Auxiliary officer in vegetative state after drunk-driver crashed into him was about to get married, collect keys to BTO flat

The Certis auxiliary police officer involved in the Tuas Checkpoint accident that left him in a vegetative state was due to get married and was preparing to collect his Build-To-Order HDB flat with his partner.

Speaking to the Straits Times (ST), Alex Ng, brother of the 30-year-old victim Ng Yi Shu, shared that he was the one to break the news to his brother's girlfriend.

"After more than five years together, they were about to collect the keys to their new BTO flat in Boon Lay. Then they were going to get married and possibly have kids," Alex said to ST.

Even a year after the accident, Yi Shu's girlfriend continued to visit him.

Doctors have told the family that Yi Shu would be permanently disabled for the rest of their life.

"Eventually, I had to tell her that it is okay to move on from my brother, and that was one of the toughest things I had to do," he told ST.

The accident

Yi Shu suffered severe injuries in the Tuas Checkpoint accident in March 2023, where a 44-year-old Singaporean man decided to drive back from town to his home in Yishun but ended up speeding along a road at Tuas Checkpoint instead.

Yoong Kok Kai lost control of his Lexus while speeding around a bend, mounted the kerb of a divider and crashed into Yi Shu, who was on duty.

Court documents indicated that Yoong started drinking alcohol at about 5pm on Mar. 23, 2023.

Yoong, despite being drunk, decided to drive back to Yishun.

Yoong travelled along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) towards Jurong instead.

At about 12:36am on Mar. 24, 2023, speed cameras caught Yoong's car travelling at 134km/h on the AYE, exceeding the speed limit of 90km/h.

10 minutes later, Yoong was caught on camera speeding along a viaduct at Tuas Checkpoint at an estimated 100 km/h to 119 km/h.

As Yoong sped around a bend in the road, he lost control of his car, veering right and speeding through two safety humps.

Noticing Yoong's speeding car, Yi Shu tried to get out of the way by running onto a divider between the two roads.

He took shelter behind a safety bollard and safety gantry there.

However, Yoong's car mounted the kerb of the divider and collided with Yi Shu, who was flung from the impact and landed face first.

Other structures, such as a safety bollard, a safety gantry, a safety barrier, and a traffic light, were uprooted from the collision.

Yi Shu was found to have suffered extensive injuries from the accident, including severe traumatic brain injury with bleeding in the brain and multiple facial fractures.

He subsequently underwent 12 operations over the next three months, from March to June 2023.

Prosecutors said Yi Shu has been left in a vegetative state and is now bed-bound and non-communicative.

The victim will need assistance for all activities of daily living and will never hold a job again.

He has to be fed via a tube to his nose.

In total, the victim's medical bills have reached over S$455,000 as of Jan. 30, 2025.

More than S$10,500 has to be paid out of his pocket, and more than S$5,000 from his Medisave account.

On Mar. 17, 2025, Yoong was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. He will also be barred from holding all classes of driving licences for 10 years after his release.

No apology

Alex told ST that he teared up when he saw the accident footage played in court.

"Not that it would have changed anything, but the driver never reached out to us and apologise for what he done," Alex added.

The prosecution said that as a result of Yoong's actions, the victim was left in a state that "effectively deprives him of any qualitative semblance of a life".

"He cannot walk, he cannot talk, he cannot take care of himself, and he cannot work to support himself ever again. Till he dies, he will require care and assistance in all aspects of his daily living," wrote the prosecution.

In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson for Certis said Certis has been supporting Yi Shu and his family since the accident.

"We have continued to keep the officer on our payroll while maintaining constant contact with his family, providing all forms of support, including financial and legal, to the family. Certis has also covered the majority of the medical bills incurred so far."

According to ST, court documents noted that the company had covered over S$400,000 for Yi Shu's medical bills and nursing home.

Top photo via Iphone Murah Johor/Facebook