We have heard of brave policemen and of policemen running away from the mob. We have heard of praises and medals for bravery and brickbats for not holding the ground, and worse, policemen fleeing for safety. And the dominant view, the policemen are the law enforcers and must make a stand, face the mobsters and deal with them with force and authority. The alternative view is that the police on the ground were outnumbered and there was no need to risk life and injuries, no need to attack the mob to escalate the tension and create a nasty situation.
At the moment all the comments are academic as the commentators are detached from a reality, from the tense situation where personal security were at risk. And from the comfort of sitting behind a computer and punching the keyboard I thought it would be easy for Arnold Schwarzeneggar or Robocop to deal with the mob single handed. It would be a piece of cake even if the mob were illiterate villagers that were used to violence, to pelting policemen with stones and anything they could lay their hands on, to overturning and burning police cars. One thing for sure, they were not the nice school children that could be shouted down by a school teacher. It was a violent and incensed mob.
What would happen if the orders were not given to pull back but instead for the handful of policemen to charge at the mob before the arrival of the SOC officers is moot. There could be a few serious casualties among the men and women in blue. Did anyone suggest to the police women to charge at the mob? This sounds like the soldiers in Kota Tinggi during Confrontation who thought it was a picnic and they could take a break bathing in the river unguarded.
It is quite fun really to make all kinds of postulations and even gungho ideas in the comfort of an aircon room with tea and cakes to munch. The riot could throw up a few heroes like Arnold or a few policemen in black plastic bags. Who is wiser?
What do you think? Of course it looked quite ridiculous and malu for policemen and women running away from a mob. It would be nice if they would strut out from the ambushed ambulance with guns blazing in both hands, taking down the mobsters in their way. This would be great stuff for Hollywood or even Mediacorp. Really great for adrenalin pumping and story telling and a great opportunity missed.
I am still having a lot of wild imaginations on what it could have been. If only I had a machine gun crew. But these kinds of wet dreams are best for the early hours in bed. One can only 'how lian' after the event and not being there.
Chua Chin Leng AKA RedBean
*The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.sg/