S'pore man, 57, arrested after spitting at & hitting debt collector with golf club

A man who injured two debt collectors with a golf club has been arrested for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means.

On Jul. 10, three employees from SG Collectors, a licensed debt recovery agency, visited the man at his Simei HDB flat, Zaobao reported.

The man, a 57-year-old food stall owner, owed S$12,412.20 to a supplier, who engaged SG Collectors to recover the sum.

Since September 2024, the debt collectors had been visiting the man at his stall or home typically two to four times a month, one of the collectors, surnamed Lin, told Zaobao.

However, they had never managed to find him. When they finally met on Jul. 10, the situation escalated into a violent altercation.

Footage of the clash

One of the collectors had recorded the incident on camera, and SG Collectors shared it in a Facebook post that night.

In the video, after the debtor had opened his door, both sides started to taunt each other through the gate.

"Do you dare hit [us]?" one of the collectors asked repeatedly.

At one point, one of them kicked the gate, which prompted the debtor to retrieve a wooden stick from inside his house. He then opened the gate and approached the collectors with the stick behind him. Amid more taunting, he spat at one of the collectors.

According to SG Collectors, the collectors were leaving when the debtor returned with a golf club. He can be seen holding the golf club in the video while both sides exchanged vulgarities.

Shortly after the collectors tried to wrestle the golf club out of the debtor's hand, the footage became shaky and then blacked out while clashes could be heard.

Zaobao reported that Lin was hit in the arm by the golf club, and went aside to call the police. Another collector had minor injuries.

In response to Mothership's queries, the police confirmed that they received a call for assistance at the HDB flat at 2:25pm that day.

They said that two men, aged 36 and 39, sustained minor injuries but refused conveyance.

Lin, however, told Zaobao that he went to the hospital for stitches. SG Collectors said so in their Facebook post as well, and included photos of the hospital treatment and bill.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Alleged previous harassment

In their Facebook post, SG Collectors claimed that the debtor had responded to their employees' messages with vulgar language in an earlier visit.

They added that he had threatened them with "gangster-like" behaviour, for example, saying "you don’t know who I am" in his messages. He would also use "intimidation tactics to pressure [their] staff".

At the same time, the company acknowledged that during the incident on Jul. 10, abusive words were exchanged by both parties, and one of the collectors "responded in the heat of the moment".

They said they will be "taking internal steps to reinforce [their] standards of professionalism", to ensure their staff do not reciprocate when a debtor uses vulgarities or insults.

However, they maintained that "no level of verbal provocation justifies physical violence".

Top images from SG Collectors/Facebook