Lim Yan Liang Straits Times 6 Sep 12;
THE search is on for an elderly man who jumped off a boat for no apparent reason yesterday.
Said to be in his 70s or 80s, the unidentified Chinese man was on his way from Changi to Pulau Ubin at about 2pm when he leapt off the bumboat into the sea.
Passengers said they heard the man say "I want to jump", before he disappeared into the waters.
Boat operator Chua Wee Seng, 67, said he did not hear the man jump because of the loud engine noise from the boat, which was carrying 12 passengers.
"I was concentrating on steering the boat," he said.
Mr Chua said nothing like this has ever happened in his 20 years as a boat operator.
The ride takes about 15 minutes.
The other passengers shouted to alert him when the man fell overboard and, within minutes, Mr Chua said he turned the boat around and circled the area.
None of the passengers were wearing life jackets during the ride.
Unable to spot the man, Mr Chua said he then stopped the boat and one of the passengers called the police.
The police said they received a call at about 2.30pm.
Police Coast Guard vessels arrived on the scene shortly after and officers took statements from everyone on board.
The boat was allowed to proceed to Pulau Ubin about an hour later.
In a joint statement yesterday, the police and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said boats and divers had been mobilised to search for the missing man.
At about 8pm last night, three Police Coast Guard boats with their lights flashing were seen off Changi. A spotlight was directed at the water.
The man was said to have been wearing a white T-shirt, black trousers and blue sports shoes when he dived into the sea.
Man who fell off boat to Pulau Ubin is still missing
Straits Times 7 Sep 12;
THE elderly man who apparently stepped off a Pulau Ubin-bound bumboat and fell into the sea on Wednesday is still missing.
Yesterday, police released a video capture of the man taken from closed-circuit television records from the Changi Point Ferry Terminal.
Police are trying to contact his family. Anyone with information should call 1800-255-0000.
Witnesses said the Chinese man, said to be in his 70s, was travelling alone when he boarded the boat on its way to the offshore island at around 2.15pm.
About five minutes into the 15-minute journey, he stepped off the boat and fell into the water. The boat was stopped and the police were called. Coast Guard officers arrived at the scene about 10 minutes later.
LIM YAN LIANG
Body of 'man who jumped off boat' found
Lim Yan Liang Straits Times 8 Sep 12;
THE body of the man who was seen jumping off a bumboat taking passengers to Pulau Ubin on Wednesday was found yesterday, said the police.
The body, found floating 2m from the shoreline near Changi Ferry Terminal, was brought to shore by Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel.
The SCDF had received a call about it at around 9.30am yesterday.
The unidentified Chinese man is believed to be in his 70s, said the police.
The body was in a highly decomposed state and the police retrieved a wallet from it, according to Chinese newspapers Shin Min Daily News and Lianhe Wanbao.
On Wednesday, eyewitnesses on the bumboat told The Straits Times that the incident took place at around 2.20pm, less than five minutes after the boat left Changi Point Ferry Terminal.
Police are investigating the case as an unnatural death.
