Little India Riots: Afterthoughts

Curious to know what some people think of the Little India Riots that took place last night (December 8)?
Here’s a list of what some people say of last night’s riot at Little India.

“Some will intellectualize while others satirize. Comments fly at will from the keyboards but let me tell you, a riot or whatever you may want to call it is not a rose by any other name. Been there [during the ’60s], saw the real deal many, many years ago and it was really not pretty. It was fortunate that last night’s violence was contained in a relatively short period of time.”  — Facebook user, Lawrence Chong.

“The cleanup should have been done a long time ago before the riot. Anyone who’s been to Little India during the weekends should know that place: messy, with garbage strewn all over the district, crowds of people standing in the middle of the roads, people sitting on pedestrian walkways, drunk people continuing to enjoy their drink. I’m a little surprised that only one person was knocked down and killed by the bus. I’m not being sadistic but it’s a good thing the riot happened or the government will continue to close one eye on all that happens in Little India.” Facebook user, Clarence Koh.

“I salute our enforcement officers and paramedics. Yes, my condolences to the family and friends of the dead foreign worker BUT that does not mean you can take the law into yr own hands and start a mob riot, burn ambulances, police cars, injure people, engage.in violent criminal behaviour etc. That is not acceptable.” — Facebook user, Florence Leow (Flor Leow Dhenrychan).

“The scene resembles a battlefield.” — TNP reporter Zaihan Mohamed Yusof and photojournalist Jonathan Choo. At one point, Mr Choo had to run from a mob hurling objects at him while a coffee shop owner rescued Mr Zaihan from another group of people running towards him.
The government must take a serious look at how forign workers are treated in Singapore. Over the years, they have been a steady stream of reports that foreign workers in Singapore are being exploited by their employers, such as being made to work overtime and without adequate reimbursement, having their salaries withheld, or subject to other unreasonable demands. —  sgpolitics.