Glass tabletop explodes at S'pore mookata eatery on Christmas day, 2 people suffer minor injuries

Not the Christmas present you'd hoped for.

Guan Zhen Tan | Syahindah Ishak | December 28, 2020, 06:10 PM

It was a normal night out for Gerline Ng, her husband and three other friends on Christmas eve.

They wanted to have supper whilst counting down to Christmas day.

However, things didn't go as planned.

Glass shattered

As they were enjoying mookata and hotpot at 555 Villa Thai restaurant at 30 Cosford Road, a loud bang was heard.

Their glass tabletop shattered and glass pieces flew everywhere.

Speaking to Mothership, Ng said that the incident happened at midnight, on Christmas day.

Photo courtesy of Gerline Ng.

Photo courtesy of Gerline Ng.

Ng and her husband sustained some cuts on their legs, thighs, and arms, according to  Lianhe Wanbao.

Her husband's legs were also bleeding badly from a cut.

Photo courtesy of Gerline Ng.

However, Ng admitted that they were lucky to get away with minor injuries.

She told Mothership:

"We were just lucky none of the glass bits flew in our eyes or cut our faces. Also, we just refilled the soup, luckily it did not topple over when the glass around the mookata pot exploded."

Wanbao reported that there were about eight different groups in the restaurant at that time.

The group that sat behind Ng and her friends saw what happened and were shocked. They quickly paid and left.

The staff members were also shocked by the incident, said Ng.

They immediately cleared away the mookata pot and explained that the glass had cracked as the pot was too hot.

They subsequently offered their apologies, but Ng's husband said that it wasn't their fault.

Instead, he demanded to speak to their boss.

Unable to contact the boss

The boss, however, remained uncontactable for half an hour.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Ng and her friends left the restaurant.

But Ng's husband left his mobile number for the boss to call.

Around 10 minutes after they left, the boss called Ng's husband and apologised.

After apologising, he told them to seek compensation from an insurance company if needed.

Ng told Mothership: As a boss, you are so irresponsible, we did not even ask for compensation. We merely wanted you to be responsible and apologise to us personally and give us an answer since the accident happened in your restaurant."

Ng and her husband had also requested for a personal apology, but the boss claimed that he was not free.

Ng said:

"My husband said we will wait for him at his restaurant. He replied, "Then you slowly wait!"

My husband got really furious and scolded him. He rebutted and told my husband to "f*** off!"."

Denied using vulgarities

The boss later told Wanbao that he plans to swap out all the tables at the restaurant for marbled ones in a month's time.

The tables have been through wear and tear and it's difficult to avoid any damage, he said.

The boss had also denied using vulgarities and said that Ng and her husband started it first.

He told Wanbao: "I was busy at another store on that day. I had suggested that I could go to their house the next day to apologise, but they refused, wanting me to resolve the situation right away or else they would not pay money."

However, Ng told Mothership:

"He lied to Wanbao newspaper that he offered to come to our place of residence to apologise, which obviously wasn't true. Firstly, if it is true, he wouldn't be unreachable for more than 30 minutes while we were waiting for him in his restaurant.

Secondly, if it is true, he has my husband's number, he would have messaged him to say that he is busy at the moment, is it possible to message him at our address/ place of residence for him to come down to apologise personally after he is done with his work."

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Top images courtesy of Gerline Ng.