Daily Lessons from Life 21 May 2014 - Four killed, 21 wounded in Taiwan subway stabbing spree

"Four killed, 21 wounded in Taiwan subway stabbing spree - AFP 21 May 2014

TAIPEI: A knife-wielding attacker went on a stabbing spree aboard a Taipei subway train on Wednesday, killing four people and wounding 21 others, police said.

Cheng Chieh, a 21-year-old college student, was immediately arrested after the incident, the first fatal attack on the city's subway system since it began operations in 1996, police said.

The stabbing spree happened around 0800 GMT when the student, wearing a red T-shirt, began attacking travellers on a subway train outside Taipei, sending hundreds of people screaming and fleeing for help.

When the train pulled into the next station, Cheng fled and was chased by police before being kicked to the ground by a passenger and overwhelmed by security officials.

Cheng spoke of his motives during police questioning.

"He told the police that he had wanted to do a 'big thing' such as this since his childhood," Chen Kuo-en, chief of the New Taipei City police bureau, told reporters.

Television images showed pools of blood in the train and passengers who survived the stabbings giving witness accounts.

"He started his attack from the last carriage of the train," a woman said as she gave her tearful account in an interview with the cable news network TVBS.

After being alerted to the attacks, authorities immediately reinforced police deployment on the busy subway system, which transports around 1.85 million visitors per day."

Is this the CURSE of living in a bustling urban city?

Lessons for me are:

1. why did this young man, who supposedly has NO mental history, kill? Can we ever figured out?;

2. this is so random and senseless! 2 women and 2 men died for no apparent reason! Just because the young man, in his own words, 'had wanted to do something BIG!' 4 persons who are mother, father, brother and sister to someone else just perished after saying goodbye and off to work or wherever in the morning! So freaking sad!!;

3. should I or we be mindful that this could have happened in Singapore? The 'long hair guy with the samurai swords' a few months ago was a big scare and thankfully he DID NOT draw his swords. This is scary. I could just imagine the bloody scene will not be any less brutal than that described in this Taipei incident!

I guessed we cannot live in such imaginary fear though I must remind myself what to do should such an unlikely situation develops in front of me - in Singapore or anywhere I travel to!

Condolences to the families of the 4 dead and may this episode not traumatised the injured for too long.

May we find some answers from the young man on why did he do it besides this frivolous: 'I had wanted to do this since I was young. Something BIG!'