Singapore police investigate assault on elderly man who patted girl's head
3 days ago by lechekaflan to c/world
Everyone in the original story was in the wrong, but Jesus are the comments here insane!
People are normalizing child abuse. It's a huge problem.
Don't touch random strangers in public, least of all their kids.
We're talking consequences, not justice. Don't touch random strangers or their kids.
What do we know?
A video of the incident shows the elderly man patting the child on the head as he walked past her table at a food court in a shopping centre.
A woman seated at the same table, believed to be the girl's mother, immediately stopped him. Another man believed to be the father, walking back to the table, confronted the elderly man.
After what appeared to be a heated exchange, the younger man was seen grabbing the elderly man's arm and throwing him to the ground.
Seemingly, a strange man violated a child's personal space without her consent. What message does it send the child? "You are property for others to touch when they please?" Yes, that probably deserves retribution. People should know that this behavior is unacceptable. I wonder what words were exchanged.
An old man patted a child's head. I don't think the head pat is a message that the child is his property. What type of "retribution" do you think is deserved here? It's crazy that you would even use that word. Retribution is defined as punishment inflicted as vengeance.
Of course it's weird to touch people's heads but your take on this is crazy.
I don't think the head pat is a message that the child is his property.
What does the child think?
What type of "retribution" do you think is deserved here?
Hard to say. It's partly why I wonder what they said to each other.
It's crazy that you would even use that word.
It's crazy that you're trying to normalize child abuse.
Retribution is defined as punishment inflicted as vengeance.
Correct. Do you know why? Because the damage was already done. He did not ask before touching, he touched someone else's child. No one can undo that. We could ask him politely not to do it again, but would that deter him and others like him? No. Show them what happens when they choose to casually violate the boundaries of others.
Why are you more interested in defending the aggressor than the victims?
Absolutely. Standing up for your child is not encouraging violence, it's teaching them that their boundaries are important. Those are parents who care about their child's developing self-worth and there need to be more like them.
Try to tell that to my 70+ yr old mom.
No, YOU tell her, instead of making excuses for her.
And especially their heads.
No, at all.
Really? You can't think of anywhere else that would be worse?
The head is relatively tame, but the point is that he violated her personal space, her boundaries, without asking. He treated her like an object for his appreciation. Do you think young children should be okay with strange old men touching them? Do you think their parents should be okay with that? I don't. I can't say whether their choice was the best one, but I am absolutely glad they did something about it.
You seem to read a lot of things in my comment that only show your own disturbed mind. There might be reasons for that, but it does not justify your reaction.
Can you explain what you meant by "especially thier heads"? Where is it acceptable for a child to be touched without their consent, according to you?
In many south-east Asian cultures it is taboo to touch a person's head, as this is considered the most sacred part of the body. Similarly it is taboo to point at or move something with the feet, since the feet are considered dirty.
Singapore is a country that prides itself on its multiculturalism with a mixture of primarily Chinese, Malay and Indian populations. Cultural norms are probably different among these different populations, but in a country like Singapore I would expect an elderly man to be aware of the taboo regardless of his cultural background.
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Reading the comments in this thread makes it clear the news is still doing an amazing job of making everyone angry at anything but the real issues
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