Bedok coffee shop owner allegedly slashed taxi driver with bread knife for raising voice to place an order

A 59-year-old man with his head bloodied and shirt stained was seen seated at a Bedok coffee shop on Jan. 6 at around 6:30pm.

Following the incident, the man, surnamed Chen (transliteration), told Shin Min Daily News that he was allegedly assaulted by another man, also aged 59, who claimed to be the owner of the coffee shop.

The alleged assailant was arrested on Jan. 6 for voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, the Singapore Police Force said.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Chen's account

Chen, a taxi driver, told Shin Min that on the day of the incident, he decided to have dinner at the coffee shop, located at Block 56 New Upper Changi Road, after work.

After sitting down, he wanted to order a coffee, so he waited for a staff to attend to him.

"Although I asked the staff members to come over, they ignored me and continued to do so even when they walked past me," said Chen.

After his failed attempts to get their attention, Chen decided to shout at the people at the drinks stall directly.

According to Chen, he did so because he was seated quite far from the drinks stall, and he suffered from mobility issues due to diabetes.

Dispute escalated

Subsequently, a man with tattoos allegedly walked over to Chen's seat and told him not to shout anymore, Shin Min reported Chen as saying.

In response, Chen walked up to the man and asked who he was.

The man apparently replied that he was the owner of the coffee shop.

"I asked him whether there was anything wrong with me buying coffee. However, he suddenly ran towards the drinks stall, took out a shiny object, and hit my head with it," said Chen.

Chen also accused the man of kicking him after he fell to the ground.

Received 5 stitches for head injury

Chen shared that while he could not remember what happened entirely, as the alleged assault "took him by surprise", he recalled "bleeding a lot" and "feeling dizzy", reported Shin Min.

Chen then walked back to his seat slowly and alerted the police.

After he was conveyed to the hospital, he received five stitches for his head injury, recounted Chen.

The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed they received a call for assistance regarding the incident.

Chen was conveyed conscious to Changi General Hospital.

Loss suffered

According to Chen, he was discharged from the hospital at around 10pm on Jan. 6, and the doctor gave him three days of sick leave.

He lamented that he could not ferry passengers for three days due to his injury, but he had to pay the rental for his taxi, which amounted to nearly S$100 per day.

"Combined this amount with my S$400 medical bill, my loss was not small," said Chen.

Will still patronise coffee shop

Despite the incident, Chen told Shin Min that he would still patronise the coffee shop in the future because he loves the char kway teow stall there.

According to him, he and the owner of the char kway teow stall are friends, and he had dined there around five times per week over six months.

"At worst, I will bring my own drinks, since [the staff members] did not want to do my business," said Chen.

Chen bought char kway teow for wife after incident

Chen's account was corroborated by the char kway teow stall owner, who added that Chen sat in front of his stall after the alleged assault, according to Shin Min.

"He might have spoken very loudly, but he did not try to cause trouble on purpose. The dispute might have arisen out of a misunderstanding," said the stall owner.

The stall owner added that Chen bought a packet of char kway teow for his wife after the incident.

"I wanted to treat him, but he insisted on paying for it. He handed me S$10 before boarding the ambulance," recounted the stall owner.

Accusations against Chen

However, other stallholders and staff members who were present at the scene alleged that Chen played a part in the alleged assault.

A stallholder told Shin Min that at the time, Chen allegedly stationed himself "very closely" to the owner of the coffee shop.

The owner tried to push him away and turned his body away, but Chen apparently caught up to him, prompting the owner to push Chen away again, said the stallholder.

According to her, after the two men spoke briefly, the owner asked a staff member to bring his granddaughter to the drinks stall and placed her schoolbag at the stall.

Thereafter, the owner allegedly pulled out a bread knife from the stall, said the stallholder.

A staff member at the drinks stall also surmised that the owner might have been enraged after Chen "hurled vulgarities at him".

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