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May 9, 2008
Baby boy drowns in pail of water at home
He apparently fell in after lifting himself by holding onto pail
By Esther Tan
JUST three days shy of his first birthday, a baby boy drowned in a pail of water on Wednesday evening.
The boy, known among his neighbours as just 'Ah Boy', was found with his head dipped in the bucket.
The toddler had somehow found his way into the bathroom of his parents' one-room flat in Beach Road.
Water had been collected in the bucket for a bath.
The boy apparently managed to lift himself by holding onto the side of the bucket before falling face first into the water and drowning.
The boy was taken to Raffles Hospital near his home, but was pronounced dead at 6pm. The hospital reported the death to the police.
The boy's parents are in their 20s. They declined to speak to reporters.
Neighbours said the toddler was looked after by his grandmother when his parents were not at home.
Neighbour Liang Thoo Fook, 69, who lives a few doors away, said Ah Boy's grandmother often took him for walks downstairs.
'I've seen the boy's grandmother take him out for walks on most evenings,' he said.
The boy's parents kept largely to themselves as neighbours do not know what they work as or their names.
But Madam Maznah Ismail, who lives several units away, said she is quite close to Ah Boy's mother and grandmother as she has a one-year-old daughter of her own.
'Sometimes, the mother and grandmother would stop and chat with me about my girl,' said Madam Maznah, 38, who has three other children.
Member of Parliament Teo Ho Pin, who is chairman of the National Water Safety Council, said a lot of people do not understand the potential danger water can pose in the home.
'In fact, infants and toddlers can drown in just one or two inches of water,' he said.
Ah Boy's death has prompted Madam Maznah to put up a partition to prevent her daughter from crawling into the kitchen toilet, where she has played with water previously.
<font color="0000ff">erm, was there a spree for those gates thingy....? what happened to that spree ah? I can't remember liaoz.</font>