Mum seeks justice for son knocked down by envoy’s car

KUALA LUMPUR: Hotel manager Tong Kok Wai, 30, was knocked down by a car in mid-December and on Christmas Day, his newly-wed wife Yenni Young, 31, made the heart-wrenching decision to take him off life support.

The doctors had declared him brain dead. In death, Kok Wai helped others live, with his corneas, kidneys, heart and liver which he donated.

But for his mother Tong Ah Mooi, there is still one unfinished job. The person who knocked down her son fled the scene and has not owned up. And the authorities say there is nothing they can do about it — Kok Wai was knocked down by a car with diplomatic plates.

Kok Wai was hit while crossing the road in Singapore on Dec 15. His friend Bong Hwee Haw, 24, and a Singaporean student Muhd Haris Abu Talib, 18, were also seriously injured in the accident and are still warded at the hospital.

Tong has sought help from MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong who arranged for the press conference yesterday.

Tong added that witnesses said that the car belonged to the diplomatic corp and was driven by a high-ranking officer from the Romanian Embassy.

The diplomat was believed to have left Singapore three days after the incident.

The diplomat was also said to have lodged a police report claiming his car was stolen when the accident occurred.

Police discovered the car, with a cracked windscreen, some 5km from the scene of the accident in Bukit Panjang.

“When I tell others about my son’s tragic death, the only thing they repeatedly tell me was ‘too bad, he was hit by someone with diplomatic immunity’.

“This is unfair. Justice must be done for my son. The driver can’t just get away after committing a crime,” said the 59-year-old distraught mother.

Kok Wai’s family has been told by the Singaporean Government something is being done but officials have not revealed the detail.