39 Responses to Old Lady stops robbery at Jewellers

1. 

   Samfoonheei on Aug 19, 2017 at 11:49 am

   Ann Timson is one courageous and selfless old lady.What she did was inspiring to many as at her age no one expected her to stop a robbery.She is such a brave lady risking her own life too ,fighting against a few robbers at that time.Age is mostly a matter of mind.
   This video shows no matter how old we are now ,we can do ,never give up and if the matters does not age.Afterall age is not a issue if we do not mind. She is awesome and because of her one of the robber was caught.Thanks to her intervention.
   Thank you Rinpoche for sharing thi inspiring post.

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2. 

   Chris Chong on Mar 23, 2016 at 12:34 am

   Dear Rinpoche,

   Thank you for sharing this inspiring video. This is an example of selfless act from an old lady. She just sprang into action by swinging her handbags at the robbers. I would certainly pause and think of the risk before engaging in such risky move.

   This video also shows that no matter what your age is, you can still do whatever you want to do. Many old people especially in Malaysia have the mindset of getting old is the same as being useless. They will just stop trying and sit back and relax. Little do they know that they still can live like the younger generation and do what they love to do. It is sad to see the older generation just stop living their life and sit around watching tv or doing something old people should do.

   Humbly ,
   Chris

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3. 

   Pastor Moh Mei on Mar 12, 2016 at 5:32 pm

   It’s inspiring that they are still people in this world that strongly believe in right and wrong. There are still those that would act immediately when they see wrong deed, injustice, crime without going through the process of weighing whether to act is the best course of action or not.

   I think the older generation are more gracious and heroic compared to us today. Someone evolution has brought human socially to a stage where preservation of self is of utmost importance. Most people in today’s modern society are more of a by-stander. We don’t want to get involve, it’s none of our business. We definitely do not want to risk anything. Even for those whose conscience are poking them, they tend to observe first, do a mental risk analysis before reacting. Such is the reality of the society we live in today.

   But as you can see, because the old lady acted, soon enough others got involved. Sometimes people just need one person to initiate it first. We can choose to be the follower or the initiator.

   “Don’t wait for the light. Be the light” ~ His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche

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4. 

   Sadi on Feb 21, 2015 at 5:36 pm

   Awh this is very cute. I like old people they are cute. But also needless to mention that Ann Timson is brave, fearless, and has a conscious. It was also quite funny how all the robbers started dispersing once she arrived on the scene and one of them even fell quite badly. Poor Rolex staff who were shutting the store distressed. But it did look like a scene from a movie or something. But yes Go Ann, you’re awesome!

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5. 

   Khong Jean Mei on Jan 16, 2013 at 4:13 pm

   This woman is AWESOME! I was laughing in disbelief when I watched this video! She didn’t stop them because she was in the middle of it – but she RAN towards the robbers with her handbag in the air ready to strike.

   She’s a courageous citizen. She saw something that she thought was morally and lawfully wrong, and went to stop the thieves. She went against her safety zone, ran towards them – when others were running away from the situation. Without any weapons, she shooed the boy’s off like flies!

   Because of her, one of them was caught – when the public came to their senses and helped the lady.

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6. 

   abby f on Jan 2, 2013 at 7:06 pm

   Good to see that the old lady is fine. I feel comfort as the robbers didn’t hurt the lad, but this doesn’t mean that I’m praising the robbers. But what made the robbers scared and ran away? Was it because the lady is very strong and giant in size, or she has any physic power? NO.

   That is because the society care for each others, they are not selfish, they are not cold and distant and only think for themselves. The robbers knew about this, so when a lady came out and stopped them, they ran instead of hurting the lady! What stops the robbers? to me I don’t think that was the old lady, it was the ‘attention’ from the society and authority that scared the robbers away. Because the robbers knew they will be caught.

   I saw so many cases that the robbers would just kill the victim or anyone who stop them. Why? Because they know even they do this, they will be fine, as the society is cold and selfish. The authority is irresponsible and would not take any action against them. The robbers are fearless. This is the saddest fact.

   Therefore to stop criminal cases, we should care for others, we should watch out for each other and stay together to stop it. We must urge the authority to do something, instead of saying, “There is nothing we can do. Just let it be. I just need to be careful and take care of my family. That’s all”. But what makes you so sure that you and your family will be ok?

