A Singaporean man’s hotpot dinner got too heated when his friend group began fighting with others at a Korean restaurant.

The fight broke out in Hansing Pocha along Neil Road on May 28, 2023.

It involved flung hotpots, broken soju bottles, and bloodied faces.

The culprit, 30-year-old Marcus Phua Han Sheng, pleaded guilty on Jul. 15, 2024 to voluntarily causing hurt with a weapon.

Flips hotpot

Court documents revealed that Phua's group was eating at the restaurant.

Around 7am, a misunderstanding caused them to start arguing with another group of diners.

According to CNA, Phua's lawyer said he initially tried to soothe rising tensions and did not intend to make things physical.

Until he lost his temper.

This led to Phua toppling a hotpot onto a man from the other group, which incited the man's friends to beat Phua up.

After staff broke up the fight, the other group left the restaurant.

But Phua wasn't done yet.

Uses soju bottle as weapon

Grabbing a soju bottle, Phua smashed it against a table to make a weapon.

He then headed out of the restaurant.

Outside, he spotted a man clad in similar garb to some of the people in the other group.

Mistaking him to be part of the group, he hit the victim over the side of his head with the broken bottle.

Wrong person

The victim, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, suffered lacerations on his forehead, cheek, and ear.

He needed to get stitches for his cuts and was put on nine days' medical leave.

Regretful, Phua paid the victim's medical bills of S$4,857.10 in full.

He was previously also charged for causing hurt by tipping the hotpot contents onto another man, but was released of the charge after plea negotiations.

Phua's show of remorse led the prosecution to reduce his sentence, earning him six months in jail.

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