Zhi Hao, Author at Goody Feed

During armed robberies, there would always be two parties: the perpetrator and the victim. While we always think about the case through the perpetrator’s eyes, I have always wondered about the victim’s perspective. And no, I’m not referring to the shop; I’m talking about the hijacked employee. The poor guy or gal must have suffered so much – imagine having to face this scary person armed with a weapon, and trying not to faint the whole time while packing cash into a bag. And what happens after that? Does he or she get traumatized? Will they get affected for life? How does it work exactly? Something shocking happened in Singapore again, and it's an armed robbery in Ubi. When I knew about the armed robbery at Western Union, I had one single thought: poor guy/girl. Here are tens facts about this that you should know. What Exactly Happened? A man armed with a knife robbed a Western Union branch. Not with a piece of paper (remember the Standard Chartered robbery?), but with a real knife. He supposedly forced an employee of the branch to fork over more than S$2,000 in cash before running away. The scared female employee started shouting for help, and the landlord of the branch, was who living upstairs heard it and rushed down. By then the culprit had totally disappeared. The police were alerted at around 10.50 am and investigations have been ongoing since then. Image: Straits Times Image: Straits Times Who was involved? The suspect and the coerced employee are believed to be the only ones involved. Nobody else was inside the branch when the robbery occurred. Where did it take place? The Western Union branch’s located at Block 301 Ubi Avenue 1, and that’s where the robbery happened. Image: JalelahCNA twitter page When did it take place? It happened yesterday (1 August 2017), which is a weekday that explains why it's so quiet. And because it's the beginning of the month, the place should be crowded soon. How did it happen? It’s still unclear how the robbery exactly took place, and we have to wait for police investigations to conclude and the aforementioned employee to speak up before we would know. Several people, however did speak out about what they know in separate interviews with Straits Times. According to an employee in Da Zhong Guo bakery, she did not notice any security officers patrolling outside the branch. The patrons tend to be foreign workers (to remit money), and during lunch hours on weekdays when it will get especially crowded. A Chinese physician who’s known only as Mr Lee said that he’s worked in the area for five to six years and the area has always been reasonably safe. Well, to be honest, everywhere in Singapore has always been reasonably safe (maybe except for an area in the north of Singapore). The robber's probably done some research before venturing with the heist. Either that or he was just plain lucky. Not for long though. Western Union's Response Western Union has said that they are prioritizing the welfare of the threatened staff member. They have arranged for support onsite and will persist in assisting the staff in the days ahead. Good guy Western Union! If I could present a Best Welfare Provided By A Company award I would definitely award it to you guys! Kudos! This was the second robbery in...two days That’s right! Just one day ago on 31 July 2017, a 48 year-old man robbed a Shell petrol station and made off with more than S$1,100! The difference? He was arrested on the same day while... The suspect is still at large The suspect for this case, however, is still yet to be found, but there’s a description of him out there. He’s said to be tall, and wore a white helmet, black jacket and dark-coloured long trousers at the time of the robbery. Image: Channel News Asia The last time such an incident happened According to Mr Liu, who’s also the owner of a flower shop located right next to the branch, the last time such an incident had happened was 1988. That’s nearly 30 years ago! But wait, it happened before? Now, that's even more shocking. What is Western Union? For the uninitiated, Western Union is a money transfer leader that offers money transfer services. Many foreign workers in Singapore use its service to remit cash to their family back in their country. Sometimes, the queue can be so long that one wonders whether they're selling Hello Kitty soft toys as well. And now that you know what it is, you should also know they have...erm, lots of cash with them. Image: ranchosanmiguelmarkets.com With two robberies in as many days, it's hard not to wonder... Do these people rob because they sense that Singapore's security is degrading and they can actually pull it off? Or did they do it because of a lapse in sanity? 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Zhi Hao

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