A tribute. Let his soul rest in peace.

Though I didn't talk much to him, I did meet him once in the MRT, and had the longest chat with him.

It is incidents like this that reminds me how fragile life is. We must treasure every moment we have with our dear friends and family.

The article below is extracted from the Electric New Paper edition of Nov 19, 1998.

CRUSHED BY LORRY
All because of this bag

BY DANNY LIM
Nov 19, 1998

HE stood on a divider at the Causeway, with a black canvas bag slung casually across his shoulder.

Tragically, it would lead to his death.

As Lieutenant Kevin Mok Huey Chek, 22, waited to cross the road with his friends, his barrack room-mate said suddenly: "Watch out for the lorry."

The lorry did not hit Lt Mok. But something at its sideguard caught his bag - and dragged him down.

He fell onto the road - and was crushed under the lorry's wheels.

His friends heard his bones snap.

Lt Mok died about five hours after the freak accident on Saturday.

Just three weeks before completing his full-time national service, Lt Mok was on his way to Kuala Lumpur and Penang for a short holiday with four friends.

They took a bus to Woodlands and decided to walk across the Causeway around 10 am.

When they were about 200 m from the Johor passenger terminal, theyı2 strolled across the lanes meant for cars and stood on the divider, next to the lanes for heavy vehicles.

That was when Lt Tan Lai Kiat spotted a lorry whizzing towards them.

Said Lt Tan, 24, a weapons system officer: "I told the others to be careful. Then I turned back and walked a few steps towards the terminal...

"Suddenly I heard the sound of something falling. I turned around and saw Kevin lying face down on the road. A split second later, the rear wheels of the lorry had run over his lower back and I heard the sound of bones breaking."

Lt Tan, who had learned first aid in the army, ran to Lt Mok and flipped him over. His friend had a 10 cm cut on the temple and was already unconscious.

"His jeans were torn all over and his legs were turned outward at an awkward angle. I thought his pelvic bones must have fractured," he recalled.

He and another friend then moved Lt Mok to the pavement while some passers-by called for an ambulance.

Lt Mok, a signal officer from an air defence artillery camp in Lim Chu Kang, stirred after a few minutes.

"He held my arm and told me: "Take care.' I don't know what he meant, but I told him to take rest and talk to me later," said Lt Tan.

Lt Mok, the oldest of three children, lost consciousness again after that.

A Malaysian ambulance arrived soon after and took Lt Mok to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital nearby.

He died at about 3.30 pm that day.

'I didn't realise I was helping a friend'

THE kind helpers didn't even know they were helping a friend.

Lt Mok, an easy-going and friendly person, was surrounded by friends on the day he died.

Two of them even stopped to help - without realising that their friend was the victim.

Mr Cher Cheng Hua, 26, was on his way to do some shopping in Johor Bahru when he saw a few men lifting an injured person onto a pavement.

He and another friend, Miss Dorothy Goh, both nurses, got down from their car to help.

Mr Cher had just finished feeling his pulse and noting his injuries when he asked Lt Mok's other friends - whom he did not know - to call out the victim's name.

'I BURST INTO TEARS'

Said Mr Cher: "One of them shouted "Mok! Mok! Mok!". When I looked carefully, I realised it was Kevin. I burst into tears."

Mr Cher and Miss Goh were Lt Mok's schoolmates at Nanyang Polytechnic's nursing diploma course in 1996.

He said: "I shouted to him to stay awake. Then I shouted at Dorothy and told her that the person was Kevin.

"She shouted: "Kevin look! Cher is here! Cher!' His eyes rolled back to look at me."

Mr Cher later helped him into the ambulance when it arrived.

Lt Mok's father, Mr Mok Thye Tam, 50, told The New Paper at the family's East Coast Road apartment yesterday that his son's ambition was to work as a nurse in an old folks' home.

CARING PERSON

"He was a very caring person who enjoyed doing all kinds of community work," said Mr Mok, a store admin manager.

Lt Mok had also wanted to study for a bachelor's degree in nursing after serving his three-year bond with the Singapore General Hospital.

The bond is a requirement for students taking the nursing course in Nanyang Polytechnic. It was due to start next January.

Lt Mok enjoyed singing, playing computer games and swimming.

"He loved swimming, and swam up to three times a week when he was in school. He even had a gold award in a life-saving course.

"And to think that when I first brought him to the pool during primary school, he didn't even dare put his head into the water," recalled Mr Mok wistfully.

POLICE INVESTIGATING

JOHOR police said the accident was being investigated.

Deputy Superintendent Tengku Asmara said accidents at that spot were rare.

He advised pedestrians to watch out for traffic.

They should use the zebra crossing nearer the passenger terminal.