AS bartender Terry Tay, 29, dashed out of his workplace, he saw something he thought he would never see again.
A car had just ploughed through a bus stop, injuring six people.
It was eerily similar to what he had witnessed nine years ago.
In that 1998 incident along Bendemeer Road, a car had rammed into a bus stop but with far more serious consequences - three people died.
Then, Mr Tay was in a car being driven by his camp mate when the car in front hit the bus stop.
DEJA VU
So at about 9.20pm on Tuesday night when he heard a familiar screech which drowned out the music in The Dubliner pub on Penang Road, it was deja vu for Mr Tay.
He said: "I thought, 'Oh no, not again,' because there's a bus stop in front of my pub.
The Irish pub is located next to Winsland House near Killiney Road.
A black Toyota Vios had spun out of control and ripped through the bus stop where several people were waiting.
Six women were injured and sent to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
Mr Tay said that after the car slammed into the bus stop, the driver got out of the vehicle and apologised to the six people he had hit.
Mr Tay, who is single, said: "He said to them, 'Sorry, I made a mistake. He then looked at the mess he had made.
Mr Tay added that the driver then asked him for a sweet, but Mr Tay did not have any.
The driver then asked two other people for sweets and a man gave him one.
Mr Tay also said he saw a young woman sitting on the ground in a state of shock and two elderly women lying near the car. One was unconscious and her legs were bleeding. There were blood stains on the ground.
He saw another woman lying face down, spread-eagled and crying out in pain. He and the pub's assistant manager gave the injured water to drink.
The incident has rattled Mr Tay.
"It brought back a lot of bad memories," he said.
Nine years ago, on 12 May, while still serving his national service (NS) in the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the then 19-year-old heard the same high-pitched sound.
He was posted at the SCDF camp at Bendemeer Road.
The driver, who was travelling at 70-75kmh in a 50kmh zone, had lost control of his car and crashed into a bus stop where several people were waiting.
A polytechnic student, 18, and two sisters - one a freelance film editor, 26, and the other a network officer, 30 were killed. Six others were injured.
The driver was jailed for two years for reckless and dangerous driving, and for causing death by a rash and negligent act.
He was also disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for life.
Mr Tay was so shaken by the incident that he's now very careful whenever he's at a bus stop.
He said: "I stand some distance away unless it's raining. I also always face oncoming traffic. I still do that now. Even though it's just a bus stop, you never know what can happen.
Mr Tay says that's also why he tells his customers at the bar not to drink and drive.
"I am not afraid of losing my customers," he said.
Police spokesman Cheryl Foo confirmed the driver was arrested for drink driving and was out on bail.
An SGH spokesman said that two of the six women taken to the hospital's A&E department on Tuesday, were discharged that night. The four remaining victims are still warded and are in stable condition.
MORE DRUNK DRIVERS
The Straits Times reported in January that last year, 25 people were killed in crashes involving drunk drivers. This was up from 20 in 2005.
And 336 were injured a 50 per cent jump from the previous year. There were 7,499 accidents on the roads last year, 793 more than in 2005.
Nearly 10,000 people were injured in these accidents, an 18 per cent increase over the previous year.
