by Elena Chong
TWO teens sniffed glue and climbed onto a railing to listen to
music when the younger youth fell into a pond in Yishun in December
2010.
Shawn On Poh Kiat's friend - Tan Yun Chao, 18 - had noticed the
14-year-old crying while listening to songs from his (Tan's) mobile
phone on Dec 11 2010.
Suddenly, Shawn fell into the water. Unable to swim, he was
bobbing and shouting for help before he sank. Mr Tan took off his
clothes and plunged into the muddy water. He managed to pull Shawn
to shore but the teen was unconscious by then.
He tried to resuscitate him but Shawn did not respond. He called
the police who advised him to call 995 for help. Mr Tan then
followed instructions on the phone and performed cardio-pulmonary
resuscitation on Shawn before police came and took over.
Shawn was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital where he died the
next morning. At a coroner's inquiry into his death, the court
heard that the Secondary 1 Yishun Secondary School student had been
on parole for glue-sniffing.
On Dec 11 at about 6pm, he had called his 13-year-old former
girlfriend on the phone and told her that he was sniffing glue. The
pair had broken up the previous month as the girl felt that they
were too young to be in a relationship. State Coroner Imran Abdul
Hamid said in his findings that Shawn's drowning was
accidental.
