Hong Kong tourist Oscar Tsang, 22, who has been living in Australia for some five months and had just walked out of the Thornlie train station in Perth at 2215, when he was followed, severely beaten and robbed of $80. The incident occurred on August 31.
Unfortunately, Mr. Tsang was was wearing ear buds for his iPod as he left the train station, so he was unaware that his two assailants following him until the moment they punched him in the back of the head, dragged him and repeatedly kicked him all over his body. He has been left with serious internal injuries, including a ruptured spleen and internal bleeding, and is expected to spend at least another week in Royal Perth Hospital.
COMMENT: Fortunately, closed-circuit surveillance cameras captured images of Tsang's assailants, who were described as dark-skinned and between the ages of 18 and 20. He said they stole his backpack and wallet containing about $80 in cash.
Sadly, the assault on Oscar reminds me of the assault, rape and murder of British tourist Catherine Horton, 21, who was murdered by two drunken Thai fisherman on a beach in Koh Samui, Thailand, on January 1, 2006. Unfortunately, Horton was preoccupied in talking to her Mom on her cell phone when her two assailants came up behind her, physically attacked her, raped her on the beach and killed her.
Clearly, in our ever-increasing unpredictable and perilous world, we must be alert at all times when we're walking. Although we all love to listen to music while we're walking, there perhaps is a time and place for everything. When we're in potentially unfamiliar and risky situations, it is essential that we be able to reply on all of our senses in order to keep ourselves safe.
