Not a Staring Incident

It's 1am now, but I can't go to sleep cos my hair is wet from a fresh bath and I hate taking out the hair dryer. So might as well take the time to blog.

Most of us have heard the horrifying news of Darren Ng being slashed and left to die at Downtown East and the other slashing incident at Bukit Panjang. A recent news article just released clarified that the death of Darren was gang-related and not a result of a staring incident. I was not surprised, in fact, when I first read that it was a staring incident I found it hard to believe. As in the words of a friend, it "was obviously planned since they were carrying choppers in their hands and they must have been waiting for him".

So what the are the consequences of these horrible actions? I can tell you that it's not just injuries and one death. I do sense an atmosphere of fear now among Singaporeans. Even when I walk home from the carpark (which is a long walk to me), I constantly look sideways and backwards and suspiciously at those small gatherings downstairs my house. Now that Singapore doesn't seem as safe as before, I'm starting to wonder then how bad it can be in Mexico, which I'll staying for 4.5 months next year.

In the afternoon today, I was scouring the Internet for personal defense items I could buy. I'm particularly interested in the personal safety alarm that can trigger a 90-130 decibel high pitch sound that might help scare away your attacker, or at least stall him for 2 seconds before you run. When I'm going to Mexico, I'll buy 5 of those and hang around my bag and neck.

There was an article about how you can use a small knife, that must have its blade easy to pull out. A small knife is only successful if you defend yourself by catching your attacker by surprise. And there's no point giving a small scratch, you have to penetrate flesh and really hurt the person if you want to get away. Of course it ended of with the advise that said the knife should only be used by an experienced person. What exactly is this experienced person then?

There was also a paragraph about umbrellas cos such items can extend your reach. The thing is, an umbrella is of no use to you unless you practice using it. So for December, I'll have to put aside some time for umbrella practices. Who wants to spar with me?

In the end, the greatest defense is the defense against fear. Fear is crippling and it magnifies all the bad things. My best weapon against it is prayer and love of God. I'm so happy that I have a God who cares for me and promises to be with me. :) We should not belittle the dangers in our environment, be it SG or Mexico, but living a full life is so much more important.