Man stops toddler seen walking alone on road at Punggol Coast Mall
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The child is seen in a video walking alone across a zebra crossing and heading to the road ahead, before being scooped up.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM HYFASAYF/TIKTOK
SINGAPORE – Ahmad was with his family and exiting the underground carpark of Punggol Coast Mall on the evening of Aug 15 when he spotted something in his path that made him stop his car abruptly.
Just as his vehicle had exited the carpark ramp at about 6pm, a toddler was walking alone on the zebra crossing just ahead of them, and headed towards the main road.
“(My wife and I) immediately became alarmed because there was no parent in sight nearby,” said the 41-year-old, who declined to give his full name or occupation.
Ahmad had shared the dashcam footage of the lone toddler on TikTok on Aug 16, which has garnered 299,800 views and 16,700 likes as at 7pm on Aug 17.
In the video, Ahmad is seen stopping the child and carrying him out of the frame. No other vehicles appear to be near the toddler before he approached the boy, although a motorcycle, a van and a car are seen approaching the child’s intended path after Ahmad picked him up.
“My top three concerns at that moment were ensuring the child’s safety, protecting my family’s safety, and preventing the car behind me from overtaking abruptly,” said Ahmad, who was also with his two children, aged 10 and 12, at the time of the incident.
“(I managed) to reach him before he stepped onto the road, and carefully picked him up since there was a blind spot on the right side.”
According to Ahmad, the toddler – who he estimated to be under two years – appeared calm and held onto him tightly after he scooped him up.
They then spent about four minutes searching for his parents at the nearby bus interchange, and then near the mall.
“Eventually, I saw a young man approaching, and the toddler’s reactions confirmed he was his father,” he said.
Ahmad said the father then reprimanded the boy and said he was running too fast. Ahmad added that he was disappointed at the father, who then walked away with his son “without further acknowledgement”, instead of expressing gratitude.
People who commented on Ahmad’s video praised him for acting quickly before anything worse happened, while others called for action to be taken against the parents.
Reflecting on the incident, Ahmad said: “I just started thinking what would happen if the kid went towards the carpark? It’s a very narrow road and as a driver, I’m adjusting to the light (after exiting the carpark).
“If anything happened, it’d have been on the driver.”
