Man sits on road, asks for money

A man has been spotted sitting in the middle of the road at an industrial park in Woodlands, allegedly asking for money from passing drivers to see a doctor.

At noon on Friday, Lu Sanqing, a 21-year-old delivery man working in the area, spotted the unidentified man sitting in the centre of the road when looking out of his office window with a colleague.

Mr Lu and his colleague approached the man, who looked to be in his 30s, to find out what had happened. The man told them woefully that he had been injured and had not worked for two months, Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.

Taking pity on the man, Mr Lu's colleague gave him $20 to see a doctor, but the man asked for $50 instead.

When Mr Lu's colleague gave the man another $10, he slowly climbed to his feet and left.

Mr Lu told Shin Min: "The man looked rather pitiful. He had a wound on his forehead, so my colleague gave him money."

However, Mr Lu and his colleague suspected something was amiss when they saw the man asking for money from other passers-by at another spot later.

Mr Lu said: "He took the money, but clearly did not see a doctor and continued to ask for money in the same area."

Mr Lu then decided to follow the man in his car and spotted him a third time, smoking under a tree with a male companion.

Furious, Mr Lu took a picture of them and posted it on Facebook, scolding the man severely for exploiting the charity of others. He wrote: "You have arms and legs but don't work."

Worried that he might be a conman, Mr Lu decided to confront him. He tailed the man quietly in his car and saw that someone was about to give him some money, so he got out of the car to stop them.

Mr Lu confronted the man point-blank: "Why do you ask people for money?"

According to Mr Lu, the man was taken aback, but still denied that he was cheating others of money.

"I then said, don't talk so much," Mr Lu added. "Why not let's go directly to the police station?"

When the man heard this, he turned and ran away.

My Paper understands that Mr Lu did not make a police report.

myp@sph.com.sg

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