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7. 

   wahying on Feb 2, 2012 at 10:07 am

   Yes she is awesome, I wish to train myself to be like her, and everybody to be like her, stand up to unfairness, crimes, immoral, abuse; for oneself and for others. Then we will have a more peaceful self, beautiful and peaceful world to live in. The robbers I think were not beat down by her, she is not that strong physically, they were defeated by their own, deep inside they know they are doing something very wrong.

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8. 

   comel loo on Feb 2, 2012 at 8:20 am

   Wow, what a selfless act, the lady just do it without thinking of herself. She just came charging from nowhere, and the only weapon she has is her handbag and her determination to stop the crime. Bless her. How many of us can be like her? Thank you for sharing this Rinpoche.

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9. 

   Wan Wai Meng on Oct 3, 2011 at 2:46 pm

   I do admire the act for trying to do whats right. It takes a lot of courage and I also think she probably is a lot less selfish than most of us are which is why she managed to do that on the spur of the moment.

   I am sure she could have thought they are insured why worry. But if society and community just do not stand up to criminals I think it will get worst as no one will stop them. I remember in certain villages if threatened the whole village will come out to defend the village that act of being unified does deters criminals. ‘Rukun tettanga’ used to be something the communities in Malaysia used to do whereby the members of the community got together to patrol the community during the nights, it also fostered closer relationship among the people.

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10. 

    Tom on May 2, 2011 at 10:01 am

    Or maybe it could be because she has less to fear. Maybe her work is done, her house is paid for, her children are independent, so she doesn’t have to worry about robbers doing anything to her that would for instance, impair her ability to meet her loans or support her kids.

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11. 

    Koh Hee Peng on Mar 2, 2011 at 1:24 am

    Regardless of how vulnerable or how old we are, when we come across situations that our heart dictates them as wrong or immoral, stand up and fight against the wrongdoings immediately, and not wait for others to make the first move, as others might not make the first move at all.

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12. 

    Carmen Koo on Feb 17, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    Dear Rinpoche,

    Here are my thoughts after watching the clip:

    If you watch her dashing across from the opposite side of the road, it does strike the question as to whether she’s protecting the belongings of the shop because she knows the owners or is somehow related to the shop. There’s some sense of urgency in her action.

    Put that (the motive of her brave attempt) aside, and I see an elderly lady who has only one goal – to stop the robbers even if it meant risking her life. The determination is without question. What is more beautiful is that age doesn’t get in the way of this. If one sets their mind on something, regardless of boundaries set by age, gender etc, they will get their result. I can see that the other pedestrians were maybe inspired by her virtuous conduct and jumped in to help, after she set an example of being the first one to. She broke the projection in their minds that they need to “avoid the situation so they won’t get hurt”. It’s nice to see the other pedestrians jumping in to help at the end, and commend her for her bravery.

    Thank you for the post, Rinpoche.

    Carmen
    xx

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13. 

    Uncle Eddie on Feb 17, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    Notwithstanding whatever helpless scenes that is depicted in this robbery video blog, it seems a common phenomena that in today’s degenerated age, there will “always be people just walking obliviously around and with cars driving by” turning a blind eye to all such calamity happening around the World, without wanting to help or get involved, unlike this braved compassionate and selfless old lady. By so doing, she risked being harmed, hurt, injured or even may get herself killed, but her main selfless kind thought is for the safety and concern of the halpless people trapped inside the Jewellery shop. Not that she could fight off all those tough-looking robbers, but at least she could raise enough awareness and stall for time so that others willing to help will be able to get involved. That wonderfully, was what she had managed to do successfully. Thank you Rinpoche,for teaching us a lesson well learnt.

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14. 

    Angel SH Ooi on Feb 16, 2011 at 5:30 pm

    Dearest Rinpoche,

    Thank You for sharing with us. After replaying the video several of times, my answer are the followings –
    1) The old lady could be related to the shop.
    2) she might have gone through similar situation before, since nobody care about it and out of the anger she did it.
    3) Out of compassion, she saved the situation.

    Thank You Rinpoche, please rest well!

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15. 

    Thierry on Feb 16, 2011 at 12:29 am

    I tought this lady must be related to the shop, the way she runs from far away to the crime scene, understanding exactly what is going on.
    Maybe she is the owner, or a relative.
    Maybe she isn’t and could not stand the theft being made and acted virtuously?
    I don’t know

    My main thought while watching this video is this: I would not want to be the person who filmed the scene with his/her phone on 2 grounds:

    1. instead of acting to stop a crime being made, I film it? What an awkward reflex to have… no?

