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?