‘If I had stopped him, would I have been the party pooper?’ Raybe Oh visits scene of horrific Tanjong Pagar crash after 5.5 years
Getai performer Raybe Oh, who was left with severe burns after dashing into a burning car to save her fiancé in a 2021 accident, told 8world that she had wondered at the time if stopping her partner would make her seem like a “party pooper” who was “ruining everyone’s fun”.
The former flight attendant’s fiancé, 29-year-old Jonathan Long Junwei, was driving a white BMW in the early hours of Feb 13, 2021, when the car skidded, slammed into a shophouse along Tanjong Pagar Road, and burst into flames.
Oh dashed into the blaze to save Long, sustaining burns to 80 per cent of her body. A coroner’s inquiry later revealed that Long had consumed alcohol before the fatal crash, which claimed the lives of five men.
In February, Oh announced that she would be returning to the getai stage after five years, calling for public understanding during her comeback.
Five months and over 30 getai performances later, she took to the stage again for the Seventh Lunar Month getai season in August, with over 20 more bookings confirmed.
Returns to scene of accident after 5.5 years
In an interview with 8world posted on Aug 14, Oh returned to the scene of the accident for the first time in about five and a half years.
Oh said she had avoided visiting the area as the location held “painful memories” for her.
Recalling the incident, Oh told Mediacorp presenter Yang Zhenhuo that she had stood outside the burning vehicle, shouting at them to “come out”. After waiting for a while and seeing that no one emerged, she decided to rush into the vehicle herself.
Oh added that the coroner’s report revealed that her then-fiancé had soot in his airways, which meant he was breathing when the fire broke out.
“I broke down when I heard that. I just hoped he didn’t suffer too much,” she says.
The screeching of brakes moments before tragedy struck still terrifies her today, she said, adding that she would not want to watch Formula One races as a result of the lingering fear.
Hopes story is a warning for others
When asked why she did not stop Long from getting behind the wheel, knowing that he was intoxicated, she clarified that she thought her fiancé knew his limits.
“If I had stopped him, would I have been the party pooper? Like I was ruining everyone’s fun,” she says.
Oh also acknowledges that the decisions made that night were not ones “responsible citizens should have made”, hoping her story serves as a warning to others.
Working towards being in public without a mask
The pair also chats about whether Oh would consider taking off her mask on stage, to which she responds that she eventually wants to overcome the fear of doing so. Currently, she would only do so in eateries which are relatively empty.
“I want to make peace with my scars… and with the new me,” she says.
“The day I can show people my face as it is now will be the day I’ve truly made peace with myself.”
In another segment, she recalls returning home after being hospitalised and realising her partner was no longer there, describing it as one of the “darkest periods” of her life.
However, five years after the accident, she says her greatest strength is not her appearance, but her “character and resilience”.
“I hope people will remember me as someone who went through immense pain but never gave up,” she says.
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