"but it could never happen to me"

I had a hell of a day today. I also got to see a really brave side of one of my sister's friends, Emilyn.

Started off okay I guess. Had my medical in the morning, no particular complications, my visa should be ready in the next week.

Had tuition at Redhill in the evening, and had made plans to have our usual seafood dinner in JB with Aresha, Primela, Emilyn and her friend Ian, a really nice M'sian guy studying in Melbourne doing his internship in Singapore.

Things didn't seem to go right at first - the Cefiro's tank was almost empty so we got out of the checkpoint queue to pump petrol.

Got across the causeway, and Ian brought us somewhere different so we decided to give it a shot. There seemed to be flying cockroaches everywhere though.

Ian wasn't sure where we usually ate so after dinner we decided to show him our usual spot. Turns out, it was one of the dodgiest places in JB and just round the corner was the red light district. But we were so used to the area, some shopkeepers even knew us, so we decided to get off for some sugarcane juice and to learn more about the area.

We parked just across the road and walked over. Primela and I were just talking, and Aresha was just about to come and tell us about the area when we suddenly heard a huge commotion.

There was a sudden crowd emerging from the makan area so it took awhile to realise what was happening.

Emilyn was on the ground, being dragged by a snatch-thief on his motorbike who was clinging onto her handbag.

Ian immediately gave chase, and the fucker let go because a car in front of him had slowed down obstructing his path.

It was only after he let go, Aresha and I ran to Emilyn.

What would you do?

I'm being completely honest here. It took me a few seconds to fully comprehend the situation, because I was just..... stunned.

We can all say we'd be heroes, we'll make a run for it, kick the guy, I don't know. But in reality when it happens right in front of your eyes... It becomes a totally different ball game.

Right after the incident, before she even had time to collect her thoughts, she was so calm. She immediately stood up, picked up her broken haivannas off the floor and made her way to the car. We took her to a nearby 24-hour polyclinic to clean her up a bit. The sonofabitch dragged her about 3-4m, resulting in scrapes on her elbow and toes, and an abrasion on her hip.

Despite what happened.... I thank whoever is up there, or our luck, or the stars and the moon that it wasn't any worse. Anything could've happened..... She could've been hit by an accomplice (the bastard was alone), the bike was still moving and she was dangerously near the rear tyre, if there wasn't a car in front he might have just sped off without caring whether she was still dangling there or not.

She couldn't let go of the bag even if she wanted to cos her arm was caught in the strap.

After she got cleaned up, we sent her home and had a smoke on her porch to calm us down cos our nerves were still so frazzled.

On our way back, we counted our blessings.... Several times over. The place that was so familiar to us, and we were oblivious to its reputation for being a hotzone for snatch-theft and other nasty crimes. Week in and out we'd go there without fail, dressed however we wanted and paid no attention to how we were carrying our bags.

I don't know how long it'll be before we get over this enough to go back there to eat. My mind is all over the place at this point.

From now on, i'll read articles like this and this with a new mindset..... That it's much more REAL than you think. Living in Singapore, we take things sorely for granted. And when we read those articles, yes you may feel bad, but deep down you're telling yourself, 'ahh, at least it didn't happen to me' or 'it probably won't happen to me.'

Here's an FYI; there is a definite probability, and it's more significant than you think.