S'porean knocked down by bus in HK

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean woman, on holiday in Hong Kong, was hurrying to see a light show on Wednesday evening when she was knocked down by a bus.

Ms Yeong Kai Ting's leg was pinned under the tour bus after it hit her while she was crossing a street in the popular tourist area of Tsim Sha Tsui in southern Kowloon.

Ms Yeong, 25, is now in intensive care at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon.

The assistant sales manager at Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and two colleagues - Ms Lee Wei Yi, 27, a sales representative, and Ms Chew Mei Ping, 27, an assistant sales manager - were visiting Hong Kong for the first time on a week's vacation.

Ms Chew said they were "walking very quickly" to catch the Symphony of Lights display from the Avenue of Stars, a popular vantage point for the multimedia light and sound show.

They were barely five minutes away from the venue when the bus with Thai tourists slammed into Ms Yeong.

"She was in front. The show had started, and we were all looking up at the sky to our left," Ms Chew told The Straits Times over the phone yesterday from Hong Kong.

It was around 8pm and the bus had turned onto the dark street that the three women were about to cross.

"Wei Yi saw the bus and was going to tell her not to cross, but it was too late," said Ms Chew.

The bus ran over Ms Yeong's left leg, pinning her under it. It kept moving until Ms Lee slammed on the bus door to get the driver to stop.

"There was a lot of blood. Her pants were torn and the flesh on her left leg was split open," added Ms Chew.

"She was conscious and told us she regretted walking so quickly and that it was very painful. But she didn't cry. She was very brave."

Ms Yeong underwent an operation till about 3am yesterday. Her left leg was seriously injured and her pelvis was fractured. She also suffered internal bleeding.

But she is conscious, said her 32-year-old brother Jeremy, an assistant engineer, who flew to her bedside with their father yesterday morning.

"She cried when she saw us. We told her to be strong, and that we love her," he said. "We told our mother to stay home. We were afraid she might not be able to take it."

The youngest of three children, Ms Yeong is with the Print Classified call centre at SPH. She and her colleagues were to have left for Macau yesterday and were planning to return to Singapore tomorrow.

Ms Yeong's supervisor, Ms Rachael Ang, who flew to Hong Kong yesterday to see her, described her as a hardworking and meticulous person, with leadership qualities.

Mr Tan Ooi Boon, head of Print Classified, said: "We are deeply saddened to hear that Kai Ting is seriously hurt." He added that staff members of SPH, which has an office in Hong Kong, are helping her and her family.

"All of us are praying for her recovery," he said.

yeosamjo@sph.com.sg

This article was published on April 4 in The Straits Times.

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