~ a short story ‘challenge’ based on a picture taken by Gabriel in Singapore. We played ‘hide and seek’ and taught these kids magic tricks while their parents were busy looking elsewhere ~
Indian siblings (Girl, 8 and Boy, 4), went missing on the North East Line MRT – Singapore’s newest subway line.
The two Indian siblings were last seen on Saturday, March 23rd around 1pm. Their dad, 35, said: “They were just there, sitting next to my wife and playing with each other. Suddenly my wife was screaming: ‘They’re gone! They’re gone!’ And that’s when I realized they had gone missing.” The mother, 32, is currently in shock and unable to comment for the story.
“I couldn’t believe they disappear in front of my eyes,” the man added. “They were right there!”
The girl was wearing a pink sleeveless dress with black pants and a pair of purple Hello Kitty shoes. The boy was wearing a white shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He was also wearing a small blue backpack.
Even though the entire square inch of the subway system (and the country of Singapore) is closely monitored with CCTV system, the camera security system in the train that day underwent a technical glitch and all the recording from that day were corrupted.
A nearby camera did show the kids and their parents entering the Serangoon MRT station around 12:50pm. However, the Singapore MRT spokesperson, Ms. May Bee Wong, cautioned against using this information as evidence that the kids were missing on the MRT.
“Frankly, we can’t say that they went missing on the MRT, and we would hope that your headline doesn’t say they went missing on the MRT, because if you look at the available evidence, there is no proof they went missing on the MRT.”
When asked about the camera glitch, Ms. Wong added, “I know, I know. It’s very unfortunate lah. But we tried our best to retrieve the camera recording. Hopefully, this doesn’t happen again.”
When the authorities asked the man if anything was amiss prior to the kids’ disappearance, he admitted that he didn’t remember much because he was transfixed to his mobile phone watching YouTube throughout the ride.
“I think I heard the two of them giggling and laughing and saying something about going to a magic land,” he said, visibly upset at the situation.
“But that just sounds so ludicrous, doesn’t it?”