SINGAPORE: Drama ensued at a Chinatown fruit stall when two
children disappeared with a monk at noon on Thursday.
Suspecting a kidnap, a frantic mother searched high and low for her
son, only to have him return safely about two hours later.
It turned out that it was all a simple misunderstanding.
Stallholder Junraen Panjart was busy at her Sago Street fruit stall
when a Korean monk bought about $20 worth of fruits from her.
She said: "I saw him gesturing to my son and the girl who were
playing behind me and they followed him down the road. I noticed
his robe, so I wasn't worried at the time."
But when her 10-year old son, Yip Chumum, and 8-year old Malaysian
grand-daughter of a restaurant helper did not return after about 20
minutes, Junraen panicked.
Her husband, Yip Wai Keong, was away at the time, so she sought the
help of a neighbour.
Tan Suan Heng, a coffeeshop assistant, said: "This lady asked me if
I saw her son. I said I didn't see and asked her why. She said her
son followed a monk. I said 'in this case, you better go and find
him, maybe your child is lost'."
Junraen said: "I looked for them for about 20 minutes, but couldn't
find them. So my friend called the police. I was really
frightened!"
The children eventually turned up - the boy at the Outram MRT
station where friends of his parents spotted him, and the girl at
the City Hall MRT station.
Both children were in tears.
The police said the children had willingly followed the monk back
to the Fook Hai Ch'an Monastery at Geylang East Avenue 2 in a
taxi.
After they had helped the monk carry the fruits to the monastery,
they went to the nearest MRT station to take a train but were
separated along the way.
The police said it's fortunate that both children were not hurt
during the incident.
However, police strongly advise parents to be careful with their
children and not let them wonder off with strangers or people they
know, particularly in the light of the recent death of Huang Na. -
CNA