13 who stopped a lamppost from falling receive the Public Spiritedness Awards

[SGCM928]

Are we missing the elephant in the room? Tree falls killing passers-by may be considered as an act of God, but what about lamp post? Which agency is in-charge of lamp post maintenance? 

Anyway, kudos to the 13 fast thinking and supportive (pun intended) passers-by. 👍 👍

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/13-who-stopped-a-lamppost-from-falling-received-the-public-spiritedness-awards

Mr Noralimin and Madam Noor Adhhawati's plans to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary and the birthdays of two close friends was memorable - for the wrong reasons.

The four ended up spending 90 minutes preventing a lamp post from collapsing at an open carpark in Outram Road on Dec 12 last year.

They were among 13 individuals who received the Public Spiritedness Award on Tuesday (Feb 23) for preventing the lamp post from collapsing.

The four friends had dinner reservations that night at Fairytail Gastrobar at D'Hoteland had parked in the open carpark near the hotel at about 8.45pm.

They had stopped to take a photo before heading to the restaurant at a well-lit spot by a lamp post when Mr Noralimin, 38, noticed that it was unstable.

The four of them quickly held on to the lamp post after it began tilting.

"We were scared that we were not strong enough to hold the lamp post until someone could help," said Mr Noralimin, a maintenance specialist in the oil and gas industry.

About 10 minutes later, a family of five heading home arrived at the carpark and saw the situation. Two men from the family joined in holding up the lamp post, relieving Madam Adhhawati, 36, and allowing her to call the police. The police arrived shortly, at about 9pm.

Another man spotted the group supporting the lamp post and rallied others from nearby shops to help. A total of 13 people, along with the police officers who responded, took turns to hold up the lamp post, with eight to 10 people doing so at any point of time, until maintenance workers arrived with a cherry picker truck.

The maintenance workers used rope to secure the lamp post - which  Mr Noralimin estimated to be 10-15m tall - to the cherry picker's boom, the extendable arm.

The 13 and the police officers were finally relieved of their undertaking at around 10.15pm after holding onto it for 1½ hours. The lamp post was subsequently replaced.

Mr Noralimin said: "We were constantly encouraging each other while holding the lamp post. It motivated us to keep going." He added that it was heartening to see strangers stepping in to help.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Gregory Tan Siew Hin, commander of Central Police Division, presented the Public Spiritedness Awards to the 13 individuals on Tuesday for their action, which prevented any injury to people or damage to property.

"The police would like to commend all recipients for their public-spirited acts that will inspire others to step forward to keep our neighbourhood safe," he said.

[boonhat_91]

inb4 accusations of no social distancing

[Blueray]

log PT for 1.5 hours 

"lamppost was last inspected on DDMMYYYY, found to be healthy then"  

 

[13177]

Who will take full responsibility for this case?    

[Jman888]

why must hold it right up for 1.5 hr? why cannot slowly let it down when they have enough people to hold it and the cars around moved away?

[mersaylee]

18 minutes ago, 13177 said:

Who will take full responsibility for this case?    

The dogs that pee there too often ...softened the soil too much 😁

Edited February 24, 2021 by mersaylee

[Windwaver]

8 minutes ago, Jman888 said:

why must hold it right up for 1.5 hr? why cannot slowly let it down when they have enough people to hold it and the cars around moved away?

The thought of getting a medal? 

[mersaylee]

8 minutes ago, Jman888 said:

why must hold it right up for 1.5 hr? why cannot slowly let it down when they have enough people to hold it and the cars around moved away?

Not trained...😁

[Weez911]

Well done guys. Like to see more of such news from Singapore.

[Beehive3783]

This is solid proof the NS teachings of lamp post drill is valid in commoner life.

"You see the lamp post over there? Go and touch it, then come back"

[Maxus-MIFA9]

2 hours ago, boonhat_91 said:

inb4 accusations of no social distancing

no worries, they will receive another letter of composition fine of $300/-  each for not practising SD ...      

[Maxus-MIFA9]

1 hour ago, Jman888 said:

why must hold it right up for 1.5 hr? why cannot slowly let it down when they have enough people to hold it and the cars around moved away?

Live wire expose lor ....

Save the lamp post but die of electrical shock ...

[Watwheels]

2 hours ago, Jman888 said:

why must hold it right up for 1.5 hr? why cannot slowly let it down when they have enough people to hold it and the cars around moved away?

If they were able to do so they would hab done so. They wouldnt have waited for you to suggest it now.

[Kangadrool]

2 hours ago, 13177 said:

Who will take full responsibility for this case?    

Lamppost Minister.

[ToyotaShuttle]

3 hours ago, Jman888 said:

why must hold it right up for 1.5 hr? why cannot slowly let it down when they have enough people to hold it and the cars around moved away?

Lol... Poor chaps. 

Next time you see a lamppost falling faster get the eff out of the way la. Hold it for what? Just make sure it isn't going to fall on someone can already.

[ToyotaShuttle]

1 hour ago, Kangadrool said:

Lamppost Minister.

I volunteered for the role.

[RogerNg_185295]

5 hours ago, 13177 said:

Who will take full responsibility for this case?    

Standard no blame culture. Media also never reported much on the root cause and penalty. 

[Volvobrick]

I wanted to call it an enlightening experience for the 13, but can't as the lamp was not switched on in the photo.