JAKARTA: “We are seen. We are held. We are loved.” With these words, the family of an Indonesian girl who died in an accident in Singapore’s Chinatown thanked members of the public, medical staff and officials in Singapore and Indonesia for their support.
In a heartfelt four-page statement issued on April 6 through their lawyers, Ashar Ardianto and Raisha Anindra paid tribute to their six-year-old daughter Sheyna Lashira Smaradiani, who died on Feb 6.
The Indonesian Embassy in Singapore previously said that Sheyna died from cranio-cerebral injuries, as determined by a hospital autopsy. Her remains were repatriated to Indonesia on the morning of Feb 8, and she was buried in the Tanah Kusir cemetery in South Jakarta later that day.
On April 8, the driver, a 38-year-old woman, was charged in Singapore’s State Courts with two counts of driving without due care and attention, causing death and grievous hurt.
Prosecutors said she had allegedly failed to keep a proper lookout while making a right turn out of an open-air carpark in Spring Street, knocking into two pedestrians near the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.
The case was adjourned for six weeks for investigations to continue. It will be heard again at a pre-trial conference on May 13. A gag order was granted as the woman’s son, who was in the car at the time, is a potential witness.
According to the couple’s statement, the family had been transiting through Singapore from Japan en route to Indonesia, ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. They had chosen the city as a stopover because they regarded it as synonymous with safety.
On the morning of Feb 6, the family had breakfast near their hotel before heading out around midday to explore the area. The couple was travelling with their two children and Ashar’s mother.
The statement said that “in a moment so swift it defied comprehension, joy was extinguished” and that Sheyna, while holding her mother’s hand, “was taken from them”.
The couple described Sheyna as “a child of incandescent vitality; joyful, spirited, and deeply loved”.
They added: “Never, even in their most distant imaginings, did they conceive that their family of four would be irreversibly altered to three.”
They said: “Today, the family stands in a void for which no lexicon exists. There are no manuals, no precedents, no algorithms that can instruct a parent on how to endure the destruction of love of your child.”
The statement also described a nightly family ritual in which Sheyna would receive kisses and blessings before sleep, adding that Ashar performed this one final time before she was laid to rest.
At the time, Raisha was seriously injured and admitted to Singapore General Hospital. The Indonesian Embassy said earlier that she sustained internal injuries and fractures, and was treated in the hospital’s high dependency unit. As such, she was unable to “say goodbye” to her daughter.
The statement said: “Raisha has since emerged from critical danger, though her journey toward recovery remains long and arduous.”
They added that the care and dedication of the hospital team “have given her not just medical support, but hope”.
The family also expressed appreciation to members of the public who assisted at the scene.
“Strangers became guardians in moments of chaos… That act, quiet and human, will never be forgotten.”
They also thanked Indonesia’s ambassador to Singapore, Dr Hotmangaradja Pandjaitan, and embassy staff for their assistance since the day of the accident.
They said the ambassador had opened his home to Ashar and supported the family as he carried out the arrangements to bring Sheyna home for burial before returning to Singapore to be with his wife.
In Indonesia, friends and former classmates of Raisha launched a fund-raising effort to help with her medical expenses.
The family also acknowledged The Ascott Limited and staff at Robertson House, where they stayed for nearly four weeks, describing the support as providing “not merely accommodation, but sanctuary” and treating them like family.
“To the people of Indonesia and Singapore, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Terima Kasih banyak dari lubuk hati kami yang paling dalam.” - The Straits Times/ANN
