Auxiliary cop in vegetative state after crash was about to get married

The auxiliary police officer who was seriously hurt and left in a vegetative state after a drunk driver rammed into him at Tuas Checkpoint was about to get married and collect the keys to his new Housing Board flat.

- Nadine Chua

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Ng Yi Shu's brother Alex Ng said the 30-year-old officer from Certis was supposed to collect the keys to his Build-To-Order flat in end-2023.

Mr Alex Ng, 32, said his younger brother is now bed-bound and unable to speak and walk. He has to be fed via a tube through his nose and does not respond to his name.

Mr Ng Yi Shu was working at the checkpoint on March 24, 2023, when Yoong Kok Kai crashed into him while driving a car.

Yoong, 44, was speeding and had almost double the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

Said Mr Alex Ng: "Even a year after the accident, my brother's girlfriend kept visiting him. She would even send him text messages on his phone, as though he would reply.

"But his doctors told us that he will be permanently disabled for the rest of his life. Eventually, I had to tell her that it is okay to move on from my brother, and that was one of the toughest things I had to do."

Yoong was sentenced on March 17 to three years and six months' jail for causing grievous hurt by dangerous driving and driving under the influence. He will also be disqualified from driving for 10 years after his release.

Mr Alex Ng said his brother's sentence is for life.

He added: "When I saw the accident footage played in court, I teared up, but I also felt angry. The state my brother is in now, to me, is no different from death.

"Not that it would have changed anything, but the driver never reached out to us to apologise for what he's done."

Mr Alex Ng added: "It feels like we're in prison with him. But the difference is, he'll be released when his jail term ends.

"For us, the pain will continue."

Mr Alex Ng said he was at home in the flat they share with their father in Boon Lay when the accident happened around midnight.