Christchurch shooting: Shock, disbelief among city’s S'porean community

SINGAPORE — Ms Hana Saemon, a Singaporean living in Christchurch, New Zealand, was about to leave for work on Friday afternoon (March 15) when she heard the blaring sirens of ambulances and police vehicles rushing through her Upper Riccarton suburb.

That was when the severity of the mass shootings in Christchurch hit her, as her home is only a five-minute drive from the site of the first shooting at Al Noor Mosque in Deans Avenue.

“The first thing I did was to call all my friends as some of them go for Friday prayers, thankfully most of them weren’t at the mosque, and I heard those who were at the mosque managed to escape," said the 32-year-old Muslim, who is a PhD candidate at the University of Canterbury.

On Friday, New Zealand's second-largest city of Christchurch was left shell shocked after a gunman entered two mosques and killed 49 people and injured over 20 others. In a speech to the nation later that day, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the incident a “terrorist attack”.

For Ms Hana, the attack also hit close to home as her fiance, 32-year-old local Craig Beck, is Muslim and worships at the Al Noor Mosque.

“It was very scary and emotional to think that my fiance could have been there, and we were just going to visit the mosque tomorrow. The Muslim community is still reeling from the shock, everybody is just trying to find their loved ones at this point,” she said.

Other Singaporeans living in Christchurch were also in “shock” and “disbelief” following the shootings on Friday.

Mr Ahmad Zaqeeyan Zackhiyon, 28, the president of the Singapore club in Christchurch, told TODAY that there are “at least 300” Singaporeans residing in the city in South Island.

There are no reports so far of Singaporeans affected by the shootings. TODAY has also reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm if any Singaporeans were affected.

Mr Zaqeeyan, a general manager in the food and beverage industry, said he was at work when the shootings happened.

“It was definitely scary, because the (shooter) streamed it online. All of us knew about it about half an hour after that and the gunman was still on the loose, so everyone at work was still scared and worried. Some of my colleagues are mothers so they were worried for their kids,” he said.

Mr Zaqeeyan, who is Muslim, said it was a “very saddening” and “unfortunate” incident.

“Everyone questioned that… why it has to happen and why in a mosque, clearly, this group of people had issues against Muslims and the religion, it is sad that in this day and age, we still face this,” he added.

Another Singaporean, Ms Yifang Parker, 32, was in the University of Canterbury when the campus went into lockdown, which lasted from about 2pm to 6pm (New Zealand time).

“When I saw the news on Facebook, I couldn’t believe it, like ‘Is this really happening?’, ‘Is this for real?’,” she said.

“We were trying to get updated as best as we could and the next thing we knew the university was in lockdown. We actually saw the news on Facebook... Everyone was quite disturbed.

“I am still in disbelief, since moving here, I would really consider New Zealand and Christchurch as a safe country (and place), you see police around most of the time.”

While noting that the religious tensions were not common in the country, Ms Parker said she was “not quite sure” if it was still safe after Friday’s shootings.

As news of the attack and victims continued to stream in on Friday in what Ms Ardern called one of New Zealand’s “darkest days”, residents like Ms Hana were still trying to come to terms with what had happened.

“People are still in shock, generally looking at everyone on the streets, everyone is solemn,” she said.

Since moving to New Zealand in 2012, Ms Hana said that she regarded the city as “very safe”. “It’s just something we would never expect.”