The video discusses the rise in incidents of senseless violence in Singapore, highlighting recent cases such as the attack on a 70-year-old "Yakok auntie" and a stabbing at St. Joseph’s Church. These acts appear to lack rational motivation, unlike crimes of passion or theft, causing concern in the typically peaceful and law-abiding society of Singapore. The video explores the idea that the surge in such violence may not be unique to Singapore, drawing parallels with larger-scale occurrences in China.

The speaker hypothesizes that an economic downturn may be linked to the increase in senseless violence. By correlating economic performance to these incidents, the video suggests that Singapore and China’s economic struggles, evidenced by declining exports and gdp figures, could be contributing factors. The speaker argues that while classic crimes can be prevented through personal caution, senseless acts are challenging to anticipate or avoid, increasing public anxiety.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. senseless [ˈsɛnsləs] - (adjective) - Lacking meaning, purpose, or a rational basis. - Synonyms: (meaningless, irrational, pointless)

...there is quite a spat of senseless violence that happening in Singapore.

2. assaulted [əˈsɔltɪd] - (verb) - To physically attack or harm someone. - Synonyms: (attacked, beaten, struck)

...a Yakok auntie, 70 years old, was being assaulted and dies after the assault at Sengkang block during delivery.

3. hypothesis [haɪˈpɑːθəsɪs] - (noun) - A proposed explanation for a phenomenon, used as a basis for further investigation. - Synonyms: (theory, assumption, conjecture)

My hypothesis is this.

4. extrapolating [ɪkˈstræpəleɪtɪŋ] - (verb) - To extend or project facts or data into an area not directly observed. - Synonyms: (predicting, inferring, estimating)

Now I'm probably over extrapolating.

5. stimulus [ˈstɪmjələs] - (noun) - Something that incites or quickens activity, interest, or reaction. - Synonyms: (catalyst, incentive, boost)

...the Chinese government has to step in with a lot of economic stimulus.

6. culprit [ˈkʌlprɪt] - (noun) - A person or thing responsible for causing a problem or misdeed. - Synonyms: (offender, cause, perpetrator)

You'll find that the main culprit for the decline is China.

7. gdp [ˌdʒiː diː ˈpiː] - (abbreviation) - Gross Domestic Product, a measure of a country's economic performance. - Synonyms: (economic output, national product, growth measure)

...some gdp numbers seems to indicate that we are doing okay.

8. intervened [ˌɪntərˈviːnd] - (verb) - To come or occur between events or aspects to prevent or alter an outcome. - Synonyms: (intervened, mediated, interfered)

...there was a man who intervened, but in this case he was kind of trained because he was a retired cop...

9. assailant [əˈseɪlənt] - (noun) - A person who attacks another, either physically or verbally. - Synonyms: (attacker, aggressor, antagonist)

...support and subdue the assailant.

10. economy [ɪˈkɒnəmi] - (noun) - The wealth and resources of a country, especially in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services. - Synonyms: (financial system, economic system, marketplace)

...the senseless violence seems to be an indication of Singapore economy not doing as good...

Why is Singapore Becoming More Dangerous?

Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know you have noticed there's a rise in senseless violence in Singapore and I think it's worthwhile to talk about them and see what we can do about it. Let's watch on, shall we? Recently I've been noticing that there is quite a spat of senseless violence that is happening in Singapore. We are not talking about robbery, we're not talking about crimes of passion. We're not talking about the typical kind of crime that we used to see in the past.

For example, the most prominent case is a Yakok auntie, 70 years old, was being assaulted and dies after the assault at Sengkang block during delivery. A man 30 years old has been arrested and charged and she's supposed to go on a holiday the next morning. But she's so committed to deliver the night before. And in fact after she was assaulted, she actually told people that, you know, she has delivery to make and so on. Right? And unfortunately after that she passed away. And it's such a senseless thing. Which person at 30 years old will assault someone that's 70 years old, a lady somehow, right? It's completely senseless, right?

There was another case of a priest at St. Joseph's Church at Bukit Timah suddenly being assaulted by someone with a knife attack. And this is not robbery, right? This is not a typical case of revenge or anger. We don't really know the case, what's the reason it is, but it seems so senseless. It is shocking to a very peace loving and with such a powerful rule of the law.

There was another case in October where a man, 41 years old have died after a knife attack at HCB block. Another man, 50 years was arrested. So more and more of these kinds of cases are coming up which shocks a lot of Singaporeans and it certainly surprised me as well. And these are cases at the surface to me seem like senseless violence.

Now are we the only country that having this senseless violence? Well, you know, let's watch on. Surprisingly over the last two weeks the same kind of attacks have happened in China in a much bigger scale. There was a case in China where there was a driver drove an SUV or car into a crowd and killed 35 people, right? This is pretty deadly and this is very unheard of and this is certainly something that shocked the whole world and certainly surprised the whole of China.

