The week got off to a grisly start with the shock stabbing and murder of 19-year-old Darren Ng Wei Jie in Downtown East when a staring incident turned ugly on Saturday.
Four attackers slashed Darren several times on his back, limbs and abdomen with choppers in a violent brawl in full view of stunned by-standers. The second-year Republic Polytechnic student later died from his multiple stab wounds at Changi General Hospital.
All four have been charged with murder, although one of Darren’s attackers is himself in critical condition after jumping off a three-storey balcony in a desperate attempt to escape police arrest.
The incident has since generated great debate over gang-related activities and violent youth behaviour.
As Darren’s friends and relatives reel from a tragic case of teen violence, debate raged online, and later in traditional media, about what it means to be Singaporean.
Triggering the discussion were comments made by 23-year-old Nanyang Technological University student, Lim Zi Rui in a Ministerial Forum organised last Friday.
The final-year aerospace engineering student engaged guest-of-honour Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in a lively dialogue over what he believed was young Singaporeans’ increasing loss of national identity.
“When I was younger, I was very proud of being a Singaporean… But that was about five, ten years ago. Five years later, with all the changes in policies and the influx of foreign talent, I really don’t know what I’m defending anymore,” he said.
In reply, SM Goh simply said, “If this is happening, it is very serious. If the majority feel they don’t belong here, then we have a fundamental problem. Then I would ask myself: What am I doing here? Why should I be working for people who don’t feel they belong over here?”
Over 2,000 comments flooded the Yahoo! Fit-to-Post blog, many sympathising with the young student.
Just days later, results of a poll revealing that young Singaporeans are proud of their country were released, sparking another firestorm on the issue.
While some readers endorsed the survey findings and said they agreed with it, others questioned the timing of the survey results and questioned its credibility.
“I am proud to be Singaporean and am glad that I was born here,” wrote jaymichaeljohnson.
Others like reader entebbe, however, asked for “a more credible poll across a wider range of age and income groups to get the real feel” of the situation.
And even as the work week ended with a Qantas plane making an emergency landing at Changi Airport, an inspirational real-life survival tale served to remind us how precious life can be.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo! Singapore, Singapore Airlines (SIA) First Officer Cyrano Latiff, 46, spoke of his uphill struggle to rebuild his life and career after surviving Singapore’s worst-ever aircraft disaster.
Cyrano was one of three pilots of the ill-fated SQ006 flight that crashed in Taiwan in 2000, killed 83 passengers and crew members on board.
“It was a difficult period for my family as my three kids back then were still young,” Cyrano revealed. “I must give all the credit to my wife. She is a very strong person who kept the family together,” he said of his wife, who works as a service quality consultant in the food and beverage industry.
Cyrano’s account of his traumatic experience on the day of the tragedy, which was later published in Today newspaper and Shin Min Daily News, drew messages of support and encouragement from Yahoo! Fit to Post readers.
Reader chancl wrote, “I salute your bracery, tenacity and resilience. You are an inspiration to not only your students but to all Singaporeans.” Read more at http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/11/04/week-in-review-teen-attack-shocks-sporeans/
No comments:
Post a Comment