What has happened?
Spoke to a police officer friend about this and he gave me some insights on the issue.
1) Crowded place. The poor police guy needs to aim really properly so that his shot doesn't hit anyone in the crowd but the armed robber.
2) The most accurate part of the body (or that with the highest surface area, or so he claimed) to send the bullet to without hitting other people in the crowd is the upper body. He didn't give a reason why not legs, but from the statement he gave, I infer that the legs have a "lower surface area" than the upper body.
3) How many times do they get to handle such a situation like this? (To which I rebutted: That's not an excuse!) Point 3 is very blah I feel.
Editted: Saturday 8/3/08 3:04 PM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got off school at 5plus today and upon arriving at Clementi MRT Station (must mention Station arboh people kaobei my English whahaha), ZH and I saw this signboard instructing people to take the NEL from Dhoby Ghaut. Being curious students, we wondered what had happened.
Me: Must be someone commit suicide there.
Yah it's plain dumb of me to think likewise. How can anyone jump onto the tracks UNDERGROUND??
Him: Train broke down? Cannot be. Train cannot operate from Dhoby Ghaut because there is no way a Harbour Front-bound train can teleport to the Punggol-bound tracks at Dhoby Ghaut without passing the 'faulty' MRT.
Smart leh. I didn't think of that at all.
Me: That leaves us with the third possibility. Your best friend Mr. Mas is being cornered there now.
Him: What's he doing at Outram Park? Go Hospital for medical check-up? Or sing KTV at Chinatown?
As everyone would have known by now (except probably Isaac who stays at remote Boon Lay/Jurong area, where no cool people live. Cool people dominate the East.), the police shot down a guy (not my friend's best friend) at the MRT Station and killed him. Apparently, the guy stabbed another guy and then he was spotted at the MRT Station by the police who confronted him and then he charged at them with a knife and they opened fire from a distance of three metres and hit his chest, killing him instantly.
The big question left unanswered is: Want to defend yourself must kill him meh?
I was trying to gauge how far 3 metres is, and I realise it's not that far. (It's about twice the height of Mr. Mas) However, taking the stabber's distance from the policemen to be x metres and the progress of time from being spotted to him "lunging the knife at them" to be t seconds, I sorta reasoned it out with myself and I still don't get why he needs to be killed.
Here's why. Considering the fact that he was only shot at x=3 metres, he would have been further than x=3 metres at t=0 seconds. (Sidetrack: Check for Biot Number) Wouldn't that have given the policeman ample time to take out his gun and aim at anywhere else, say his legs? Well that's why they do in Channel 8 dramas!
Considering the panic factor (I usually see slackers patrolling the MRT Stations anyway, they look nowhere prepared for such situations) and human nature to act on impulse, one might be able to understand the policeman's actions.
But wait. The stabber is a 43 year old man. Possibly with a big belly to go with the age. And poor stamina. And possibly with old age ailments such as HBP and diabetes. "Lunging the knife at them" required more time due to the additional 'resistances', wouldn't it?
I just don't feel that killing him that way is justifiable.
Oh this was supposed to be my point for the entire entry. I feel that the Sing society is getting a little more unsafe these days. First, it was the terrorist's escape incident, and now this. I also read in Stomp recently about one teenager who was slashed at the arm by a group of teenagers in Tampines just because they "don't like the way he walks". A few weeks back, my friend and I were hanging out downstairs and he approached a pretty young guy for lighter to light up his cigarette. When he came back, he told me the guy had a knife on his other hand.
Do you feel uneasy now? I do.
1) Crowded place. The poor police guy needs to aim really properly so that his shot doesn't hit anyone in the crowd but the armed robber.
2) The most accurate part of the body (or that with the highest surface area, or so he claimed) to send the bullet to without hitting other people in the crowd is the upper body. He didn't give a reason why not legs, but from the statement he gave, I infer that the legs have a "lower surface area" than the upper body.
3) How many times do they get to handle such a situation like this? (To which I rebutted: That's not an excuse!) Point 3 is very blah I feel.
Editted: Saturday 8/3/08 3:04 PM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got off school at 5plus today and upon arriving at Clementi MRT Station (must mention Station arboh people kaobei my English whahaha), ZH and I saw this signboard instructing people to take the NEL from Dhoby Ghaut. Being curious students, we wondered what had happened.
Me: Must be someone commit suicide there.
Yah it's plain dumb of me to think likewise. How can anyone jump onto the tracks UNDERGROUND??
Him: Train broke down? Cannot be. Train cannot operate from Dhoby Ghaut because there is no way a Harbour Front-bound train can teleport to the Punggol-bound tracks at Dhoby Ghaut without passing the 'faulty' MRT.
Smart leh. I didn't think of that at all.
Me: That leaves us with the third possibility. Your best friend Mr. Mas is being cornered there now.
Him: What's he doing at Outram Park? Go Hospital for medical check-up? Or sing KTV at Chinatown?
As everyone would have known by now (except probably Isaac who stays at remote Boon Lay/Jurong area, where no cool people live. Cool people dominate the East.), the police shot down a guy (not my friend's best friend) at the MRT Station and killed him. Apparently, the guy stabbed another guy and then he was spotted at the MRT Station by the police who confronted him and then he charged at them with a knife and they opened fire from a distance of three metres and hit his chest, killing him instantly.
The big question left unanswered is: Want to defend yourself must kill him meh?
I was trying to gauge how far 3 metres is, and I realise it's not that far. (It's about twice the height of Mr. Mas) However, taking the stabber's distance from the policemen to be x metres and the progress of time from being spotted to him "lunging the knife at them" to be t seconds, I sorta reasoned it out with myself and I still don't get why he needs to be killed.
Here's why. Considering the fact that he was only shot at x=3 metres, he would have been further than x=3 metres at t=0 seconds. (Sidetrack: Check for Biot Number) Wouldn't that have given the policeman ample time to take out his gun and aim at anywhere else, say his legs? Well that's why they do in Channel 8 dramas!
Considering the panic factor (I usually see slackers patrolling the MRT Stations anyway, they look nowhere prepared for such situations) and human nature to act on impulse, one might be able to understand the policeman's actions.
But wait. The stabber is a 43 year old man. Possibly with a big belly to go with the age. And poor stamina. And possibly with old age ailments such as HBP and diabetes. "Lunging the knife at them" required more time due to the additional 'resistances', wouldn't it?
I just don't feel that killing him that way is justifiable.
Oh this was supposed to be my point for the entire entry. I feel that the Sing society is getting a little more unsafe these days. First, it was the terrorist's escape incident, and now this. I also read in Stomp recently about one teenager who was slashed at the arm by a group of teenagers in Tampines just because they "don't like the way he walks". A few weeks back, my friend and I were hanging out downstairs and he approached a pretty young guy for lighter to light up his cigarette. When he came back, he told me the guy had a knife on his other hand.
Do you feel uneasy now? I do.
Labels: friends, funny, singsociety
posted by ; khsrL at
10:54 PM
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