'TNP's was first hotline I thought of'

Ms Huang Pei Shan was buying breakfast last Tuesday morning when she overheard a stall owner at the Old Airport Road Food Centre say there had been an "explosion" at a porridge stall.

Then she saw an ambulance and paramedics rolling out some stretchers.

That was when she called The New Paper's hotline to tip us off about the incident.

Ms Huang, 30, said she had tried ordering breakfast at one of the stalls, but the owners told her they were not selling anything because the central gas supply was turned off.

She said: "(TNP's number) was the first hotline number I thought of.

THE NEW PAPER, AUG 3 THE NEW PAPER, AUG 5

"Old Airport Road Food Centre is a really big and rather well-known hawker centre. Many people visit the food centre daily so I thought it would be something that the public would want to know about."

As a result of her call, TNP was able to arrive in time to speak to people who had witnessed the explosion.

One of them was a kway chap stall owner who saw a worker flung to the floor after the explosion, with blood streaming down his arms.

Another caller to TNP's hotline, Mr Francis Michael, 46, a property agent and GrabCar driver, notified TNP through its Facebook page last Wednesday about a three-vehicle collision he was involved in at Yishun Avenue 3.

At the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Mr Michael told TNP that the accident involved a van, his rented Nissan Sylphy and an SMRT bus .

Mr Michael, who has been a loyal TNP reader for six years, has no regrets reporting what happened.

He said: "I think I made the right decision to report this incident. When it comes to informing the public, TNP is the one medium that a lot of Singaporeans read."

For sharing their stories, each hotline caller will receive a $100 KFC voucher.

We value and appreciate your calls and e-mails, so keep them coming.

You can call us at 1800-733-4455, SMS or MMS 9477-8899 or e-mail us at tnp@sph.com.sg