Volunteers with the Home Team get 'booked'
Their tales of grief, love and reward are told in a book launched on Saturday
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Husband and wife Michael Kong and Melissa Han met while he was a volunteer with the Civil Defence Auxiliary Unit in 2008. She joined the unit last year. -- PHOTOS: HOME TEAM VOLUNTEER NETWORK, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
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Singapore Police Force volunteer Janet Lim is even more determined to keep the roads safe after her husband was killed while manning a roadblock. -- PHOTOS: HOME TEAM VOLUNTEER NETWORK, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
Husband and wife Michael Kong and Melissa Han met while he was a volunteer with the Civil Defence Auxiliary Unit in 2008. She joined the unit last year. -- PHOTOS: HOME TEAM VOLUNTEER NETWORK, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
Singapore Police Force volunteer Janet Lim is even more determined to keep the roads safe after her husband was killed while manning a roadblock. -- PHOTOS: HOME TEAM VOLUNTEER NETWORK, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
Seven years ago, Madam Janet Lim's husband was killed while the couple - both volunteers with the Singapore Police Force - were manning a roadblock.
A truck crashed into a police car at the roadblock on Dairy Farm Road and hit Mr Seah Ben Hur, then 42, killing him on the spot. She was also injured in the accident, but was not warded because she had to attend to her husband's funeral. At the time, Madam Lim was working as a warehouse supervisor with a shipping firm, and Mr Seah was a driving instructor.
She is still receiving treatment for back pain and numbness in her left shoulder. All that, however, did not stop her from donning the blue uniform and going out on patrol with the Traffic Police just two months after the accident on Nov8, 2005.
In fact, it was a way of coping with her grief, said the 53-year-old. "I was more resolved to serve, to help keep the roads safe," said Madam Lim, mother to a 16-year-old son, as tears welled in her eyes. Her story and those of 26 others are published in a book to highlight the passion and commitment of the 5,000 men and women who are active in the Home Team Volunteer Network.
