Man slashed & robbed at Tanglin Halt claims witnesses "did nothing to help"

Bystander effect.

Ashley Tan | October 16, 2019, 05:07 PM

A 58-year-old man was recently arrested for his suspected involvement in a case of armed robbery.

On Oct. 13, the suspect slashed another man with a fruit knife near Tanglin Halt Road, and managed to get away with the victim's mobile phone as well.

The suspect was arrested on the same day and was subsequently charged in court two days after the incident.

However, a Facebook post which surfaced recently revealed more details of what had happened that evening.

Victim of robbery was bleeding profusely from hand

One Kyle Huang Junyuan shared that he was with a group of friends at Tanglin Halt Market on the evening of Oct. 13.

They then spotted a blood trail leading to the hawker centre's toilet, and the trail appeared fresh.

Following it, they came across a middle-aged looking man holding a few bags of groceries and "bleeding profusely" from the hand.

According to Huang, the injury "didn't look life-threatening but the bleeding didn’t seem like it was going to stop any time soon."

Photo from Kyle Huang Junyuan / FB

The group asked if he was alright, and the man shared that he was having some drinks at the hawker centre, when he was robbed and slashed by the suspect.

Huang apparently called for an ambulance, and continued to question him.

"It was a gruesome sight as I saw blood continue to drip off his hand and I felt really sorry. But what he said after made my heart sank."

The man appeared torn up by the incident, and apparently started crying when he revealed to Huang and his friends that despite having many onlookers at the scene, nobody stepped forward to come to his aid.

"The people who witnessed this incident just stood by and did nothing to help. He cried as he questioned us why. Perhaps they were shocked and afraid of the assailant hurting them as well?"

Huang ended his post by urging people to "be a little more proactive in helping people in need" unless the situation poses an immediate danger to themselves.

You can view the original post here.

Or read his full story here:

"Earlier this evening, my friends and I saw a blood trail leading to the toilet at a hawker centre. It looked fresh and we just stared at each other in shock.

We saw this man bleeding profusely from his hand while holding a few bags of groceries. It didn't look life-threatening but the bleeding didn’t seem like it was going to stop any time soon. Upon asking if he was okay, he explained that he was just robbed and cut by another man wielding a penknife. He told us he was having some drinks at the hawker centre when it happened. We immediately asked him if he felt okay and whether we should call for help. But we just called for the ambulance anyway.

It was a gruesome sight as I saw blood continue to drip off his hand and I felt really sorry. But what he said after made my heart sank. The people who witnessed this incident just stood by and did nothing to help. He cried as he questioned us why. Perhaps they were shocked and afraid of the assailant hurting them as well?

Take a moment to think about what would you have done if you witnessed this incident. This man was in his late 40s and I think his nationality is irrelevant here. But I hope that we can all be a little more proactive in helping people in need (unless it poses an immediate danger to yourself as well).

The assailant was described by the victim to be a Chinese male, around 40 years old, wearing a white t-shirt that had the PSA logo on it. This incident happened around 10 pm on 13 October 2019 at Tanglin Halt Market. If anyone has any information, please contact the police."

Top photo from Kyle Huang Junyuan / FB