Chong Pang accident: 1 victim in ICU

At about 8am, a dark grey Mercedes was reversing into a parking space in front of Block 102 in Yishun Avenue 2 when the driver was said to have lost control of the vehicle, which then continued on for 50m.

The car slammed into a number of stalls under the block - including a newspaper stand and a vegetable stall, sending newspapers and red onions flying into the air - before coming to a stop after another 50m.

It also hit a parked Toyota, dislodging the white car's bumper.

Two men and three women - in their 50s and 60s - were injured in the incident, which was captured by a closed-circuit TV camera in the vicinity.

A video clip of the incident was uploaded online, and shows the speeding car ramming into the stalls with the driver's door open. Frantic passers-by can also be seen dashing out of the way.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesman said a phone call about the incident was received at about 8.15am.

Three ambulances took the five victims to the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. The victims suffered head, limb and back injuries.

A police spokesman said that the driver, a 65-year-old man, was assisting in investigations. He was unhurt.

Some eyewitnesses said he may have been with his wife.

A Khoo Teck Puat Hospital spokesman said three of the five victims have since been discharged.

Of the two remaining victims, one was in a high-dependency ward in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, while the other was in a general ward.

When my paper visited the scene at about 1pm, there was no sign of the car or any debris. A small shopping trolley, which stallholders said belonged to one of the injured women, was propped up against a nearby lamppost.

Ms Ma Jiayi, 45, a shop assistant at Lam Vegetables and Fruits, said she heard a loud crash 10 minutes after she arrived for work. There were about 10 customers at the shop at the time.

Recounting the screams and confusion that followed, she said: "I was so scared, I couldn't even react.

"One of the victims was sitting on the floor with a fractured leg. You could see the broken bone through his skin."

Update:
The victim who is in the high-dependency ward (HDW) at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital has been identified as 51-year-old Madam Mahalakshmi, The New Paper reported on Tuesday.

She is the last person to be hit and suffered the most serious injuries, including a cracked skull, fractured spine, collar bone and ribs, as well as internal bleeding in her brain.

Madam Mahalakshmi is still under observation. Her son told The New Paper that she still cannot speak coherently and lapses in and out of consciousness because of the sedatives she has to take.

The production operator at Seagate was shopping for groceries with her family at the market when she was hit.

Eldershield review needs to be calibrated very carefully: Gan Kim Yong

SINGAPORE: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong has stressed that the government needs to "calibrate very carefully" any review to the ElderShield scheme - a severe disability insurance scheme.

Mr Gan was speaking on the sidelines of a community event where a new study was released, showing the benefits of brisk walking.

The study shows that members of Singapore's National Brisk Walking Programme are about eight per cent fitter compared to the general population.

Conducted by the Health Promotion Board, the survey covered 1,236 participants during a one-year period from September 2010 to September 2011.

Research has found that brisk walking regularly could help to decrease the risk of suffering from chronic conditions -- such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and breast cancer -- by almost 50 per cent.

Brisk walking can also help to prevent dementia and osteoporosis, and help manage one's weight in tandem with a healthy diet.

The National Brisk Walking Programme was introduced in 2009 to get Singaporeans who had a sedentary lifestyle exercising.

There are now 700 brisk walking clubs island-wide, and since the start of the programme, the number of participants has ballooned by 25 per cent to some 100,000 people.

Members of the brisk walking club get about 230 minutes of physical activity each week, the survey reported.

The amount is about three times more than the national average of about 80 minutes per week for seniors, who make up 60 per cent of the participants.

Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong said this was an encouraging sign, in view of Singapore's ageing population.

Chairman of the National Briskwalking Workgroup and Mayor for the North West District, Dr Teo Ho Pin, said there are now plans to reach out to more people.

"We are still trying to reach out to more minority groups especially our Indian friends because we still haven's attracted a lot of our Indian and Malay friends to join us in our brisk walking clubs," said Dr Teo.

Separately, Mr Gan also touched on calls to enhance Eldershield -- a severe disability insurance scheme that provides basic financial protection to those who need long-term care.

Some observers have said that current payouts are insufficient given high medical bills.

In 2007, the government increased the Eldershield monthly payout from S$300 to S$400, and the maximum payout period from 60 to 72 months.

Industry players have said the payout is insufficient, as patients' bills are at least twice that amount.

However, Mr Gan reiterated that there would be trade-offs accompanying any enhancement in payouts.

"We have to bear in mind that with enhancement, the cost of insurance will also go up," Mr Gan said.

"We'll have to calibrate very carefully to ensure that Eldershield remains affordable and at the same time the benefits remain effective to help our seniors."

A review of the ElderShield scheme is expected to take place in 2013.