AMK residents demand to know which block dengue death victim died at
Friday, Jun 14, 2013 The New Paper
By Foo Jie Ying, David Sun and Naqiyah Shapudin
SINGAPORE - With yet another life claimed by the dengue scourge just a few days ago, some concerned residents and MPs in Ang Mo Kio are hoping to learn more about the death.On Sunday, a 60-year-old man died of dengue shock syndrome after being admitted into Tan Tock Seng Hospital for a second time. As of the time of this report, no further details about the victim were released by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH), aside from the fact that he lived in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.An MOH spokesman told The New Paper: "Due to patient confidentiality, MOH will not be able to release the deceased patient's name and address." -
The man joins Mr Ang Yong Han, 20, the first casualty in this year's dengue epidemic, expected to be the biggest Singapore has ever experienced. Mr Ang lived in Hougang Avenue 1, which NEA classified as a "dengue cluster".Fear was apparent among some Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 residents The New Paper spoke to. There were also anxious calls for MOH to shed some light into the details of the second dengue victim.ClustersAn NEA officer confirmed yesterday that Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 is not one of the 52 dengue clusters in Singapore.Mr Andrew Tan, 48, an engineer, said: "They should say where exactly this man lived and let the public know. This is the second death, and we are all living in fear, so why are they not telling us?"
Contract teacher Lim Wei Shin, 42, said: "(MOH) should let us know. Maybe they have valid concerns, but to me, it is wiser to disclose the information to the public, and let the people decide what actions they want to take."Another resident who wanted to be known as Mr Chan, 39, said: "Avenue 3 is such a long stretch, why can't MOH just tell us exactly where the man lived?"
The news of a second death has left the service technician paranoid about letting his children play at the playground for fear of them becoming the next dengue victims.Said Mr Chan: "We keep a lookout for our children especially, and tell them not to go to the playground any more. It is very worrying, because this is the second death (this year) already."But other residents, like security officer Mohd Osman, 56, felt that the fact that someone died was enough to serve as a warning.Said Mr Osman: "I understand why the Government didn't reveal the exact block. I think they're just trying to respect their privacy. "People should already start being more careful."Manager Terence Ho, 36, also felt there was no need to know exactly where the 60-year-old lived."I think that since it's a whole region that is affected, revealing the exact block number isn't necessary. But they should, maybe, reveal the first two numbers, so that people have a rough idea of the region that is affected," he said. "And when anyone from that cluster has a fever, they should immediately go to the hospital."
Members of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC told The New Paper that they are waiting, along with the residents, for more details from NEA and MOH.Mr Seng Han Thong said: "It is good that residents know more about this case, especially the circumstances under which the 60-year-old got infected. The main purpose is to reassure residents and at the same time, create greater awareness among them."
However, the MP acknowledged the need to safeguard the "patient's confidentiality and privacy".Likewise, Mr Inderjit Singh hoped the relevant agencies would reveal more details."We want to reach out to the family to see what we can do to help. We need to know the area so we can focus on addressing any problems," he said.Mr Singh brought up a dialogue session he had with some residents on Sunday, just before news of the second death broke."During the session, the first question was on dengue. I could sense residents were actually anxious and quite concerned.""Normally, residents don't bring the issue of dengue up. It shows how serious (the situation) has become," said Mr Singh.The more pertinent question, Mr Seng pointed out, is how a casualty could come from Ang Mo Kio despite it not being a dengue hotspot."I trust MOH can shed light on this without compromising privacy," he said.Calling the death unfortunate, Mr Singh urged Ang Mo Kio residents not to be "complacent"."Let's all work hard to eliminate the dengue problem," he said.
Friday, Jun 14, 2013 The New Paper
By Foo Jie Ying, David Sun and Naqiyah Shapudin
SINGAPORE - With yet another life claimed by the dengue scourge just a few days ago, some concerned residents and MPs in Ang Mo Kio are hoping to learn more about the death.On Sunday, a 60-year-old man died of dengue shock syndrome after being admitted into Tan Tock Seng Hospital for a second time. As of the time of this report, no further details about the victim were released by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH), aside from the fact that he lived in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.An MOH spokesman told The New Paper: "Due to patient confidentiality, MOH will not be able to release the deceased patient's name and address." -
The man joins Mr Ang Yong Han, 20, the first casualty in this year's dengue epidemic, expected to be the biggest Singapore has ever experienced. Mr Ang lived in Hougang Avenue 1, which NEA classified as a "dengue cluster".Fear was apparent among some Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 residents The New Paper spoke to. There were also anxious calls for MOH to shed some light into the details of the second dengue victim.ClustersAn NEA officer confirmed yesterday that Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 is not one of the 52 dengue clusters in Singapore.Mr Andrew Tan, 48, an engineer, said: "They should say where exactly this man lived and let the public know. This is the second death, and we are all living in fear, so why are they not telling us?"
Contract teacher Lim Wei Shin, 42, said: "(MOH) should let us know. Maybe they have valid concerns, but to me, it is wiser to disclose the information to the public, and let the people decide what actions they want to take."Another resident who wanted to be known as Mr Chan, 39, said: "Avenue 3 is such a long stretch, why can't MOH just tell us exactly where the man lived?"
The news of a second death has left the service technician paranoid about letting his children play at the playground for fear of them becoming the next dengue victims.Said Mr Chan: "We keep a lookout for our children especially, and tell them not to go to the playground any more. It is very worrying, because this is the second death (this year) already."But other residents, like security officer Mohd Osman, 56, felt that the fact that someone died was enough to serve as a warning.Said Mr Osman: "I understand why the Government didn't reveal the exact block. I think they're just trying to respect their privacy. "People should already start being more careful."Manager Terence Ho, 36, also felt there was no need to know exactly where the 60-year-old lived."I think that since it's a whole region that is affected, revealing the exact block number isn't necessary. But they should, maybe, reveal the first two numbers, so that people have a rough idea of the region that is affected," he said. "And when anyone from that cluster has a fever, they should immediately go to the hospital."
Members of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC told The New Paper that they are waiting, along with the residents, for more details from NEA and MOH.Mr Seng Han Thong said: "It is good that residents know more about this case, especially the circumstances under which the 60-year-old got infected. The main purpose is to reassure residents and at the same time, create greater awareness among them."
However, the MP acknowledged the need to safeguard the "patient's confidentiality and privacy".Likewise, Mr Inderjit Singh hoped the relevant agencies would reveal more details."We want to reach out to the family to see what we can do to help. We need to know the area so we can focus on addressing any problems," he said.Mr Singh brought up a dialogue session he had with some residents on Sunday, just before news of the second death broke."During the session, the first question was on dengue. I could sense residents were actually anxious and quite concerned.""Normally, residents don't bring the issue of dengue up. It shows how serious (the situation) has become," said Mr Singh.The more pertinent question, Mr Seng pointed out, is how a casualty could come from Ang Mo Kio despite it not being a dengue hotspot."I trust MOH can shed light on this without compromising privacy," he said.Calling the death unfortunate, Mr Singh urged Ang Mo Kio residents not to be "complacent"."Let's all work hard to eliminate the dengue problem," he said.