A 27-year-old migrant worker was apprehended by the police under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act last Friday (31 July) after he was seen standing on a window ledge at Kaki Bukit’s The Leo dormitory.
An eyewitness captured the incident, which took place at 25 Kaki Bukit Road 3 just past midnight, on camera and sent the video to the Stomp portal, The video shows the young worker standing on the ledge as other dormitory residents shout and try to pull him in to safety.
A spokesman representing the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that it is aware of the incident and that the man was rescued quickly. Sharing that the worker is now safe and in a stable condition, he revealed that the dormitory operator and Fast Team on site managed to calm the worker down and bring him back to safety.
The incident is the latest in a spate of cases where migrant workers were apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act. On 22 July, a migrant worker in the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol climbed up to the fourth floor of his dormitory and threatened to jump down.
MOM later said that the worker became agitated when his employer “was not facilitative of his return” to China since he had already purchased a ticket to go back home. It added that the worker had been “staying in a block that was already cleared on 4 July and could have discussed with his employer if he wanted to leave.”
Two days later, on 24 July, a 19-year-old and a 40-year-old were apprehended in separate incidents at 506 Old Choa Chu Kang Road and 29 Senoko South Road respectively, under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act.
That same day, just hours prior, a 37-year-old worker was first found dead at 512 Old Choa Chu Kang Road in a case of unnatural death with no foul play suspected.
More recently, on Sunday morning (2 Aug), a 36-year-old migrant worker allegedly slit his throat at a dormitory in Sungei Kadut. He was also apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act and is is now in stable condition.
The MOM urged workers to reach out if they need help. Its spokesman said, “MOM advises all workers not to put themselves in harm’s way if they encounter problems. If they act rashly, it will make it more difficult for MOM to be able to assist them or to help solve their problems sooner.”