FIRST, there was some smoke. And then his car went up in flames
- along with $15,000 in cash.
Click to see larger image
Mr Ngoh Lim Seng, 51, an operations supervisor, said he had kept a
plastic bag containing the cash next to him in the car.
He was on his way to pay the eight workers under him their
half-monthly salary.
Mr Ngoh was driving out from his HDB estate along Tampines Avenue 4
on Tuesday afternoon when he noticed smoke coming out from the
bonnet of his 16-year-old Honda Civic.
'I got out to take a look and the next thing I knew, a fire had
broken out,' he said.
'A few people nearby tried to put out the fire but it didn't
help.'
Within minutes, the flames engulfed the entire car.
Curious passersby and residents also gathered, and some of them
took pictures of the burning car.
Mr Winston Lee, 26, a car polisher, said the smoke was so thick it
was 'impossible to see the inside of the car'.
Click to see larger image
Mr Ngoh, with his burning car. --
SMELT SMOKE
He had smelt the smoke from two blocks away.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call about the
car just before 4.40pm.
Two fire bikes and a fire engine were sent to the scene, and the
blaze was put out in five minutes.
When The New Paper arrived, Mr Ngoh had a charred bundle of what
looked like currency notes.
It was a little thicker than a school notebook, and on some notes,
the serial numbers could still be seen.
Mr Ngoh declined to let us photograph the notes.
He said he also lost some official documents which he had kept in
his car.
'I'm upset and very hurt - this car has gone everywhere with me,'
he said.
His wife, who rushed to the scene on hearing the news, said Mr Ngoh
had spent more than $10,000 replacing worn-out parts of his car
over the years.
Said Madam Wendy Toh, 45, a housewife: 'He never spent so much
money or effort to take care of any of our two previous
cars.'
The couple, who have a 20-year-old son, were grateful to those who
tried to help put out the fire.
Mr Raymond Chun, 37, shopkeeper at an electronics store nearby saw
the smoke and ran to help.
DIVERTED TRAFFIC
Said Mr Chun: 'I took a mini fire extinguisher that I keep in my
car and tried to help put out the flames but they just became
bigger and bigger.'
A larger extinguisher kept in the shop was of no help either.
He and his colleague ended up helping to divert traffic away from
the burning car 'just in case the car exploded'.
Four former Temasek Polytechnic students from India, who live in a
flat overlooking the spot, were shocked and 'a little scared' by
the fire.
One of them, a 20-year-old who gave his name only as Adarsh, said
he had recorded the entire incident using his handphone
camera.
The video clip showed several small explosions as the car
burnt.
So, is there any hope that Mr Ngoh may be able to recover his
company's money?
He would not comment further, but a bank officer who declined to be
named said that if the notes are badly burnt or mutilated, the bank
would not accept them.
A check with sources in the insurance industry showed that usually
only the car is covered, and not what is in it. So a claim for
property destroyed in such an accident was unlikely.
SCDF is investigating the fire.
==============================================================
In another traffic incident, a car caught fire along Ang Mo Kio
Industrial Park 2 on Thursday afternoon.
Part of the vehicle's engine melted and windows cracked.
Emergency crews managed to put out the fire quickly, but the damage
was done.
No one was injured.
