Singapore — An old man fell and got hurt when the stool he was sitting on broke at the Mayflower Market. A visit to the market showed some of the stools were in a poor state.
In a video, Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) Kumaran Pillai showed how some of the metal bases of the single-leg stools had broken off.
“We have also on the other side (of the market) witnessed an elderly man who took a fall, and he sustained a head injury,” said Mr Pillai.
A resident who witnessed the incident told Mr Pillai: “One man, quite old, was going to sit on the chair. Suddenly the chair dropped, and he was injured.”
He added that members of the Town Council came to the scene immediately to attend to the man’s medical needs.
Mr Pillai pointed out a stool with an extremely rusty base. “There is also this chair over here, it is very rusty. And that is about the case that you see in all the stools in the Mayflower Market”.
The resident said an elderly woman also nearly fell, but she managed to hold on to the edge of the table and prevent her fall.
“But the bigger concern out here is that a lot of stools here are in very poor condition and need replacement and need maintenance and it doesn’t seem like the Town Council or NEA is doing anything about it”, said Mr Pillai.
In response to TISG’s queries, Dr Ang Yong Guan, Chairman, Kebun Baru, Yio Chu Kang & Marymount said:
“Poorly maintained facilities pose an injury risk to our residents. We must be ever vigilant in pointing out the defects so that appropriate action can be taken before injuries occur. Besides connecting with our residents, we believe that walking the ground allows us to be on a look out for poorly-maintained facilities as well.”
In 2019, in a similar incident, a 70-year-old man fell off a hawker centre chair and was taken to hospital.
Due to the popularity of the hawker centre, Mr Pillai urged the town council to look into its maintenance and possibly even renovate the hawker centre. /TISG