Singapore police investigate assault on elderly man who patted girl's head

3 days ago by lechekaflan to c/world

A man believed to be the father of the young girl allegedly threw the 73-year-old to the ground after the pat.
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SarahValentine 14 points 3 days ago

Don't touch random strangers in public, least of all their kids.

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nialv7 16 points 3 days ago

wait, you think this assault was justified?

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SnoopSqueak -7 points 3 days ago

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.

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workerONE 31 points 3 days ago

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.

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SnoopSqueak -19 points 3 days ago

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?

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blartcap_ 7 points 3 days ago

I really have to know what you think being patted on the head means because you're speaking as if the child was punched in the face.

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SnoopSqueak -5 points 3 days ago

No, I'm speaking as if she was touched without her consent. Because she was. We shouldn't normalize that.

Children should know that they have autonomy. Children should be taught the importance of consent so they can protect themselves. Adults should know better than to touch others without consent.

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blartcap_ 2 points 3 days ago

No, much of the language and ideas you expressed are more in line with if some great violence or trauma was inflicted. It does not line up with an unwanted head pat.

I am still not convinced you know what a pat on the head is compared to a punch in the face.

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SarahValentine 1 point 2 days ago

a pat on the head

a punch in the face

Their differences are irrelevant to the question of "was it done intentionally to a stranger without their consent?" If the answer is yes then it wasn't okay, whether it was a pat on the head, a punch in the face, or a grab by the pussy.

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blartcap_ -1 points 2 days ago

That's not the question at hand. The question at hand is why they're flattening the two things in order to describe the act as "child abuse", and generally overreact to the exact nature of the action. The fact of the touch being non-consensual is not in question but the description of it as violence, traumatic, and abuse is.

Jumping to extremes is not rational behaviour.

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SnoopSqueak -3 points 2 days ago

much of the language and ideas you expressed are more in line with if some great violence or trauma was inflicted

It was, on me. And it happens because assholes like you normalize abuse and defend aggressors instead of victims.

It does not line up with an unwanted head pat.

It does, the child's consent was disregarded and her personal space was violated. This is unacceptable.

I am still not convinced you know what a pat on the head is compared to a punch in the face.

I'm still not convinced you realize you're literally trying to defend abuse.

Fuck off.

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blartcap_ -1 points 2 days ago

It was, on me. And it happens because assholes like you normalize abuse and defend aggressors instead of victims.

This is not about you, and that's weird as hell that you're saying you've been traumatized and violated by reading a story of an old man getting beat up for patting a child on the head without asking first. This is a next-level martyrdom complex.

If you think I'm "normalizing abuse" by taking issue with your idea of abuse as irrational, ridiculous, and downright stupid, then you can follow through with what that means for your assertion that I'm normalizing abuse.

It does, the child’s consent was disregarded and her personal space was violated. This is unacceptable.

A pat on the head is not a punch to the face, the same way that tripping and falling because someone accidentally bumped into you is not the same as having someone break your ankles with a golf club. Flattening two very different actions to a common denominator in order to treat them both as extremely as possible is irrational and, interestingly, a highly aggressive and hostile act in and of itself.

I’m still not convinced you realize you’re literally trying to defend abuse.

Fuck off.

A pat on the head is not abuse. I question your notions of what abuse is if you're throwing around that term so liberally. I challenge you to go to a group of abuse victims and tell them that an old man patted you on the head so you're equally as aggrieved and traumatized as someone who experiences domestic violence that leaves bruises and black eyes.

Then we'll see who has to fuck off.

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