Man takes back 'S$2' tip for Clementi Mall busker for unsatisfactory song choice, involves police

A Singaporean busker's session outside Clementi Mall on Dec. 6 was disrupted by a man who was unhappy about a song choice and demanded to get his tip back.

The busker Evan Goh, a finalist in Mediacorp's 2023 Battle of the Buskers, shared footage of the incident on his Instagram page the next day.

Goh was singing outside Clementi Mall that evening when he got a request to sing a Christmas song.

He was happy to do so. While singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", he thanked the man who requested it when he gave Goh a tip.

About five to ten minutes later, the same man went up to Goh and showed him a list of Christmas songs on his phone.

Goh offered to play "Jingle Bells", which was on the list, as it was a song he was familiar with and able to play.

However, the man wanted a different song.

"The moment he heard that I suggested 'Jingle Bells', he started to raise his voice," Goh told Mothership. "It took me by surprise."

'I paid for my song'

The man started to say, "I dedicate my song! I paid for my song!"

He also told Goh, "You don't get paid, you know? You do busking!"

There were police officers patrolling the area at the time. There had allegedly been some complaints about the man.

When the officers spoke to the man, he told them that he wanted the money he had tipped Goh back.

"I put in S$2," he said.

Goh was doubtful about this. He checked his video footage after the incident and told Mothership it was clear the man had only dropped a single coin in his tip box.

Nonetheless, Goh did not dispute the amount at the time nor stop the man from retrieving his tip.

As the police watched, the man reached into the box and took some money out.

"I'm unsure if he took more than he put in," Goh said. "I don't think he took out any notes, so I wouldn't say he tried to scam or steal from me."

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Disruptive

The man left the area for a short while after speaking to the police, but soon returned and continued to observe Goh.

"He kept filming me, pointing at me. He filmed my license, tip box, and started speaking loudly, which was quite disruptive to my performance," Goh said.

Goh also saw him sitting on the floor near the busking spot, and dancing to himself.

Goh did not know what type of complaints the police had received about the man, but suspected he might have been a public nuisance in the area.

The police later went to check in on Goh and told him he could call them if he needed any help.

In the caption of his post, Goh thanked the police for being there, as he would not otherwise have known how to deal with the man's behaviour.

Common courtesy

This was not the first time Goh had had an unpleasant encounter while busking.

In 2024, he was loudly heckled by passersby as he busked outside Paya Lebar Square.

He told Mothership then that he hoped people could respect the time, effort, and craft of buskers in Singapore.

Recalling that episode this time, Goh wrote in his Dec. 7 video that he was no longer asking for respect now.

"The last time I did, people told me I didn't deserve any respect and I should find a real job," he said. "How about some common courtesy? Just a tiny bit?"

Still, this incident will not deter Goh from continuing to busk around Singapore.

"Although it was a rather unfortunate incident where a passerby was not very polite with his song request, this is actually not the norm," he told Mothership.

"While it does affect us buskers, the positives do outweigh the negatives. The little good interactions with kind and supportive comments don't get the social media traction like these condescending ones. So while it is frustrating to encounter, I also know it is part of the job since it is my choice to put myself out there to busk."

His video captured one such supportive interaction.

After the man had taken back his tip, someone approached Goh and asked if there was some trouble, then told him to take care.

Top images from evantellstories/Instagram