    2. Still, as I would be filming I see an old lady putting her safety at risk to stop the crime from being completed and what do I do? I continue filming??? mmm…

    I am not sure how I would feel after that.

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16. 

    Andrew James Boon on Feb 15, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    Dearest Rinpoche,

    Yes it is back online again… fantastic!

    My initial observation was: I thought the lady dashed from a far distance away. How did she know there was a robbery going on? Seemed staged. Like it was some publicity stunt for a commercial even.

    But then again perhaps there was an alarm sounding after the store window was smashed which alerted her to it which was not in the footage.

    Whatever the case, the footage showed a very brave woman who genuinely helped without putting herself first. That is the true essence of helping another in my shallow understanding.

    It is like what Rinpoche always says… focus out!

    Much love… Andrew

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17. 

    tsemtulku on Feb 15, 2011 at 5:28 pm

    The video is working..thanks

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18. 

    Andrew James Boon on Feb 15, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    Dearest Rinpoche,

    The video is unfortunately no longer available for viewing as there have been copyright claims by ITN. Shame!

    Much love… Andrew

    Reply
19. 

    patsy on Feb 15, 2011 at 3:44 pm

    At her age, she can still run so fast! Wow amazing! Her actions showed that she is someone who cares for others, not thinking of her own safety and the danger or harm that could happened to her. It was a blessing that she was not harm in this incident.

    She is a true hero…

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20. 

    KYC on Feb 15, 2011 at 10:04 am

    I think her reaction was spontaneous. She saw some people committing a crime. For her it was wrong and she wanted to stop it. I’m glad there are still people like that.

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21. 

    Ethan Chu on Feb 14, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    WOW! She is just awesome.

    First thing came to my mind is that this old lady is fearless! it simple means she has let go all her attachments even death. she is not worry about anything, she’ll make use of her life to stand up for justice and live to the max. I am sure she is a cool grandmother and a very lovable person in life. I am sure that she gets respected a lot.

    In life, people always worry about gettin hurt no matter physically or emotionally coz of attachment and fear of rejection. This lady has proven that with a pure heart and mind, it really doesnt matter… coz you just want to do it. Coz it feels right.

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22. 

    Siong Woan on Feb 14, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    Question – What would i do given the same situation?
    Answer – (after a long long pause) I would call the police instead of going after the robbers myself.

    Thank you Rinpoche, articles and videos posted in your blog never fail to make me think deeper.

    With folded hands,
    Siong Woan

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23. 

    Paris on Feb 14, 2011 at 1:28 am

    What a fantastic video. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting that image and song of her running across the road in her bright red coat. What first came to mind was that no-one, not even the cameraman thought to do anything. In fact, he’s standing there “watching” an old lady hurling herself into such potential danger and nobody goes in to even try to rescue her, least of all stop the robbery.

    She’s a wonderful example of giving something your all, and the old saying “you never know until you try.” She tried, she gave it her best and she literally saved the day. Sure proves that it’s never about whether we can do something or not, but about how much we WANT something and how much we would be willing to risk or give up for it.

    And she was wearing an all-over bright RED coat. Makes me think that perhaps – just perhaps! – Vajrayogini herself emanated down as this old biddy to bludgeon the robbers with her khatvanga handbag.

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24. 

    ST on Feb 13, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    My take out:
    Every once in a while, some selfless person comes along and show us by example to do the right thing with conviction – and then everyone else (who would otherwise think “it has nothing to do with me”) falls in line.

    At another level, the human mind works much the same way. Get to the core of the matter; everything else follows. Only if we ignore the problem would this lead to someone getting hurt/suffering a loss.

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25. 

    henryooi on Feb 13, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    The lady has other people’s properties at heart more than her own safety or she could be the shop’s proprietress.

    It is quite admirable to see her raining relentless blows on the much younger male perpetrators. However, she was very fortunate that the perpetrators did not response to her physically. She could have screamed at the top of her lungs to attract people’s attention to the crime being committed rather than lunging at them physically.

    Maybe a past bad event’s memory where she was in a similar situation but she was the victim triggered her off to react physically. Maybe that time no one went to her aid and she knows the pain of loss and did not want it to happen to others.

