A middle-aged man was filmed quarrelling with students on the evening of Sep. 11, 2023, after the latter moved the bags he used to reserve seats at Our Tampines Hub.

The scene was captured by an onlooker, and the clip was subsequently uploaded to the Sgfollowsall Telegram channel.

In the 25-second clip, the man, who was wearing a black shirt, a black mask, and a hat, could be heard scolding a group of five students while pointing his finger at the table repeatedly.

In response, the students only burst into laughter after the man finished making his point.

In another video seen by Shin Min Daily News, the students were heard explaining to the man that they only sat down at the table to review their lessons after he left the area for a few hours.

However, the man only responded by accusing the students of having a party at the table.

He also told them they should go to the library instead if they wanted to study.

What happened

According to Shin Min, the incident took place in a public area on floor B1 of One Tampines Hub, which offers a few tables for visitors to use to study or consume their food.

A student who was present at the scene told the Chinese paper that the man was a frequent visitor of the area and would sometimes arrive as early as 6am.

"Every time, he will bring a suitcase and a few bags with him. He usually watches videos with his laptop before disappearing for a few hours. However, he will leave his personal belongings behind to reserve the seat," recounted the student.

According to the student, on the date of the incident, the man also left the area for a long period of time before making his way back.

When he found out his items were moved and the seat he "reserved" had been taken, he began throwing a tantrum in front of the students.

In response, a few students stood up and refuted his claim over the seat, shared the student.

"Some also tried to explain to him why his items were moved, while others tried to ask him to lower his voice. However, he kept saying we were having a party, even though everyone there was reviewing our lessons. The incident took place during our examination week, and Sep. 11 was teacher's day, so students could be found everywhere," the student added.

Man called police

The man then called for the security officer of the mall.

However, when the security officer told him that if he were to leave the area for more than two hours, he should bring his personal belongings with him, the man was outraged again.

"He then accused the students of damaging his personal items and called the police. The students were a bit frightened when police officers arrived at around 6:30pm that day. Subsequently, some of them asked their parents to come over to talk to the man," recalled the student.

The student also added that he left the scene before the police arrived, and he hadn't seen the man in the area for the past few days.

In response to Shin Min's queries, the Singapore Police Force confirmed that a police report was lodged, and investigations are underway.

Top images via Shin Min Daily News & Sgfollowsall/Telegram