Raffles Place stabbing victim had $800,000 in cash and valuables

[UPDATE: Sun 16 Nov, 8am: Adding details of robbery]

$800,000 in cash and cheques.

That's what triggered the vicious stabbing and robbery attempt in broad daylight during lunchtime at Raffles Place on Friday.

A 38-year-old Indonesian man was charged via video link from Singapore General Hospital on Saturday.

Arun, who goes by a single name, is alleged to have robbed another fellow Indonesian Kang Tie Tie of his sling bag at about 1pm outside the Raffles Place MRT Station.

Court documents show Arun used a 12.5cm-long knife to stab Kang multiple times on his right waist, right hip and right upper waist.

The sling bag Kang was carrying contained $158,380 in Singapore currency, the equivalent of $20,030 in Brunei money, and three cash cheques for a total of $607,368, amongst other items.

Kang is believed to be a regular visitor to The Arcade, an office and retail building near the scene of the robbery where a number of money changers are also located, reported The Straits Times.

Police have classifed Friday's shocking Raffles Place lunchtime stabbing as an "armed robbery with hurt".

The violent daylight robbery attempt smack in the centre of Singapore's business district at about 1pm shocked passers-by who were on their lunch break.

Raymond Liw, a 41-year-old engineer, told Yahoo Singapore on Friday he saw two middle-aged men quarreling near one of the Raffles Place MRT station exits before one stabbed the other from behind with a long knife.

Another eyewitness, a UOB employee who recognised the victim as the man frequented a nearby moneychanger, said the victim was holding a sling bag of valuables and was also stabbed on the right arm. The attacker stabbed his victim before dashing off with his sling bag.

Both eyewitnesses said the injured victim still managed to chase after the attacker, who ran until the traffic junction opposite UOB Plaza, where he was nearly hit by a truck and fell down.

Several men who were chasing after the attacker pinned him down, said the UOB employee who did not want to be named. Another UOB staff member rushed to get a first aid kit and tend to the victim, who was covered in blood.

Police arrived at the scene and apprehended the man who was pinned down, eyewitnesses added.

Liw said the attacker appeared to be in his 40s, while the victim looked like he was in his 30s.

According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force, who received a call for assistance to the area at 1:07pm, two male individuals were conveyed to the Singapore General Hospital.

The incident shocked the business district's lunch time crowd as blood -- along with a bloody knife, mobile phone, lighter and a white plastic bag -- could be seen on the concrete floor near in front of a UOB bank branch near the entrance of the Raffles Place MRT station.

The victim sustained deep cuts on his body, with his jeans and clothes soaked in blood. Passers-by helped to stem the flow of blood until SCDF personnel arrived within seven minutes of being notified. The victim is currently recovering in hospital. 

Bank officer Lydia Ong, 34, said she was "horrified" by the stabbing. "I don't understand why the man would rob someone in a place as busy as Raffles Place, in broad daylight. What if he had stabbed bystanders too? It's just too scary."

For Liw, it all seemed like a blur. " I was so shocked… it happened so fast that everybody just saw the blood, the fruit knife, the mobile phone on the floor," he said.

Yahoo Singapore has contacted the police for more information.