President Tharman meets migrant workers from sinkhole rescue
Speaking to the media at the Istana on Aug 3, construction site foreman Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah said that the successful rescue of a life was the most rewarding thing from the incident.
"Because of us, a family is safe and happy (which) makes us very glad," Mr Subbiah, 46, said in Tamil. "The recognition we have received is more than enough."
Mr Subbiah and six other men had pulled out the woman, the driver of a black car that had fallen into the sinkhole, using a nylon rope.
The car the woman was driving had tumbled in at about 5pm on July 26, when a sinkhole formed at the junction of Tanjong Katong Road and Mountbatten Road, near the One Amber condominium.
The seven workers and their project manager, all of whom work for Ohin Construction, were invited by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to the Istana's National Day open house on Aug 3.
Chatting with the workers outside his office, Mr Tharman was overheard saying: "You saved her life, thank you."
Mr Tharman and Mrs Jane Ittogi Shanmugaratnam also met 11 men involved in a rescue during a fire at a River Valley shophouse in April. Using scaffolding from a nearby construction site, the workers had rescued children who were stranded on a third-story ledge because of the blaze.
Mr Subbiah was among thousands of people who explored the Istana grounds during the open house to celebrate the nation's 60th birthday. The slight rain in the middle of the day did not stop visitors from strolling through the wooded landscape and enjoying its expansive lawns.
Among the activities that were on offer were face painting, inclusive sports like seated volleyball, as well as other arts and crafts. There were about 12,000 visitors as at noon.
Mr Subbiah, who has worked in Singapore for 22 years, said he was happy to explore the Istana as he had, till now, seen it only from the outside.
He previously saw Mr Tharman in 2005 at a community event in Teban Gardens, but was happy to meet the President as his invited guest.
Another of the seven, excavator operator Sathapillai Rajendran, told reporters he hopes more people will step forward to help others in times of need.
"I'm just very happy she is okay," said the 56-year-old.
Mr Tharman wished the workers well, and thanked them for their heroic acts. After the interaction, each of the workers received a memento of their visit to the Istana.
The memento - a pen bearing the presidential crest - is typically given to guests of the President as a keepsake for them to remember their visit, said the President's Office.
Mr Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah (centre, in green), a construction site foreman who rescued a driver of a car that fell into the Tanjong Katong sinkhole, with his colleagues at the Istana open house on Aug 3. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
Following the sinkhole incident, migrant worker support organisation ItsRainingRaincoats launched a fund raiser for the workers involved in the rescue. It received more than $72,000 in public donations, which it will divide among the workers.
The organisation said it will hold a small gathering at its Henderson Road premises on Aug 10 to honour the workers, and to announce the disbursement of the funds raised to their bank accounts.
ItsRainingRaincoats had previously raised funds for the men who saved the children from the River Valley fire. Each of the 15 workers received around $3,770 of the $57,660 collected.
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Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The workers who rescued a woman received the SCDF Community Lifesaver Award certificate and medallion from Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming (fourth from left). SINGAPORE – Seven workers who rescued a woman from a sinkhole in Tanjong Katong Road South were presented with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Community Lifesaver Award on Aug 6. Mr Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah, Mr Sathapillai Rajendran, Mr Anbazhagan Velmurugan, Mr Bose Ajithkumar, Mr Poomalai Saravanan, Mr Ganesan Veerasekar and Mr Arumugam Chandirasekaran received the SCDF Community Lifesaver Award certificate and medallion from Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming. They had pulled a female driver out of a sinkhole using a nylon rope on July 26, after her car fell into one that formed in Tanjong Katong Road South. Speaking at the event, Mr Goh thanked the workers and said: 'Very bravely, instead of running away from danger, you put yourself in the line of risk and stepped forward to rescue the driver from the vehicle that fell into the sinkhole. 'Singapore is better because you have played a part in helping to support and build parts of Singapore – very good parts of it – that we have today,' added Mr Goh, who is an MP for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC. The seven men also received a year's worth of unlimited mobile data and a goodie bag of household items sponsored by Singtel at an appreciation lunch hosted by the Marine Parade Citizens' Consultative Committee at a communal hall next to Block 74 Marine Drive. Each goodie bag contained household essentials, including laundry detergent, cooling towels, shower gel, a portable fan and jasmine rice. The seven workers were treated to a traditional Indian lunch buffet at the event. The SCDF Community Lifesaver Award is presented to members of the public who respond swiftly to emergencies and help to save lives before SCDF arrives on the scene. Forty-three other workers who were involved in the recovery works to repair the sinkhole will also be receiving goodie bags. Speaking on behalf of the six other workers in Tamil, Mr Subbiah, 46, said they were happy to receive this outpouring of gratitude from the public. He noted that all seven of them were involved in pulling the driver out of the sinkhole, and managing the flow of traffic to prevent other cars from falling into the sinkhole. 'My family is very happy and very proud of me,' the construction site supervisor said. 'I like the support I get from Singaporeans who gave their thanks. I would like to stay here for five or 10 more years,' Mr Subbiah said, adding that he really likes Singapore. Mr Rajendran, a 56-year-old excavator operator who has worked in Singapore for 26 years, said he feels a sense of patriotism towards Singapore because he feels that his efforts were recognised. Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming speaking to the workers who rescued a woman from a sinkhole in Tanjong Katong Road South at an appreciation lunch on Aug 6. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY The men were overheard telling Mr Goh over lunch that they were not hoping to get anything from the Government and were just happy to be recognised. The sinkhole had formed next to a national water agency PUB worksite in Tanjong Katong Road South. Sections of the road were closed to traffic from the evening of July 26, and were fully reopened on Aug 4 after a week-long closure . Mr Goh told the media that he is focusing on engaging the residents who live near the sinkhole, via house visits, to listen to concerns they might have. He said he has met the management of One Amber condominium next to the sinkhole to reassure residents that engineers had conducted checks and the buildings are structurally safe. He declined to provide more details on the ongoing investigations being carried out by PUB and the Building and Construction Authority.
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