What will you do when you are the bystander?

2 days ago, in Air Itam, Penang, a Malaysian Chinese woman in her 60's, was robbed by a snatch-thief. Yesterday she passed away in the hospital, from the injuries she sustained from the robbery.

Last week, also in George Town, Penang, an artist/gallery-owner, was robbed in her gallery, the robbers cut her throat, but she was not killed.

What the 2 cases have in common? No people helped them.

In the case in Air Itam, newspapers ran the photos taken by the surveillance camera of the nearby motorcycle parking lot, which belongs to a flat. In the photos, the deceased was dragged by two snatch-thieves  on a motorcycle, and her head hit the ground. And according to the footage, she laid there for hours, and at least 6 people passed by without anyone trying to help.

It was an elder man who needed a cane to walk that saw her and called for help.

And in the case last week, the artist/gallery-owner was robbed, cut, bleeding, and with her gallery door wide open, the lights well-lit in the gallery, she was on the floor, leaning on the wall, near the door, which was clearly visible to anyone passing by, and there were also a few people passed by. They did not help. Finally a man passing by called for help.

This is the scary fact of Malaysian society. No, we have never heard of people are sued after they helped victims of road accidents like what happened in China. We just do not help.

It is easy for those who are reading this kind of news to say anything, make any comments they want. But what are you going to do when it is right in front of you? I mean when you are the by-standers or the people passing the crime scene; what are you going to do? Will you call an ambulance? call the police?

And about calling an ambulance, I got a personal little story here:
I was living at Kepong at the time, my septuagenarian mother fainted one night, I tried to call ambulance, no one picked up the phone at the Selayang Government Hospital, out of desperation, I tried to call UM hospital, and a woman picked up the phone, but told me since I live in Kepong, call Selayang hospital. I had no car, at the end I called a friend with a 4-wheel-drive to help send my mother to hospital.

This is something really happenning in Malaysia, not something that happened in China, like the toddler who got hit by a car and people just let her died.

Remember, talk is cheap.

馬來西亞救傷電車話（固線）：９９１（救傷車），９９９（火災，救傷車通用）

你會打電話叫救傷車嗎？
上星期在檳城的喬治市，傍晚時分，有位女畫家在自己的畫廊內被打刼，刼匪把女畫家的頸割傷。女畫家在燈光明亮的畫廊內，癱在畫廊入口處的地上，倚著牆，頸部的傷口流著血，門外有好幾人走過，但沒人施以援手。最後是有個男人去叫救傷車。

兩天前，也是在檳城，有位６０歲的老婦，在晚上回家的路上，被搶機車的兩個刼匪打刼，人被拖在地上，頭部受傷，倒在地上。我看到的中文報在封面刋出了案發的連環照。這些連環照是從在近旁的組屋的機車場的監視器録下的的影帶中截取的。根據報導，在老婦被打刼受傷倒地後，起碼有６人經過，但他們都沒施援。最後是有位要靠拐杖走路的老生先經過，見到了去求救。

你是馬來西亞人又在場的話，你會怎麽做？不在現場的人，不是受害人，在看到新聞後，說甚麽都可以。但當你自己就是在場目睹的人呢？當你自己就是受害人呢？你會怎麽做？

在馬來西亞打電話叫救傷車是很折騰的事。我本身有這樣的經驗：我母親深夜在家中暈倒了，自己沒有汽車，就打電話去士拉央的政府醫院叫救傷車，電話是打通了，但一直沒人接。當時是住在甲洞，急了，就打去馬大醫院，有人接，但回說我竟然是住在甲洞，那該打去士拉央的政付醫院。結果，是打電話叫朋友開車來送我母親去醫院。

當時就算有人經過看到，馬上打電話叫救傷車，叫得到嗎？要等多久打會有人接電話？之後要等多久才有救傷車來？這是現實的馬來西亞。政府可以說馬來西亞如何好，各政府部門如何有效率，但人民知道本身的經驗才是真的。