It's a bit untimely, but...

Yesterday's events still seem surreal to me.
It was a rather shocking welcome back to school after the week long recess break.
Monday Blues indeed.

I know each of us have, at some point in time, harbored rather violent thoughts about certain professors when presented with a killer assignment/a ridiculously difficult test etc. I just never expected anyone to actually translate their thoughts into real life actions. (I'm merely speculating. No one knows and will ever know the true reason behind yesterday's incidents) We callously say things like "I could kill him for this!" but never really mean it. They're just colloquial figures of speech that we use to express the degree of our irritation or frustration, but we don't mean it in its literal way. But it's scary when expressions like "stabbed in the back" suddenly takes on its literal meaning.

News traveled fast.
About 5 minutes before the incident (specifically, the jump) occurred, we were walking back to SCI from canteen B. [I just cringe at the idea that if we had stalled longer there, queued up for my Bubble Tea or something, then we would have witnessed something tragic, traumatizing and scarring on our way back]
Then the incident occurred. The Buzz began. At first we thought it wasn't a serious commotion.
A few more minutes later, it was 'confirmed'. Professor stabbed, student commits suicide.
Seriously?
Bala's harping on the qualities that make up news echoed.
Human Interest, Impactful, Timeliness, Prominence, Uniqueness, Proximity. [Isn't it an exciting and relevant time to be doing COM204 now?]

Human Interest, Check. It's violent, it's suicide, it's tragic. Drama.

Impactful, Check. Attack was by a fellow student. In my own university. How can it not impact us?

Timeliness, Check. CNA already had the writing up like 40 minutes after the whole thing. [and to think we (myself at least) took DAYS to write our first COM204 Assignment]

Prominence, Check. It's NTU. Nuff' said.

Uniqueness, Check. I think this is the first case in Singapore. It does echo the Virginia Tech or Columbine Shooting incidents. Thank God, guns are illegal.

Proximity, Check. The fact that it happened like less than 100 meters away, at the 'shortcut' we always use, is disturbing. That route will never be the same again knowing that blood once trailed the pathway and a senseless death occurred there.

I guess people do snap at some point in time. In today's cut throat world, it's easy to understand why.

Now, I'm insanely curious about what the Professor has to say.


My condolences to the family and friends of the guy and the professor. May God see them through this difficult time