Why would he go? He has no experience fishing: Mum of boy who went missing at Kallang River

SINGAPORE – The mother of a 13-year-old boy who

went missing around Kallang River on Feb 25

said her son had no fishing experience and should not have joined his friends for the activity there.

The woman, who is from Surabaya, Indonesia, and gave her name only as Madam Siti, said in Bahasa Indonesia that her son, Daniel, is not a strong swimmer.

“Someone called me at 5pm on Feb 25 to say my son had slipped into Kallang River while fishing and was missing. Why would he go? He has no experience fishing.

“I was told his teacher also warned him not to go fishing during the fasting month (of Ramadan),” the mother of three told The Straits Times.

Madam Siti has been keeping a vigil at the river, near Block 8B Upper Boon Keng Road, since

her son went missing

. She was there on Feb 26 with her two other sons, who are 14 and 11.

Madam Siti said she has little support at home and had to take her children with her. Her husband, a Singaporean, is in prison and her in-laws are unwell.

She added that she was at work as a food stall operator when she found out her son was missing, and immediately rushed to the site.

Madam Siti, who lives in the Redhill area, said she had a bad feeling when Daniel told her he wanted to join his friends who were going fishing. “I thought it was unusual for him to ‘salam’ (kiss my hand) three times at 6.45am before leaving for school,” said Madam Siti between sobs. “It wasn’t normal for him to do that.”

Rescuers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team responded to the incident on Feb 25.

They conducted an underwater search in the area and stopped after 9pm that day because of low visibility. The “active search” continued on Feb 26 and was called off after 12 hours at about 7pm when there was no sign of him, SCDF said.

“SCDF will continue to monitor the situation and conduct periodic checks in the area,” it added.

Three SCDF officers were seen at the Kallang River at about 9.30pm and were using their torches to scan the water surface there. A group of six people, who said they were Daniel’s family members, were also seen scanning the waters there. While they declined to be interviewed, one said he had told Madam Siti not to join them on their night vigil.

A friend of Daniel’s told AsiaOne that the teen fell into the river while trying to unhook their fishing line from a net. When the boys tried to rescue him, another boy fell into the water but he was saved. By then, Daniel had been swept away, said the friend.

Several of Daniel’s friends were at the scene on Feb 26 when ST was there.

The police said that no foul play is suspected, based on preliminary investigations.