son informed that missing dad is dead, aft 8 yrs
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What went wrong in my dad's case?
Son told about his missing father only after his death - eight years after police report was made
05:55 AM Jan 26, 2011SINGAPORE - For eight years he waited anxiously for news of the whereabouts of his dementia-stricken father.
When the police called on Dec 1 last year, Michael (not his real name), 52, got the news that he had been bracing for: His father, 70, had died from a chest infection in hospital.
But he was anguished to learn that he could have been reunited with his father only months after he had lodged a police report in 2002 - if not for lapses by Government agencies.
Said Michael, who works in the construction industry: "I want to know what went wrong these eight years. They should have been able to establish his identity easily when they found him, so why did it take them so long to contact us?"
In response to MediaCorp's queries, police spokesperson Lau Kian Keong said the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) had picked up Michael's father in May 2002 and found him disoriented.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Lau said: "He was later diagnosed to be suffering from dementia and MCYS' attempts to establish his identity were also unsuccessful."
DSP Lau added that a Police Gazette was issued but MediaCorp understands that the name of Michael's father was misspelled in it.
It was only six years later, in 2008, that the authorities managed to establish the identity of Michael's father, DSP Lau said. He did not explain the delay nor how they finally established his identity.
In December the following year, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) also issued him a new identity card - believed to be because Michael's father needed to be admitted to hospital.
The card bore his original IC number but lists the Lions Home for the Elders at Toa Payoh Rise address as his address.
When contacted, the home declined to comment, citing confidentiality reasons.
Yet, the authorities never contacted Michael all this while, until his father died in Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Nov 30 last year.
Said DSP Lau: "Regrettably, due to a lapse in communication, his missing person status was only discovered when he passed away in hospital last year. We regret the lapse and the failure to inform the family earlier when his identity was established. Police are studying how to strengthen the current processes to avoid such a lapse in the future."
When asked what went wrong in this case, an MCYS spokesperson would only say it has "an established system and works in coordination with other Government agencies to trace identities of persons picked up and also find out their reasons for vagrancy".
Homes which MediaCorp spoke to said they do not have the authority to run checks on the identities and backgrounds of destitute persons. MCYS social workers are responsible for establishing these persons' identities and contacting their families, they added.
Under the Destitute Persons Act, an inquiry may also be ordered on people picked up by MCYS. Their fingerprints and photographs may also be taken.
Adventist Home for the Elders chairman Wan Kwong Weng told MediaCorp that he had not heard of such cases before.
"Usually, you find that these destitute persons are estranged from their families," said Mr Wan. He noted that more could be done to help families find their missing loved ones. For example, there could be a shared database for the relevant agencies to share information, he said.
For Michael and his family, such a system could have made a difference.
Timeline of eventsEarly 2002 Son lodges police report about missing father, who was suffering from dementia.
May 2002 Father picked up by MCYS and believed to have been sent to elderly home. Attempts to verify identity were unsuccessful.
2008 The authorities establish father's identity but family was not contacted.
Dec 2009 The ICA issues a new identity card to the father.
Nov 2010 Father passes away from a chest infection in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Son informed of the passing a day later. -
tai ji masters.
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Very hard to read leh...need to keep scrolling right and left.
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when alive but suffering dementia = free labour so no need to find family
when dead = need to find family to bear funeral expenses
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ideally the police could have posted his pictures in the major newspapers so the masses could help with identify the old man. but then i believe they are cost conscious.
is it against the law for the police to post the photo of the old man in this forum and ask if anyone knows him? not just this forum but others as well.
thats generally speaking. not just specifically referring to the above case.
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want to claim hospital bill from the deceased's family then find out his identity la. No money no talk.
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this is really f***ed up. -_-"
But i think the son himself could also have done something.... publish the father's face on the straits times... who knows the nurse may see his father and contact him. Or best still ask for Wanbao or Shin Min.... -
now that the question of what did MCYS do in the two years between the old man being identified and his death has been asked ......
I think the next big question would be, what did the son do in the eight years between his father going missing in 2002 and his death in 2010 ?
something smells wrong here .....
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isn't there's a stipulated period from time of missing to time certified as dead?
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so now is Mr Michael wan to claim some $$$ from gabrament..... or the other way round???