S'porean man, 60, who disrupted lion dance competition & poured coffee on costume, fined S$3,000

A Singaporean man who previously called his nurse neighbour "Covid spreader" at the height of the pandemic, has been fined for disrupting his adult son's lion dance competition in Clementi and pouring coffee on the troupe's lion dance costume.

Cheang Eng Hock, 60, and his wife, Lim Sok Lay, 52, had been seen in a viral social media video causing the ruckus at the competition venue, West Coast Community Centre, in July 2023.

Cheang, in black, was heard shouting at the troupe while Lim kicked the head of the lion dance costume.

@joejun0 🇸🇬 🇸🇬🇸🇬 29/7 /2023 😡😡😡 Parents of some participating son came to the scene to scold and kick a lion's head to prevent their son from participating in the competition! You can prevent your son from participating! But you can't be disrespectful to lions! 有参赛学员父母竟到场开骂，踢狮头阻儿子参赛！你可以阻止你儿子不参与！但你不可以对狮子不敬！ 第二十七届義安城全国舞狮锦标赛 29/7 27TH Ngee Ann City National Lion Dance Championship 2023 #新加坡 #singapore #singaporetiktok #singaporeliondance #马来西亚 #malaysia #malaysiatiktok #liondance #mualan #tariansinga #liondancecompetition #liondanceperformance #醒獅 #醒狮 #舞狮 #高桩舞狮🦁 #高桩 #舞狮比赛 #舞狮表演 #舞狮生活🦁 #舞狮运动 #liondancetiktok #liondancer #liondancing #liondancelife #liondancemalaysia #barongsai #múalan #mualansurong #lansurong #高桩舞狮 #致敬 #liondance2023 #第二十七届義安城全国舞狮锦标赛 #義安城 #義安城全國舞獅錦標賽 #ngeeanncity #ngeeanncityliondance ♬ 原声 - 🌹Joe Jun🌹

In February, Lim was fined a total of S$4,000 for disrupting the competition and for pushing an acquaintance at a coffee shop in an unrelated incident, The Straits Times reported.

Disrupted son's lion dance competition

Court documents seen by Mothership indicated that prior to the lion dance incident on Jul. 29, 2023, the couple had returned to their home in Punggol to find it in a mess, with the main gate unlocked.

Seeing that their son was missing, Lim and Cheang called the police.

Police later told Lim and Cheang that their son had sought police assistance as he claimed to be locked in the flat.

After police assisted him to leave the flat, he went to take part in a lion dance competition.

Prosecutors said that the couple did not approve of their 25-year-old son associating with the lion dance troupe as they felt the members were teaching him "the wrong things".

The son was not on speaking terms with his parents at the time.

Cheang and Lim then took a taxi to West Coast Community Centre in Clementi to confront him.

When they arrived, the couple saw that the troupe, along with their son, were preparing their props for their performance.

Cheang and Lim, who were each holding a cup of coffee, poured the coffee on the troupe's lion dance costume and stained it.

During the dispute, Lim also kicked the head of the costume, cracking it.

This disrupted the competition for about 10 minutes and the police were called.

The couple was later arrested by police at the scene.

Fined

The prosecution noted that the stains could not be removed from the lion dance costume, and it had to be replaced at the cost of S$1,330, ST reported.

Cheang and Lim each paid S$665 as restitution.

On Apr. 25, Cheang was fined S$3,000 after pleading guilty to one charge of mischief, according to ST.

The couple first made headlines over a dispute in May 2020 where they shouted "Covid, "Covid spreader", "virus" and "virus family" at their neighbour and his family.

After the case was brought to court, Cheang was fined S$1,200 for one harassment charge, while Lim was fined a total of S$4,000 for three harassment charges.

Top image from Lianhe Zaobao & joejun0/TikTok