Daughter of victim at Toa Payoh hawker centre pushing incident speaks

Update: Couple who bullied elderly man at Toa Payoh hawker centre fined, woman wants to say “really sorry to uncle”.

After an eye witness at the Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Market and Food Centre pushing incident, Janice Lim, came forward to share the full account of what actually happened on the scene, the daughter of the victim has stepped forward too to give her account.

Caroline Ng expressed anger and disgust over what happened to his dad and condemned the actions of the couple involved. She also thanked the Singaporeans who showed support for his dad. However, she caution against any online vigilantism, appealing to the public to submit any information regarding the couple to the police or relevant authorities instead of trying to take things in their own hands. One online vigilante, Ang Tock Seng, learned his lesson the hard way, being the subject of an online CSI now after he wrongfully fingered a Cherry Tan as one of the culprit in the pushing incident.

Ng also shared that she might be pursuing a civil lawsuit against the couple. Whoever they are, they probably are having a hard time sleeping now.

Below is the full account shared by Caroline Ng, preproduced from her Facebook post:

Today, no words can express my outrage and disgust to learn of an incident that happened to my dad. The incident took place on 21st April (this past Fri night) and I only got to know of it through several online postings and after watching the video. (For my peeps on the other side of the globe, you can read about it in the link I’ve posted below.

Now that it has gone viral, even YouTube has the video..oh geez…ikr.. it’s pretty shameful but it happens….)

What I find unbelievable is for the entire 2 days, my dad never for once mentioned a word of it. When I ask him why hasn’t he made it known to us? Why hasn’t he made a report? In his own words, he tells me he didn’t think anything will come out of it, will the police even act on it? ..does it make sense to pursue it?.. Furthermore, will anyone even going to believe him? It will be just his words …So what can he do? He figured he will have to just brush it off, and move on..so no point mentioning……I was stumped for a moment, only then it dawned on me that there are folks out there, like my dad, who fell victims to similar unruly behaviors, and yet do not think they have a voice or view that any appropriate action will be taken for all it’s worth… what my dad didn’t know (since he is not exactly the most tech savy person) is the whole incident was captured and recorded on video…over the course of 2 days, multiple eye witnesses have stepped forward and filed police reports …and for that, I am forever grateful to Manny who posted the video and the ones who brought to light of this incident and also for those (like Janice ,Trish and the netizens) who righteously have the courage to stand up, to speak up, and to take action against the bullying.

Our hawker and food centres are public places. Seatings are first come first serve basis. While I understand it’s common practice for many of us (including myself) to leave an artifact to reserve seats while queuing for food, since when does this equate to entitlement or ownership of these public items? To get in depth with Singapore’s infamous “chope seat” system will require a whole separate discussion, which I am not about to get into here ….Bottom line is (doesn’t matter who is there first) , my dad only wanted to share the table, there were only 2 of them (the couple) and their food wasn’t even ready….Will it kill them just to share the seats??! I mean ..seriously??!! Not only the woman was uncouth with her hurling of abusive profanities, her companion just had to despicably ram my dad from behind, trying to knock him off his feet! ..no matter who is in the right or wrong, nobody should be treated in this manner, let alone to an old folk. Even though my dad may appears healthy and he was lucky enough to be able to break his fall this time with the table, he does have a medical condition. A serious fall can result in dire consequences. My dad at times may be a little stubborn , a little long-winded like most old folks, but does it call for such violence? The display of aggression is shocking for many of us. Our family are private people, just minding our own business. Trust me, this kind of publicity is last that we seek.

However, given this incident and all the attention it has received, we realized it’s also our civic duty to step forward to bring upon awareness , that we as a society should never, and cannot condone such behaviors. Until we can all learn to be gracious and compassionate to one another, the only thing I can tell my dad ( if he does fall into similar situation again especially when alone), best thing for him is to try to find another seat. (My take in this is never try to reason with the unreasonables..it’s a useless battle…maybe their cerebellum is underdeveloped or what ..God knows…but these type of people simply don’t have the brain matters to process or comphrehend reasoning.) …Even if he’s in the right, It’s just not worth getting hurt or beat up…I don’t know if he will heed my advice but I certainty hope he does for his own safety.. To anyone who encounter any old folks out there, please Just be kind, compassionate, and patient with them…All of us will grow old and get there someday..

Last but not least, thank you all for the heart warming support, the vigilantes who keep a watchful eye on the wrongdoings, and took care to lookout for those who are vulnerable. While I feel apologetic towards Cherry who was falsely indentifed (please stop harassing her. The woman in the video looks nothing like Cherry – I agree with her friends that Cherry looks younger and much prettier?), the culprits are still Scot free. If any of you can kindly identify them or have someone in mind, (please NO cyber posting of names or bullying). .. just notify the police at 1800 -255 -0000 at your own discretion…the police will verify the identities of the culprits first in any case, so that we don’t falsely accuse the innocents.

In the following article, there is a link to a petition Trish has started for my dad. Please also take a moment to sign it, not because we desire to get into any costly civil lawsuits, but to support her good causes for the pioneers. At this point in time, it’s too premature to say for sure if they will ever be charge, as the police are still trying to locate the culprits for investigation. The only reason we decided to step forward in the meantime is to bring public awareness of such act should never be tolerated, to serve as a voice for those who are victimized by similar situations, and to prevent such things from happening again. Thank you all once again for the tremendous support…

.oh yes and to the ugly couple who did this to my dad, you know who you are..what goes around comes around.. even if we don’t find you.. God sees everything.