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Attacked but they just stared
July 8th, 2010
<---http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/07/08/she-was-attacked-but-they-just-stared/
ON SATURDAY evening, my sister boarded SBS bus No 30
along West Coast Road, heading for the Esplanade.
She took a seat on the upper deck.
A male passenger took the seat next to her, positioning
himself very close to my sister. She asked him to give
her a little space. In response, he inched even closer.
Then, to her utter surprise, he punched her several
times on her head.
My sister tried to defend herself, but she was no match
for this man. He held her wrists and continued his attack,
hitting her on the head and in the stomach.
As a result of the attack, my sister sustained bruises
on her head, neck and arms.
The struggle lasted for 30 minutes and was witnessed by
all the passengers seated on the upper deck, but during
the entire incident, not one of them tried to intervene
and stop the attack.
None of the passengers even bothered to help my
sister pick up her belongings.
Only one passenger – Benjamin Tan Wei Kiong –
who had been seated on the lower deck came to her aid.
Benjamin heard the commotion and headed upstairs.
He asked the bus driver to stop the bus and call the police.
But the driver refused to, saying that the SBS command
centre had told him to drive on.
After this shocking incident, there are a few crucial
issues I want to highlight:
- Why didn’t the bus driver stop the bus?
Driving on meant my sister, as well as other passengers
on the bus, was put at risk of another attack.
- Why didn’t the bus driver contact the police?
Surely all bus personnel have been trained as to
.what to do when a passenger is assaulted.
Even if he had been instructed to drive on and not
stop, couldn’t he have assessed the severity of the
situation and taken action?
- Most importantly, why did no one on the upper
deck come forward to help my sister? Thanks to the
inaction and apathy of the spectators on the bus,
my sister is nursing not just her physical bruises
but also the emotional hurt from the fact that
no one bothered to help her.
This incident has made me lose faith
in the kindness of Singaporeans.
The only glimmer of hope is the existence of
Good Samaritans such as 22-year-old Benjamin,
who helped my sister and who later spent his
Saturday night at the police station with us.
Thank you, Benjamin.
July 8th, 2010
<---http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/07/08/she-was-attacked-but-they-just-stared/
ON SATURDAY evening, my sister boarded SBS bus No 30
along West Coast Road, heading for the Esplanade.
She took a seat on the upper deck.
A male passenger took the seat next to her, positioning
himself very close to my sister. She asked him to give
her a little space. In response, he inched even closer.
Then, to her utter surprise, he punched her several
times on her head.
My sister tried to defend herself, but she was no match
for this man. He held her wrists and continued his attack,
hitting her on the head and in the stomach.
As a result of the attack, my sister sustained bruises
on her head, neck and arms.
The struggle lasted for 30 minutes and was witnessed by
all the passengers seated on the upper deck, but during
the entire incident, not one of them tried to intervene
and stop the attack.
None of the passengers even bothered to help my
sister pick up her belongings.
Only one passenger – Benjamin Tan Wei Kiong –
who had been seated on the lower deck came to her aid.
Benjamin heard the commotion and headed upstairs.
He asked the bus driver to stop the bus and call the police.
But the driver refused to, saying that the SBS command
centre had told him to drive on.
After this shocking incident, there are a few crucial
issues I want to highlight:
- Why didn’t the bus driver stop the bus?
Driving on meant my sister, as well as other passengers
on the bus, was put at risk of another attack.
- Why didn’t the bus driver contact the police?
Surely all bus personnel have been trained as to
.what to do when a passenger is assaulted.
Even if he had been instructed to drive on and not
stop, couldn’t he have assessed the severity of the
situation and taken action?
- Most importantly, why did no one on the upper
deck come forward to help my sister? Thanks to the
inaction and apathy of the spectators on the bus,
my sister is nursing not just her physical bruises
but also the emotional hurt from the fact that
no one bothered to help her.
This incident has made me lose faith
in the kindness of Singaporeans.
The only glimmer of hope is the existence of
Good Samaritans such as 22-year-old Benjamin,
who helped my sister and who later spent his
Saturday night at the police station with us.
Thank you, Benjamin.
