M’sian man, 24, splashes hot water on M'sian man, 48, in Bedok restaurant after being scolded for preparing more noodles than needed, gets 1 year & 5 months’ jail

A 24-year-old Malaysian man was sentenced to one year and five months’ jail for splashing a 48-year-old Malaysian colleague with a bucket of hot water after being scolded for taking more noodles than needed to prepare a dish.

Chong Kai Wen pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt on Jul. 8.

Noodles

In court documents seen by Mothership, Chong was working as a kitchen assistant at Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant in Bedok.

On the evening of Apr. 13, 2026, he received an order for a noodle dish.

Chong took out a portion of noodles for the chef to prepare the order.

However, he accidentally took slightly more than what was required to prepare the dish.

His colleague saw this and scolded Chong.

A few minutes later, he received another order for the same noodle dish,

Chong used the excess noodles from the previous order for the second order.

Having ensured that there was ultimately no wastage of noodles, Chong felt angry that his colleague had earlier scolded him.

Bucket

When Chong saw his colleague leaving the restaurant, he filled a bucket halfway with hot water measuring about 90°C from a water dispenser in the kitchen.

Armed with the bucket of hot water, Chong ran out of the restaurant towards his colleague, who was standing outside.

At about 7:34pm, he splashed the hot water onto his colleague’s upper body.

He also shouted at his colleague and asked why he had scolded him earlier when there was no noodle wastage.

Other colleagues and the pair’s employer emerged from the restaurant.

They told Chong to calm down.

The colleague who was splashed with water felt a burning sensation on his upper body and took off his shirt.

He then saw that his upper torso was red and told his employer about what had happened.

At about 10:02pm, his employer alerted the police to the incident.

Chong was subsequently arrested.

The colleague was conveyed to Changi General Hospital.

Injuries

Upon medical examination, the injured man was found to have sustained first-degree burns over his left shoulder, chest and back and second-degree burns over his left arm.

He faces the possibility of permanent scarring following the burn injury sustained over his left shoulder and upper back.

Such injury may heal with residual scarring and changes in skin texture.

He was given a further follow-up appointment, but he did not attend.

Fortuitous

The prosecution sought a sentence of 19 to 20 months’ jail for Chong.

They cited that the amount of hot water splashed was “not insignificant” and argued that the water could “easily have reached more vulnerable regions” of the colleague’s body, such as his face and head.

“It was entirely fortuitous that the victim did not suffer any burns in these vulnerable areas,” the prosecution said.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Chong could have faced a jail term of up to seven years, a fine, caning, or any combination of such punishments.