Silat hero from singapore disarms an attacker in a food court

The Hero

SINGAPORE - A butcher used his silat skills to disarm a man who was slashing another man with a chopper Thursday morning.

Mr Mohd Rahid, 33, who has been practising the Malay martial art for about 10 years, and his brother, Mr Hussain Khan, 51, were at their stall in an Ang Mo Kio market when they heard a commotion about 20m away.

When they went to check it out, they were shocked to see two men wrestling on the floor of the market and food centre at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4.

One man was armed with a chopper. The other was bleeding profusely from a large slash wound on his right arm and several wounds on his back.

Recounting the incident, which happened at about 10.45am, to The New Paper, Mr Rahid said: "Everyone else was just looking and no one went to help. I knew I had to do something."

The brothers went towards the two men.

"I wasn't scared and didn't think twice. All I thought about was taking away the chopper, which was dangerously close to the other man's neck," said Mr Rahid.

"It wasn't easy, though. The (attacker's) grip was very strong and I had a hard time prising the knife away."

But he eventually succeeded and managed to separate the men with Mr Hussain's help.

The police said they received a call at about 10.55am requesting for assistance.

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Suspect arrested

When they arrived, they found an injured man.

They arrested a suspect in his 40s for voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon. They also took away a chopper from the scene.

Stallholders at the food centre said the suspect owned a drinks stall there, but they did not know the victim.

A passer-by bandaged the victim's arm and took him to a clinic about 200m away for treatment, reported Chinese evening newspaper Shin Min Daily News.

The man, who is in his 50s, was later taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, a Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said.

When TNP arrived at the scene, the police had cordoned off the area. A large patch of semi-dried blood could be seen on the floor.

A friend of the suspect said: "He said he was going to the toilet. The next thing we knew, this had happened."

The suspect's wife said she was feeling dizzy and declined to speak to reporters.

The motive for the attack remains unclear but Shin Min understands that it could have been over a money dispute.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Mr Rahid, who was praised by other stall owners, played down his heroic act.

"All I know is that if I didn't go to help, there would be a 99 per cent chance the victim may have died.

"I'm not a hero. I'm just a butcher who wanted to save someone's life," he said.

Horror

People were looking at the fight in horror until two men he recognised from another stall in the market, appeared.

They were Mr Mohd Rahid and his brother, Mr Hussain Khan, who stopped the fight and separated the two men.

Mr Neo, who has been running his aquarium stall for about 30 years, said: "It all happened very fast. This is the first time I've seen something like this."


Article Taken from http://news.asiaone.com