So yesterday my wife, 2yo daughter and I had a day out at a Sentosa. All around there were many young kids from various schools and preschools out on school excursions with their parents & teachers.
After lunch, my 2yo starts to doze off and we let her fall asleep in the stroller. Wife and I sit down on the ground next to the stroller while we just relax and admire the scenery.
Plenty of kids are walking by, many of them from a special needs school.
A short while later, a boy who I’d say is around 12 – he was pretty big compared to his schoolmates, at least 1.5m in height – wandered over. I observed him shortly before this; he was walking around randomly a few steps at a time, grabbing and pulling at things.
The brightly coloured fan on my daughters stroller catches his eye. I smile, but sit up a little, just in case he tries to grab or shake the stroller like he is doing to everything around him.
He then fixes his eyes on my sleeping girl, clenches and raises both fists the same way the hulk would do the hulk smash – I kid you not. My heart drops, I quickly bolt up and stretch my hand out.
In that instant my fear came true, he swung his hands down, aimed squarely at my daughters face and stomach. His hand deflects off mine and hits the hard part of the stroller, shocking my girl awake and causing him to gasp in pain.
He tried to come closer again, face almost expressionless and eyes still fixed on my girl. Her eyes are now wide open and full of terror. And that’s when I shoved him hard, causing him to trip over his legs, fall and cry. But he immediately gets up.
I pull the stroller away, toward my wife, while I move between it and the boy. I’m ready to block him again, but his teacher, two steps steps away, quickly hugs and restrains the boy singing/shouting “hands to self! Hands to self!”
I look at the boy’s parent with a WTF expression on my face, and they stared back as though I had just said we need to increase GST by 22%.
Teacher drags both the parent and boy away, without acknowledging me, which I understand. I hear the parent say ”push so hard” as they walk away.
A few people and special needs kids’ parents look on in shock, and one Ang moh couple shook their heads at the boy, but they all quickly go back to their own business. We walk away with my girl crying in my wife’s arms, but as i looked back, the boys parent was still looking daggers at me.
Like, simi lanjiao? Want me to let your 12yo smash my 2yo’s face and guts in?
I don’t feel bad about what I did, and I’d gladly do it again to defend my family. But I’m just wondering if I could’ve been gentler or handled it better, seeing as the boy possibly didn’t comprehend what he did. AITA?