Ms Tan discovered her 18-year-old son using Kpod vapes after he began showing erratic behavior last year. The 39-year-old mother found semi-transparent vaping devices marked with skull symbols and “poison” in his room.
“He started acting like he wasn’t in his right mind,” Ms Tan told Shin Min Daily News.
The teen admitted to using Kpod vapes, also called “zombie vapes.” He continued vaping despite his mother’s repeated requests to stop. Ms Tan believes he obtained the devices through Telegram or friends.
The student has collapsed both at home and in public since he started vaping. He lives with his mother following her divorce four years ago.
Fight Breaks Out at Serangoon Home Over Vaping
On April 7, 2025, the teen told his mother he was going to a friend’s house for dinner and swimming. He didn’t return by nightfall. When Ms Tan called him, his speech was slurred.
She used phone tracking to find him at a Serangoon residence. She confronted him and his friend at the gate. The friend pushed her and said, “If you keep doing this, your son will never take care of you in the future.”
Ms Tan accused the friend of supplying vapes to her son. He replied, “Your son can’t even afford it now.”
Ms Tan called her ex-husband for help. The friend punched the father when he arrived. The friend’s mother was also hit when she tried to stop the fight.
The friend’s parents searched their son’s room and found vape devices. They claimed the vapes belonged to Ms Tan’s son.
Mother Finds Son Bleeding While Trying to Vape
Last week, Ms Tan found her son on the ground bleeding from his limbs. He was holding a vape and trying to refill a new pod despite being dazed.
She called an ambulance and police. Medical staff tried to help the teen but failed. Officers took the vape but couldn’t take further action.
Ms Tan said she was afraid to contact authorities earlier. She worried about paying fines as the parent. “I really don’t have the means to keep paying if this continues,” she said.
Ms Tan once grabbed the device from her son and tried it herself. The first puff did nothing. The second puff made her mind go blank and paralyzed her body for 15 minutes.
When her ex-husband cared for their son for a few weeks in June 2025, the teen vaped again and collapsed at his father’s home. A urine test came back negative.
The teen has fallen and bled multiple times at home and outside. He often appears confused and disoriented. Ms Tan found empty vape cartridges and charging cables in his room.
Ms Tan blames herself for her son’s condition. “Parents will always blame themselves,” she said. “Did the divorce affect him? Was I too busy with work?”
Her elder sister said the teen was well-behaved and close to the family before. She now helps Ms Tan watch over him.
Ms Tan described her son as emotionally fragile since the divorce. He lives “in his own world and constantly longing for friends.”