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26. 

    Ivy on Feb 13, 2011 at 5:02 am

    WOW! She wasn’t afraid for herself at all! It is amazing how her confidence simultaneously frightens away the robbers and eggs other citizens into action.

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27. 

    Loren Enders on Feb 13, 2011 at 1:23 am

    Fearless. The Wonderwoman song fits!!

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28. 

    Sarah on Feb 13, 2011 at 12:54 am

    A few things came to mind…

    1. I thought it could be her shop… lol! maybe it belongs to someone close to her

    2. I wouldn’t have did what she did… they’re not harming anyone physically, so i’d probably call the police

    3. The wonder women song really cracked me up ROFL, and

    4. To all the people who send their parents to old folks home and who thinks old people are ‘useless’ to society… SHAME ON YOU

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29. 

    lewkwanleng on Feb 13, 2011 at 12:25 am

    I can only speak for myself.. I will care for my life, belongings, etc first. She taught me otherwise.. I hope it is not too late to practice selfless…

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30. 

    Margaretlee on Feb 13, 2011 at 12:05 am

    A person who would react in a situation like this, not thinking about his/her safety, with absolute justice and courage is already rare. What is rarer is that this person is a single old lady. You can see in the video that there were others just walking around the street and cars that drove pass, all were having a “blind eye” and did not do anything to stop the robbery.

    No fear and no “But & If”……She is my heroine! I salute to you!!!

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31. 

    Danielle on Feb 12, 2011 at 11:09 pm

    The older you are the clearer right and wrong becomes and the easier it is to act

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32. 

    Rafael on Feb 12, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    WOW! That was incredible. Just goes to show that just because someone is old doesn’t mean they can’t do anything!

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33. 

    Valentina Suhendra on Feb 12, 2011 at 9:54 pm

    I think it just shows that you never too old, too late, too fragile, too powerless, to do something useful.

    Thank you for sharing Rinpoche… hehe.. I love it.

    Valentina

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34. 

    Toh on Feb 12, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    Rinpoche

    This is a very brave old lady. I really respect her courage to fight off so many robbers while other younger fitter folk just walked by without a care. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Kudo to this old lady for her bravery.

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35. 

    Terri on Feb 12, 2011 at 7:51 pm

    i love her.

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36. 

    dasa on Feb 12, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    Its amazing indeed. It actually reminds me on one TV seria I used to watch as a kid Supergrandma.
    But I was as well supriced that there were people around, seeing this two robbers and did nothing, only after this brave old lady came and stopping them fearlessly. Vau!

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37. 

    Michael K on Feb 12, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    WOW! She is really Wonder Woman. Selfless act. Senior citizen like her makes an attempt without thinking of all possibilities of the robbers beating her up. We shd learn from them

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38. 

    Adeline Woon on Feb 12, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    Bravery is what most of us lack due to selfishness. It is always about the small voices in our mind that goes like this: what if I get myself killed; what do I get out of this; someone else will take care of it; the shop owner has insurance that covers their lost; what if these criminals come back for me; oh robbery, heck, none of my business…

    I am unsure if a culture or the sense of community has anything to do with the shaping/losing of the selfishness in us, but I believe a mind with no agenda does bring out righteous guts.

    Just to share my recent observation on myself: I have always feel unsafe (because I was also told to be careful since young) when I was living in Malaysia, so I mind only my business and seldom care for others.

    I tend to care more and are more daring in fighting for what I think is right and is beneficial for others during my stay in NZ for 7 years. I even stopped the car I was driving and wound the window down simply because I thought the stranger who waved at me at the junction needed my help when I was back in Malaysia for a break.

    I bring that ‘caring’ and ‘daring’ side of me to Taiwan. For these 3 years, though I am constantly reminded to be careful, regardless if I was going away to town on my own, wanting to fight for student’s (especially international students) rights, or simply wanted to do something that is meaningful here, I did it with less to fear for.

    Maybe mind training and precepts holding helps in the process of mind’s transformation in my case, but for the heroine in the video, whose action can also be seen in NZ, can be someone influenced by her religious teachings (if she is religious at all), or simply because she was being raised in a country that promotes human rights and are taught to help and care for others since young. Don’t you think?

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39. 

    tsemtulku on Feb 12, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    This was played on CNN also…

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