> MAJU Camp PTI Lim’s death: an accident

Army regular run over by lorry – it’s an accident

AN ARMY physical training instructor died about an hour after he was run over by a lorry when he fell off his scooter and landed on an expressway.

Mr Lim Chee Wee, 23, was riding behind his friend, Mr Edward Phua Wen Fu, then 22, on a motorcycle along Pan-Island Expressway last Oct 26 morning when Mr Phua decided to take shelter from the heavy downpour at the Toh Guan flyover.

Mr Lim did not realise that his friend had collided into the back of his machine. Due to the impact, Mr Lim fell to the right and landed on the left lane of PIE while his friend fell along the road shoulder.

Just then, a lorry driven by Mr Tan Poh Soon, 35, ran over Mr Lim as he could not stop in time. At Friday’s coroner’s inquiry into Mr Lim’s death, Mr Tan, who was named a potential defendant, chose to remain silent.

In recording a verdict of misadventure, State Coroner Earnest Lau said on the evidence, he did not think any objective motorist in the potential defendant’s position would be able to take evasive action in a split second. He said neither Mr Tan nor Mr Phua was culpable.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Courts%2Band%2BCrime/STIStory_254507.html

RIP 2SG Lim Chee Wee. You have helped and influenced many around you. You will always be remembered by many NSmen.

Second Sgt Lim leaves behind his father, a bus driver; his mother, a factory worker; and a 22-year-old brother who is an undergraduate. He had no insurance.

With a ready grin, 2nd Sgt Lim, together with other PTIs, led RT sessions for hundreds of NSmen at Maju Camp, off Clementi Road.

Those who attended his sessions remembered him as one who had the “people skills” to coax out-of-shape NSmen back on the road to physical fitness.

His superiors were so impressed with him that they handpicked him to be a sports trainer for top officers such as Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Desmond Kuek, and Chief of Army, Major-General Neo Kian Hong.

His immediate superior, First Warrant Officer Lem Yew Teck, officer commanding of Maju Fitness and Conditioning Centre, said: “I hear that NSmen liked him a lot because he was willing to go the extra mile and see them through their training programme.”

Second Sgt Lim was on his way from his home in Jurong West to Kallang to attend a PT techniques course when the accident occurred.