Cab ploughs into Chinese temple in Little India
A 72-year-old cabby is assisting with police investigations after the taxi he was driving allegedly crashed into a temple in Marne Road.
The police said they were alerted to the accident on Jan 16 at about 2.50pm and that a 49-year-old female pedestrian was taken to hospital conscious.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said she was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
The taxi appears to be part of the SMRT fleet, and police believe it had skidded while on the road.
In video footage posted on social media platform TikTok by user lawrence.lifestyle, several onlookers can be seen milling about at the accident site.
“On my way to the office and then I saw this,” read the captions in the video.
“I thought there was a movie shoot today, turned out that an accident had occurred. Hope everything is ok.”
The Chinese temple where the accident happened is Far Kor Sun Monkey God Temple at 56E Marne Road, which is off Kitchener Link.
The temple posted an urgent notice on its Instagram page on Jan 16, saying it will be closed for prayers and consultations until further notice to ensure the safety of its devotees.
The post said: “We appreciate your concerns and understanding, and we aim to resume normal operations as soon as possible. Please stay tuned for further updates.”
In a video accompanying the post, damage to parts of the temple can be seen, including a metal gate, several pillars and concrete blocks. Other items, such as lanterns, packets of food and a horse statue, can be seen strewn across the floor.
The taxi’s licence plate appears to have fallen off as well.
The temple’s president, Mr Heng Thiam Swee, told The Straits Times on Jan 17 that the damage sustained by the building is “quite bad”, but added that repair efforts are already under way.
He said: “Ours is a very old temple, since 1959, so a lot of these are very old structures. The workers are now working on repairs and doing as much as they can to prevent the roof from collapsing.”
He added that a construction company has assessed the temple and found that it is still structurally sound. Repairs, however, need to be done as soon as possible.
“The temple is usually very packed on Saturdays, so we need to do it by today,” he said.
Mr Heng added that one of the temple’s committee members sustained minor injuries, but did not need to be taken to hospital.
The committee member suffered “a lot of bruises” when the taxi ploughed into the tables and cabinets in the area, he said.
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