xiu4 shou3 pang2 guan1

had a hands-on lesson on it today

was having dinner with my family in the holland road area
you know the place that does a mean OX fish beehoon
we were eating and minding our own business
when my dad went "those 2 guys are fighting"

we all turned to look
2 middle age men. one slighty older then the other
one in blue and the other in white
and to say they were fighting is a little inaccurate
the blue guy was clearly the attacker
he was slapping, kicking, punching and pushing the victim
who was evidently unable to defend himself at all

there were perhaps 20 plus of us in the near vincinity
definition of near being we had front row seats to watching everything
we all watched in silence save maybe some disapproving tsks
emitting gasps when the white guy got whacked to the ground
the coffeeshop owner went out to attempt to chase them away
that lasted all of 3 seconds i think

the "fight" started again
this time more brutal plus alot of crass verbal inclusions
which i [un]fortunately could not understand cos it was in hokkien
the white guy got kicked in the stomach [i think]
he stumbled, got kicked again and he fell back
his head struck the sharp edge of the sighboard frame with a sickening thud
his body layed still on the pavement
everyone around started emiting gasps again
one of the customers took out his phone to call the police
and the police station was just across the road
so the blue guy was quickly apprehended

the white guy started moving a little [phew]
rolling around with pain and disorientation i guess
using his hand to cover the back of his head
everyone was not eating at all, we were just watching
no one offered to help that poor guy at all!
there he was obviously in some pain yet we all remained seated
no one bothered to give him a hand
the closest was a worker at the coffee shop who peered over to check if he was alive
we remained glued to our seats

there was blood from the wound
his hand was covered with it
it wasnt gushing or anything
but im sure everyone saw [front row seats remember?]
yet our butts kept in close contact with the seats
he wasnt terribly injured
he could sit up after a while

my parents told us to hurry up and finish the food
and we left after that
we got off the seats but it was off to the car not to him
we drove past the spot where finally a kind soul handed a chair to him
there was a patch of blood on the ground

in the short 15mins or so
i think i learnt abt another side of singaporeans
we are brilliant with what is commonly termed as "eye power"
we just wait for someone else to do it
i know i did