Runaway Tembusu resident's death ruled a suicide
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE – Faced with stresses from not having a place to stay and strained relationships with his wife and step-daughter, 70-year-old Poh Hwe Chee had previously tried to commit suicide by burning himself at home and cutting his wrists.
Diagnosed with depression, he was placed at Tembusu Home, which cares for destitutes. Despite his circumstances, his running away from the home while on a visit to the doctor's on Nov 8 last year was not reported to the police immediately.
The following day, Poh was found dead on the shore at Changi Beach Park, which State Coroner Martin Bay ruled as a deliberate act of suicide on Monday (May 8).
In his findings, Mr Bay flagged the lag in notifying the police of Poh's disappearance, but noted that guidelines to handle such incidents have since been reviewed.
Poh married his wife in 1977 and adopted her daughter. But their relationship was strained, primarily over monetary issues and his stepdaughter's unhappiness with how he treated her mother.
Sometime in September and November 2014, Poh began feeling that life held no meaning for him, according to his friend Goh Seng Beh.
He felt stressed that his stepdaughter insisted on selling the flat he was living in and worried about not having a place to stay in.
When Mr Goh visited him, Poh had apparently tried to burn himself at home and cut his wrists multiple times. He was admitted to the National University Hospital on Nov 1 that year and was diagnosed with depression.
After being discharged, Poh was placed at Tembusu Home as his stepdaughter had sold his flat.
Sometime in February last year, Poh voiced his unhappiness about staying at the home and said he wanted to find his stepdaughter and wife to live with them. He also requested to transfer to another home as he did not want to mix with the residents at Tembusu.
On Nov 8, Poh ran away during a visit to Hougang Polyclinic with a home nursing officer.
He told the officer that his back was in pain and asked for help in collecting the medication. When the officer returned, Poh had gone missing.
Based on the evidence uncovered, Mr Bay said there was no basis to suspect foul play.
He noted that Poh had a severely strained relationship with his family, who did not visit him. He was left alone in Singapore to fend for himself without shelter and the unfortunate history had left him depressed and bitter, added the State Coroner.
The evidence also points to Poh “contriving to abscond” and while his initial reasons for doing so was uncertain, he had disclosed plans to locate his daughter.
By the time Poh had gone to Changi Beach, it was likely that he had developed a suicidal intent, possibly because his attempts to locate his stepdaughter had been thwarted, said Mr Bay.
He also noted that Poh “had a history of resorting to self-harm after meeting with disappointment”.
“The evidence then points to Poh having consumed a quantity of alcohol, setting his belongings on the beach, and then consciously entering the waters off Changi Beach Park, while fully dressed, and causing himself to drown in a deliberate act of suicide,” said the State Coroner.
Mr Bay noted that the home’s superintendent had lodged a police report through a typed hard-copy letter that was sent via post a day after Poh had gone missing, which the superintendent said was in compliance with the guidelines at the time issued by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
The protocol for handling similar situations at he home has since been modified, where staff will immediately notify the police by calling the hotline or personally lodging a report when a resident goes missing.
It was also revealed during the investigations that MSF has since reviewed and introduced a new set of guidelines in March this year, which states that the superintendent of homes should lodge a police report within 24 hours if a resident went missing, among other things.
Noting that this was a step in the right direction, Mr Bay said the new guidelines now “accord an appropriate level of urgency to any abscondment, and prioritises attention and action where there is any apprehension of risk to the safety of the (resident), or to other persons”.
