It would really really suck to live in South Auckland right now

When South Auckland decided the killing of the Liquor store owner wasn't enough, 39 year old Joanne Wang got her handbag snatched in a shopping mall carpark and run over to death in front of her 8 year old son. What has Auckland come to? I used to remember it as a vibrant cosmopolitan where people respected each other in their upbeat daily businesses but now (especially the south) it is wracked with p-producing gang members who do nothing but terrorise people to the extent of taking their lives, foul mouthed erratic drivers and bored youth that tag everything that's solid. And in the last two weeks there is an ominous emerging pattern of killings in Manukau that should be a wake up sign for worse things to come.

* Three murders
Saturday June 7: Navtej Singh, 30, is shot during a robbery of his business Riverton Liquor in Riverton Rd, Manurewa. He died in Middlemore Hospital the next night.
Wednesday June 11: Yang Yin Ping, 80, is attacked in her Manurewa home and left inside a wardrobe. She died from her injuries on Saturday afternoon.
Monday June 16: Joanne Wang, 39, is run over by a vehicle as she protested over her handbag being stolen in Manukau. She died early yesterday.

Life of a liquor store owner is tough too believe it or not. They depend on the success of their business for the future of their children and Navtej Singh had two children who were both under 10. He picks the poorer areas with worse crime because they bring the most customers. It makes sense doesn't it. But how much is a life? A life is certainly not worth the $2000 worth of prepaid phone cards that were burgled from the shop. A life is certainly not worth a handbag, whatever was in it.

But residents of Manakau like the place they live and don't want the media to tarnish where they've grown up in just because of a few pot stirrers terrorising innocent people.
"Manukau is the best place to bring up children because we have lots of places to go to and with the costs of living going up a lot of these places are cheap or sometimes free. We have the airport, Butterfly Creek, Ambury Farm, botanical gardens, Rainbows End, libraries, the biggest flea market in New Zealand, big malls, creeks, Totara park, Telstra Clear Stadium, Mangere fun pools the list is endless. Most importantly the people that live in Manukau are proud to be here and have a strong community spirit. Don't let a few bad headlines and people ruin our image. "

And on the other hand, its really not that bad when you compare globally. At least in this instance it's not a mass political killing or any scary fluff like that. New Zealand is pretty mild. And although it has one of the highest crime rates per capita, we're still relatively low on serious murder charges and things that really tingle your spine with fear at night. And as "Paul" of Auckland says:
"I've lived in manurewa all my life. It's alright and I feel safe here. Id agree we're probably a crime capital of New Zealand but that doesn't matter cos New Zealand has hardly any crime. Imagine if New Zealand actually punished criminals (im not even talking death just suitable sentances) and cops actually did work rather than handing out traffic offence tickets! We'd have the least crime in the world."

Hopefully its going to get better from now on in Manakau. It's now illegal for youth to tag which is super because they'll get fined anything from $200 - $2000 from anything as simple as a vivided scribble on a bus, and spray paints can only be bought by people over 18. I pity the juniors who still have science fair boards to paint! But I think as soon as the Manakau mayor recovers from his heart bypass surgery things will be hunky dory and we'll hear no more terrible news from South Auckland.

Hopefully.