The late Brandon Sia - teenage hard man

Now before you come on all limp and squishy on me and accuse me of not only condoning violence, but actively celebrating it, I want to say right here and now that all violence is wrong.

I also feel that we mostly live our safe lives, comparatively well protected from the harshness of life on the edge. But we still generally harbor a crippling suspicion – convinced that death stalks each and every one of us and that survival for another day is a remote possibility.

I suggest that this is because we buy a fair selection of the avalanche of shit in the media designed (successfully, one gathers) to keep the majority of us afraid, compliant and ready to live in trepidation under whatever dickwad cheesy governments and laws, regulations, expert advice and rules that are thrown at us.  Let’s be very afraid of a high cholesterol diet, a future carbon tax (shriek !), one too many standard drinks, and on and on and on.  Not for a minute suggesting that the ABC is complicit in this unending shock and awe campaign.  Not for one minute.  59 seconds, maybe.  Tops.

And I’m not suggesting that the subject of today’s rant was a model citizen and head choir boy.  He might have been.  I just don’t know.    It’s a fair bet that the lead up to the murder was not a disagreement over a theology assignment down at the local seminary.  But I suspect that by his last few actions in the land of the living, we could just possibly surmise that he knew perhaps a little too much of the hard side of the tracks than is good for a boy of 16.

Today the ABC reported (no, not on deeply intellectual complex matters…. how surprising and totally shocking is that ! ) that Brendan Siaa pulled from his own chest the knife with which he had been stabbed, and by way of reply stabbed his (allegedly) 22 year old assailant in the face, the neck, the wrist and in the leg before himself dropping dead on the Bankstown railway station platform.  Not a lot of problem identifying the assailant.  Sorry, ALLEGED assailant.  Bedside court appearance to come.  The ALLEGED murderer had form, allegedy, apparently, quite possibly.

I think you have to hand it to a guy who, surely knew the curtain was coming down in a hurry, managed to get in one last square-up. They breed ’em bloody tough in Bankstown.

It’s frightening, really.  The ABC report also said that the incident was captured on CCTV and that the security guard who was on duty on the platform amidst horrified peak hour commuters “acted appropriately”.  WTF did that entail ?  Running away at a million  miles an hour ?

I’ve no doubt that the CCTV footage will make its way onto Youtube (if it hasn’t already been there and been taken down) – much like the recent footage of a schoolkid beating the crap out of another kid who bullied him.  And I think that the issue will polarise people along the lines of secretly admiring an underdog who had a glimpse of a win – at least this time as fleeting as it was – but condemning the whole farrago – versus those who applaud a bloke who went down swinging some other killer’s blade.

It’s a tough call.  Particularly for Brendan’s 15 year old brother who survived with a stab wound to the leg.

Quite a lot of hatred on the streets of Bankstown – a lot more these days, I’m sure –  just a spit from where Gez and I spent our youth.

I don’t go back to Banky any more and I’m not wanting to advocate psycho violence, But I have to confess just a tiny feeling –  a sense of admiration  – for anyone so unafraid.

Story on the ABC

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