Members of the public attending to the victim. ST
has a wonderful picture on Page 1, of the people at Raffles Place
helping the stabbing victim and holding down the attacker at lunchtime
yesterday. Go buy ST. It is a powerful picture. It showcasesnot just the
public spiritedness of the people, but also its cosmopolitan mix. Of
the English-language MSM, only TNP managed to throw up a name, a 28 year
old auditor Mohammad Nazir Abdul Rahman, who helped pin down the
assailant. Go buy TNP. Its sub-editors, however, seemed to have
forgotten the need for proper picture captions and I can only assume
that he is the man in the dark blue polo tee-shirt and beige pants. (I
guess Friday is casual day at KPMG). And the police will be pleased to
know that he pinned down the attacker because his national service
police training kicked in. He must therefore be Singaporean, or least a
second generation PR. Nah. Singaporean. I hear you ask, Is this
important? Not to me, but to the cynical who think Singaporeans can’t be
bothered to do anything but watch or complain.Now who were the rest of the people? TODAY said it tried to approach some of them, including the woman in the beige jacket who seemed to be tending to both victim and assailant in the pictures that have been circulating, but they declined to be interviewed. What I really want to know is the identity of this brave woman who was the first to act. She held on to the assailant right after the attacker stabbed him but couldn’t hold on to him. And what about the women whom Mr Mohammad Nazir referred to as having saved the victim’s life by tending to his injuries and which woman went to get hold of a first-aid kit?
I am sure there will be some who
will point out that many others simply watched and took pictures.
Curious bystanders and gawkers. Maybe we expected the whole of Raffles
Place to be chasing down the man, like some kind of lynch mob. But it is
enough methinks for some good souls to take the lead for the rest who
were too stunned or did not want to put themselves forward for some
reason. And they showed that good sense and quick thinking can come in
many stripes and colours…
Of course, now everybody is wondering about the identities of the
stabber and the stabbed. TODAY said that the victim was a frequent
visitor to The Arcade, with its myriad of moneychangers but the
moneychangers declined to speak to reporters. Many will note that the
victim spoke in Mandarin. Let’s not jump the gun and conclude that they
are Chinese who are not from these shores because we can’t conceive of
such a brazen attack from our “own kind’’. I hear you ask, Is that
important? Not to me, but to the anti-foreigner lobby who will chalk it
up as another point in its favour. The stabber and stabbed can be of any
nationality, just like the people who helped.
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