This brings me to ask, then, what can girls use for self-defense in Singapore?

In the past one year only, I have been: robbed, molested, and harassed by men of ages 20 to 40 (an approximate), simply because I look defenseless and vulnerable. And which girl does not look defenseless unless she is of big build and muscled?

Tonight, I was walking home from the MRT station at about 10pm, when, at my void deck, I was accosted by a man of approximately 40 years of age. He said in Mandarin, “Miss, miss, are you going home? Where do you live?” and when I ignored him and walked past him, he grabbed my arm.

Shocked, I stood rooted for a moment, and then tried to get away. He tightened his grip on my arm. Because of the awkward positioning of our bodies, I could not use my knee (you know, the usual defense tactic – bringing up your knee to kick him in the crotch), so instead, I kicked his leg using the leg I had nearest to him, and I suppose my high-heeled shoes hurt him when the pointy heel dug into his thigh. He loosened his grip, and I got away, leaving him to laugh maniacally behind me.

Lodging a police report will likely yield nothing (in fact, I made a police report when I was robbed, but no suspects were even caught), and what little I remember from my self-defense Aikido classes back in NTU is is not going to help much if the perpetrators are persistent and have more violent streaks in them than those that I have encountered thus far. Yes, I can use those killer stilettos that I perpetually have on, to attack the violator, provided I can get them off soon enough. But what else can I do if I happen to be wearing flats or kitten heels the next time this happens?

The Singapore Police Force themselves have put out banners and posters for their Crime Awareness outreach / campaign whose tagline reads “Low crime rate does not mean no crime!”

I think it is time that we take this campaign a step further, and admit to ourselves not only the fact that crime does exist in Singapore, but also to slacken the laws on possession of self-defense tools for the purpose of self-defense!

Yes, I’ve heard of Community Safety and Security Programme (CSSP) and the Citizens on Surveillance (COS) initiative. But what good are these to me, when in fact, I do not see any one sitting at void decks looking out for me at all? What good are these programmes and initiatives with fancy names when you are already being violated, attacked, harassed and when you are already a victim of crime ?

I personally feel that possession of a weapon would greatly help girls. I know the argument that if a person can own such an item for self-defense, so can anyone else, for the purpose of attacking others. But what else do you propose we do, for self-protection?

How feasible or practical are the guidelines (for self-protection) of:

1. Not going out at night (sure, you might as well impose an 8pm curfew for all women)
2. Always ensuring that you do not walk alone (and every woman is to hire a bodyguard?)
3. Using self-defense tactics (and in the event that they are well-built and resist your attacks?)
4. Blowing a whistle (how many of you would think anything of it, if you hear a whistle go off?)

I really hope that someone out there will listen, and start a movement towards legalizing the possession of weapons that women can use for self-defense and deterrence of perpetrators of crime against women. Because God knows, that in this sick sick sick sick world, we women need a way to ensure that we do not fall prey to sick sick sick sick men.

I’ll bet those people who made it illegal for us to own weapons for self-defense are men, and men who have never had their girlfriends, wives, sisters, daughters or mothers attacked by sick sick sick sick men.