Ms Ang, a volunteer for children's development needs, commented on her photo of 3 boys, aged 9 to 12 years old, being arrested for theft on a Saturday morning (Dec 27): “Pains my heart that the police (would) handcuff young kids.”
Amolat Singh, a criminal lawyer, had this to add: “We don't see such things happening very often in Singapore, so when I heard and saw this photo, naturally it was quite shocking.”
What really takes the cake is this dumb statement from the highly esteemed Singapore Police Force (SPF): “The subjects were handcuffed for the safety of them and others as they had attempted to escape before police’s arrival.”
By safety, they must mean the danger of being shot by a trigger happy cop, or pinned to the ground with a positional asphyxiation inducing choke hold like Dinesh Raman was. Any CCTV camera within range would naturally be under maintenance or conveniently out of order, as in the Mas Selamat episode.
This is surely a fitting going away present from departing Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee, 48, who will be replaced by current Deputy Commissioner of Investigations and Intelligence, Hoong Wee Teck, 51, on January 6 next year. Ng, if you recall, said he signed on as a police officer 29 years ago mainly to get a freebie scholarship to study at Oxford University. Who gives a damn if a 9 year old kid will be traumatised for the rest of his life by the cold steel of a SPF handcuff?
Posts
A picture to round off the year? Could be a premature statement, given the situation here. There are still 4 more days to come.
ReplyDeleteAgree ! Still early days . You can never know what idiotic things will pop up in Uniquely Singapore . SPF men and women who may not be able to out run young boys ? New PGO after the Little India Riots to use All available resources?
DeleteMy friend had a bad experience with police. His father who was diagnosed as having demential by TTSH at that time had committed a crime of theft (cigattetes from coffee shop). The family pleaded with the officers not to handcuff him as he is in the late 70s and cannot recall any wrong doing. Threatening to take action against family members, they continue to handcuff him. The end result was that he injured himself at the police station, went to KTP hospital and never recover since then. Demential and unable to walk.
DeleteIs this true?
ReplyDeleteEven children are not safe from this LKY-PAP hard truths?
This and other indelible images of 2014 would not have been possible without the Internet. 2015 looks to be even more exciting as more skeletons come out of the closets.
ReplyDeleteHow else would you have expected the police to restrain them ?
ReplyDeleteYou also use handcuffs on your kids to restrain them?
Delete4 adult police officers VERSUS 3 kids no older than 12 years old.
DeleteWah! Very dangerous.
In the Little India riots.
The situation was less dangerous.
That's why no handcuffs were used.
Maybe should go ask the train company what they have been using to fasten the rail tracks.
DeleteLooks like these very brave policemen/women should be highly commended or even be awarded medals for exceptional bravery.
ReplyDeleteIt is about time to give out the Pingat Gagah Perkasa - no one has been awarded since 1966.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingat_Gagah_Perkasa
Can the parents sue?
ReplyDeletePAPig ideology spreads to France:
ReplyDelete"FRENCH CITY INSTALLS ANTI-HOMELESS CAGES AROUND BENCHES"
http://therealsingapore.com/content/french-city-installs-anti-homeless-cages-around-benches
It might be for a 'just kidding' footage.
ReplyDeletepatriot
To be fair, it looks like this occurred near traffic. If the kids had indeed tried to run away before being restrained, then the risk of injury or death - to themselves or others - was real.
ReplyDeleteI can therefore sympathize with the police's decision to restrain them in this instance. However there is probably a better way of achieving that than using handcuffs. I think other police forces use zip ties for similar situations.
To be fair, Chia Thye Poh was locked away for 23 years without trial so that he wouldn't be associating with dangerous communists.
DeleteI detest the ISA as much as you, but what you just raised is a bad analogy.
DeleteHandcuffing in and of itself is not a punishment. The only way your analogy would work is if the boys' handcuffs never got taken off, even after reaching the police station. Do you have access to knowledge of that kind?
Maybe you should propose to MOE that all school teachers should be issued with handcuffs.
DeleteNot a punishment, if it's taken off a student after reaching the school principal's office.
In this instance, I think the police were just following the "law" without thinking the psychological impact on the kids. As long its an arrest, then handcuffs.
DeleteRemember once they confronted Chee SJ for hawking his book, they couldn't even cite what section of what law Chee had infringed. As long as its Chee he had to be told to stop or booked.
Actually hor, these police did the right thing to handcuff these pai kia and taught them a lesson they would not forget for a long, long time and would not return to crime again.
ReplyDeleteIt is called tough love.
Hahaha but April 1 is still some time yet.
DeleteSaycheese
Ya loh, like the tough love dished out to political opponents.
DeleteWould they cuff a dangerous octogenerian who carries a hatchet or knuckle duster into a cul-de-sac?
DeleteI assume you support canning too....
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThose who believe that, “Tough love” will help children to fully understand the concept of right from wrong, without suffering from any detrimental effects to the continuing holistic development, are far removed from the truth and reality.
ReplyDeleteThose who say that we should just allow our police officers to “Do their jobs” without any forms of criticism or critical observations, are they implying that we should let people of authority do whatever they deem fit, even if their actions may be questionable?
Demanding that our children conform to rules under any circumstances, without application of critical analysis to the information or instruction, can be a major barrier to the development of self-regulation, and hence, our society today. We have to realise that conformity, without any analysis or scrutiny to what we are conforming to, has led us to where we are now, policies that are not in our best interests are being implemented, without any regard to what and how we feel about the policies.
“If a practice can’t be justified on its own terms, then the task for children and adults alike, isn’t to get used to it, but to question, to challenge, and if necessary, to resist.”
Alfie Kohn,(Feel Bad Education), a provocative author and a leading speaker on human behaviour, education, and parenting.
https://iamahumanbeingtoo.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/do-children-really-learn-about-right-and-wrong-through-fear-humiliation-and-punitive-punishments/
It's also important to get both spelling and grammar checked before submitting essays. I try to get all of mine done myself except for several occasions where I rely on external help. Just look at this website now to explore more techniques and ideas here. All the best!
ReplyDelete