Soon after that there was another case of eight persons being killed in a stabbing incident at a school and the assailant doesn't seem to be doing it because he's trying to rob someone or things like that. It doesn't even seem like a terrorist kind of attack. It's just senseless attack.

In the most surprising case, 23 or 24 hours ago, a car drove into a crowd outside a China primary school and injured many, many people. And fortunately the driver was being napped and the driver was being dragged out of it and beaten almost to death by the mob. And suddenly this is something very concerning. So this is also happening to China, but in a much bigger scale. And what we are experiencing in Singapore seems to be much smaller scale. I don't know whether the rest of the world is experiencing this, but these are the cases that just pop out. To me, it seems like senseless.

My hypothesis is this. I cannot prove it theoretically, but this is my gut feel. As the economic performance of a place worsens, the cases of senseless violence increases. And that is probably why we are seeing more and more of it in China, because the economic slowdown is picking up at a rapid pace that the Chinese government has to step in with a lot of economic stimulus. And these are not going to take effect for quite some time.

Certainly this is something of a big concern, and in Singapore we are probably experiencing more and more of it as well. This kind of senseless crime is quite concerning because there's almost nothing we can do to prevent this as an individual. So in the case of a crime of passion or crime involving money, I certainly know what I can do to avoid, prevent or even minimize it. There are certain places I shouldn't go, there are certain hours I shouldn't be leaving home, and there are certainly certain things I shouldn't be flaunting and things like that. So there are certain things that we can do to prevent this kind of typical classic crime. But in the case of senseless violence, how do you prevent them?

And this is quite concerning. So if my hypothesis is right, then our economy isn't doing that well. And as a result senseless violence is on the rise. So is our economy doing well? Well, on the surface, some gdp numbers seem to indicate that we are doing okay, but not so great as I do a straw poll across many of my business friends and things like that, businesses have been on a decline significantly and I think a decline of 20, 30% in businesses seems to be very common across all my SME friends. And this is certainly very concerning. There's some indication that my gut feel and my straw pole is correct.

Singapore non-oil domestic export has weakened quite significantly with October export down 4.6%. And I think there are some analysts actually predicted it would be up 4%. Right. So this is not just the number being wrong, but even the sign where it's supposed to be positive has now turned negative on the reverse is wrong. And this is quite concerning. Peel the onion and look at the details. You'll find that the main culprit for the decline is China. Right? China has gone down significantly in October. The non-oil domestic export has gone down. And you break it up, you'll see that the electronics have gone down a bit, but the non-electronic export has gone down significantly in the month of October.

And this also coincided with the launch of the stimulus by the Chinese authorities. And this certainly is an indication that the Chinese economy is in serious trouble and we are feeling the impact of it because China is a big export country for Singapore. And if you are to look at a related market, which is Hong Kong, Hong Kong has already gone down significantly over September and October. And look at the numbers, right? And the scary part is a non-electronic export, we're looking at a negative 60% decline and a 50% decline. That's very serious on a year on year decline.

So we are really feeling something. And not to mention that even exports to Europe and to Japan have declined significantly year on year as well. So as a whole, Singapore's economy seems to have some threat of decline because the Chinese economy is worsening significantly. The senseless violence seems to be an indication of the Singapore economy not doing as well as the surface numbers are telling us. And that's quite serious, right? Because if the economy continues to decline and the senseless violence were to increase, then that's quite a serious case. Now I'm probably over extrapolating. There are many cases where there is a recession and I don't see the kind of senseless violence, but this kind seems to be simmering right now and suddenly exploding out.

And this is quite concerning because, as I said, this is something that we can't control as individuals. So on this note, maybe my take is this. When there are signs of senseless violence, the community must jump in to help. So there are cases where the members of the public have stepped up and stopped people from injuring others. In the case of St. Joseph church stabbing, there was a man who intervened, but in this case he was kind of trained because he was a retired cop and headed Lee Kuan Yew's police security team.

So thanks to the people who came to support and subdue the assailant, there's something. While we want to also stop this kind of senseless violence, but do take note that you should protect your own safety whenever you can. It's easy to say I don't know how I'll react in the environment but this is something we are quite concerned about so this is not something that many people would like to hear but I think it's better to be more cautious and more aware of your surroundings.

So I'll just say this that Singapore isn't as safe as it used to be so let's take care of one another and look out for one another whenever we can and whenever is possible and I hope that these kind of cases are probably one off and won't repeat again but if it does rise up again I hope the community rises up to stop it.

So let's look after for each other and let's also say a word of prayer for all these things to come to an end and hope that it won't happen again so this is Lou signing off and I'll see you in a day or two Bye.

SINGAPORE, ECONOMICS, GLOBAL, SOCIAL ISSUES, PUBLIC SAFETY, COMMUNITY ACTION, 1M65