S'porean man punches acquaintance, causes his death, gets 2 years 9 months' jail

Unhappy and frustrated with his drunken acquaintance, a Singaporean man punched him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the concrete floor.

He then walked away without rendering any assistance.

The acquaintance, 38-year-old Dao Van Chien, later died in the hospital from severe head injury.

On Oct. 10, Eng Chee Hong, 55, was sentenced to two years and nine months' jail, a S$3,000 fine, and disqualification from all classes of driving licences for two years.

He pleaded guilty the day before to one count of voluntary causing hurt, and one charge of driving under the influence of alcohol in a separate incident, reported The Straits Times.

The meeting

Eng was a regular patron at the coffeeshop where Chien worked at Block 318 Jurong East Street 31.

On Dec. 31, 2023, Eng met up with his friends at the coffeeshop for a New Year's Eve dinner with food and alcohol.

As they worked, Chien and his colleague, Nyuyen Viet Van, mingled occasionally with the coffeeshop patrons, drinking with them as well.

The court heard that Eng and Chien were acquainted at that point, but that their interaction at the coffeeshop was "minimal".

The KTV lounge

Midway through the gathering, the group decided to continue the festivities at a KTV lounge.

Chien and Nyuyen, the two coffeeshop workers, were also invited to join them.

Both Eng and Chien arrived at the KTV lounge at around 11pm, where they were ushered to the same table.

However, Eng mostly mingled with his friends, while Chien and Nyuyen sat further away. Both Eng and Chien consumed alcohol.

As the night went on, Eng began to feel that Chien was getting "high" and "over-friendly", as he would go onstage to dance and sing, and go around toasting patrons whom he was not acquainted with.

He was also concerned that Chien's behaviour might cause "trouble" for the group.

At one point, Eng saw Chien go to an adjacent table again to toast the patrons there, and told him to return to the table.

Chien complied, and tried to appease Eng and shake his hand. But Eng appeared disinterested.

The altercation

Sometime after 12:30am on Jan. 1, 2024, Eng, Chien, Nguyen, and one of Eng's friends left the KTV lounge.

Chien then told Nguyen that he wanted to go back to the lounge, but did not explain why.

While making his way back, he came across Eng and his friend.

Chien then began talking to Eng, saying "Brother...let's drink alcohol" in Mandarin, while supposedly walking and standing unsteadily.

Unhappy at Chien's purportedly drunken behaviour, Eng pointed his finger angrily at him.

Chien tried to hold his upper arm, but Eng pushed him away.

After that, Eng punched Chien forcefully in the face, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the concrete floor.

Eng then looked at Chien for a few moments, before walking away without helping or checking on his condition.

Instead, he drove off to meet his friends at Balmoral Plaza for another round of drinks.

He was arrested later that evening at 8:05pm.

The death

As Eng was walking away, Nguyen saw Chien lying on the floor, with blood coming out of his mouth.

He also began to choke on his own blood.

When Chien could not be woken up, Nguyen called 995, after which he was conveyed to the hospital.

The medical team found fractures in his skull and bleeding in his brain. When he did not improve over the next few days, a decision was made to take him off life support on Jan. 4.

He died the same day. An autopsy ascertained the cause of death to be "severe head injury".

This was later clarified to have arisen from his head hitting the floor.

Sentencing

In court on Oct. 10, District Judge Koo Zhi Xuan said that Eng's attack was "entirely unjustified", especially as Chien had not been a physical threat to him, ST reported.

He also pointed out how Eng remained "completely callous and indifferent to the victim's suffering", having left Chien on the floor before heading off to continue drinking.

The judge also highlighted that Eng had a number of "hurt antecedents" which showed that he was "unable to forsake his violent tendencies".

The court heard that Chien had been the sole breadwinner of his family, comprising his wife and his two sons, aged seven and 11 years old respectively.

His family had flown in from Vietnam to attend the hearing, and some could be heard sobbing during the proceedings, ST reported.

Afterwards, Eng asked to speak to Chien's family in open court, and said: “This is something that shouldn’t have happened. I truly want to apologise to all of you. I am sorry.”

Eng also pleaded guilty to having driven under the influence on Jun. 23, 2024, while he was out on bail.

He had been out at a pub at Prinsep Street with his friends, and drank about three to four glasses of Heineken beer before driving home.

But on the way home, he was stopped by a traffic police officer and administered a breathalyser test, which he failed.

He will start his sentence on Oct. 10 if he is unable to find a bailor the same day.

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