.

He denied Madam Huang's accusation that he had left the boy on the ledge on his own.

The boy's mother said she will remind the grandfather not to put him on the window ledge again.

Madam Huang said she had seen the man carrying the boy and looking out of the window, which has no grilles, on numerous occasions.

ALARMED

But this is the first time she saw him placing the child on the window ledge.

The boy's mother said she was not worried about the boy falling because there are windowsills.

"The grandfather carries my son to the window because he wants to watch us leave the house," she said.

Madam Huang said she was alarmed by what she saw.

"I feel so worried every time my helper bends down to clean the windows and this is more serious - a child standing on the ledge.

"It's dangerous. I broke out in cold sweat just looking at them," she said.

The grandfather carries my son to the window because he wants to watch us leave the house. - The boy's mother


This article was first published on August 25, 2014.
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