CLASH BASH
Youth argues with girl. It turns into slapping match. 5 hours
later, he meets with girl and her mother. Then a group of men
attacks him
By Alvin Chiang
December 31, 2005
THEY came out of the blue and belted him.
Peter showing how he covered his face during the attack.
--Pics/KELVIN CHNG
The gang of seven, made up of young men and teenagers, pounded and
kicked him.
Their teenage target had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance.
He was treated as an outpatient and discharged.
Five hours earlier at 5pm on Tuesday, Peter (not his real name),
19, had an argument with a 15-year-old girl, who he claimed is his
girlfriend.
We are not naming Peter, an ITE student, as the girl is a juvenile
and cannot be identified.
The argument at a bus interchange ended badly.
SLAPPED GIRL
Peter admitted that he slapped the girl.
It is not known if the later assault on him at another bus
interchange was a result of the slapping incident.
Peter recalled the incident: 'I got a call from one of my friends
who knows the girl.
'He said the girl wanted me to go to her house in Chai Chee
immediately to talk about what happened between me and her.'
The girl said a vein in her left eye burst after the slapping
incident with Peter. --KELVIN CHNG
He declined and told his friend he was hanging out with friends at
the interchange.
About 10 minutes later, Peter claimed, the girl and her mother
showed up at the interchange.
He said he saw a group of men, including some teenagers, close
by.
The girl's mother claimed that she had no idea who these men
were.
She said it was Peter who had told her to meet him at the
interchange after she called him to ask why he had hit her
daughter.
She asked Peter to apologise to her daughter. But while they were
talking, the group approached him.
Peter said a man in his 20s, whom he did not know, challenged him
to a fight but he refused.
The man then attacked him and the rest of the group charged
in.
Peter claimed that his friends were prevented from helping
him.
He said he covered his face with both arms to protect himself but
it was no use.
He said: 'After I covered my face, some of them started to attack
the back of my neck.
'I could feel my neck being hit by someone wearing boots. I could
tell they were not shoes because they felt very hard.
'Before I knew it, I fell to the ground.'
Peter claimed his attackers continued to kick and punch him for
about five minutes. They only stopped when a passer-by shouted at
them.
He suffered cuts and bruises on the back of his neck, left forearm,
left cheek and the left side of his ribcage.
His pair of green plastic spectacles was broken.
Police spokesman Siow Cheng Cheng confirmed that a rioting case
involving seven to eight men assaulting a youth took place at the
interchange on Tuesday night.
When the men attacked Peter, the girl and her mother moved
away.
The mother said: 'When I saw the men going for the boy, my daughter
and I quickly stepped out of the way. If not, we may have been hit
too.'
She said she was afraid that the men might go after her as
well.
'I was sitting next to him. Who knows, the attackers may think I am
related to him and come after me.'
The girl disputed Peter's claim that she is his girlfriend.
BROKE UP
She claimed she dated Peter for about two months, but they broke up
about six months ago.
She said she has another boyfriend now.
During their argument, they ended up slapping each other, she
said.
She showed The New Paper her injuries last night. A red mark was
still visible on her left arm.
Her mother said of Peter: 'I don't know why he thought my daughter
is still his girlfriend.
'He kept sending her text messages on her handphone even after they
broke up.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rise in teen rioting
THERE has been an increase in teen rioting over the years, police
figures show.
Rioting can be defined as fights or armed attacks involving more
than five people.
The number of rioting cases involving those between 7 and 19 years
old was 250 in the year 2001.
It rose to 446 in 2002 and increased again to 493 in 2003.
Last year, there were 512 such cases.
It's not known yet whether there will be another increase this
year. From January to June, 245 rioting cases were recorded.
Senior youth counsellor Joyce Chan said on average, she sees
between 50 to 130 teen rioters a year.
These teens were referred to the centre from the courts, schools
and families of the teens.
STARING
Ms Chan, who runs the Teen Challenge Student Centre, said staring
is one of the most common reasons that teens get into fights.
The counsellor with six years experience said: 'Some youths don't
like people to look at them.
'Even a normal look can be seen as a stare. But sometimes, there's
no reason why they mistake a look for a stare.
'They may just want to find fault or don't like someone's
face.'
She said peer pressure can also be a reason that teens join
gangs.
Once they are in gangs, the chances of such teens getting into
fights become higher.
