A 55-year-old man leapt off the 10th storey of a HDB block at Yishun Ring Road but his left foot got caught between the railings on the ninth storey, causing him to be suspended upside down for five minutes.
An odd-job worker identified by Shin Min Daily News as Wu was among the first to offer assistance. Wu, also 55, was on his way to get breakfast when he heard a loud noise. In the report, he recalled: “I went to investigate the source of the sound. When I reached the corridor, I saw a foot caught on the railing.”
He grabbed the man’s left leg to prevent him from slipping, but being smaller in size than the other man, Wu was worried that he would not be able to hold on for long.
Fortunately, Wu’s shouts for help drew the attention of four passers-by, one of whom even ran up to help from the first storey. Together, they worked to pull the man back to safety. Shin Min Daily News said the man’s elder sister explained that her brother suffered from mental health problems and expressed her thanks to the public for saving his life.
Recycled wedding flowers bring good cheer to less privileged
While most wedding flowers are usually trashed after the banquet, newlyweds Mark Tan and Stephanie Khoo found a way to recycle theirs after their wedding dinner on Nov 5.
Enter Bloomback, a local social enterprise which runs an e-commerce platform while helping marginalised women pick up floristry skills in an effort to empower them.
On Nov 6, with the help of a group of volunteers, Bloomback repurposed the flowers into 300 smaller bouquets and distributed it to Banyan Home, the Salvation Army and patients at St Andrew’s Community Hospital.
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In all, $10,000 worth of flowers that once stood as decorative centerpieces at the dinner were trimmed and redesigned into bouquets — a process that took 12 volunteers five hours to complete.
For Yeo Peck Hoon, an 86-year-old patient in the dementia care ward at St Andrew’s Community Hospital, the bouquet was a lovely surprise. She told Channel NewsAsia: “I haven’t received any flowers for almost 30 years… This made my day and I feel so privileged.”
Primary school teachers rescue cat bound by cable ties
The latest in a string of disturbing animal abuse cases in Singapore saw a stray cat found with its legs tightly bound by cable ties in Jurong West.
Two primary school teachers on their way home on Nov 23 heard the cat’s cries of distress.
One of the teachers, Salbiah Ishak, 30, told The Straits Times: “We thought it was cats mating at first, but it sounded a bit different from the regular mating sound, so we investigated and found the cat around the corner of the block where I live.”
Salbiah rushed home to fetch a pair of scissors while her friend and another male passerby tried to calm the cat down. After cutting the cat free, they checked if its paws were broken. Thankfully, it did not appear to be injured and ran off.
After rescuing the cat, Salbiah made a Facebook post to raise awareness on this issue and called for Singaporeans to be kinder towards animals and protect our community strays.
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Waitress touched by $2,000 tip from regular customer
Tipping may not be customary in Singapore, but that didn’t stop Atwell Tay from giving a $2,000 tip to a waitress at a steamboat restaurant.
The 37-year-old Penang-born waitress, who identified herself as XYW when she shared her story on STOMP, initially thought the extra cash was a mistake.
The single mother of two struggles to make ends meet and works odd jobs in the day before working the night shift at the restaurant. Tay was aware, through multiple chats with XYW, of her situation.
One recent evening, she mentioned that she was having problems with her kids’ childcare fees. When the time came to settle the $66 bill, Tay added two $1,000 notes, which she initially tried to return. When Tay explained that it was a genuine tip, she was so touched that she broke down.
Tay, a 32-year-old oil trader, who is a regular at the restaurant, told STOMP: “I felt that it was something that I had to. My family is also in the F&B business, so I know what a tough industry it can be, having helped my father in the kitchen before.
“She is also a very hardworking person, and this is a quality that’s hard to find in Singapore nowadays. I appreciate and am impressed by people who work hard instead of stretching their hands out to ask for money.”
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Taxi driver offers a free ride to passenger who lost her wallet
After completing her ride from Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to Plaza Singapura on Nov 2, Mylene Ong Flores realised to her dismay that she had left her wallet at the food court.
In a Facebook post, Flores wrote that she felt “stressed and panicky” and requested the taxi driver to take her back to RWS.
Upon reaching RWS, Flores didn’t have any cash and offered to cover the fare of $21 with vouchers from Takashimaya. The driver declined her offer.
Grateful and keen to commend him for his kind deed, Flores snapped a photo of his license plate number. Fortunately, Flores’ wallet was recovered from the care of the food court’s staff and she subsequently reached out to the driver with an offer to pay him back.
Despite his refusal to accept her payment a second time, Flores resolved to transfer the payment to him. She wrote: “Thank you SMRT for the good deed of your driver and we need more people like him with a kind heart and service that matters.”