Woman, 42, a Chinese national, punches woman, 60, a S’porean colleague, over work matters at beauty salon, gets 3 months’ jail

A woman, 42, a Chinese national, was sentenced to three months’ jail after repeatedly punching her colleague, a Singaporean woman, 60, in the face.

The victim suffered a nasal fracture.

Wang Lina pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt and was sentenced on Aug. 17.

She was also ordered to pay approximately S$2,175 in compensation to the victim.

Beautician

In court documents seen by Mothership, Wang worked as a beautician at the True Harmony beauty salon located at City Link Mall at the time of the offence.

The victim was Wang’s colleague who worked as a receptionist.

On Feb. 11, 2026, at about 2:30pm, both women were on duty, and their supervisor was absent.

The victim temporarily oversaw store operations, including managing appointments and assigning beauticians to customers.

Massage oil

At the time of the offence, Wang was serving a customer and gave the customer a free sample of massage oil.

As Wang was still relatively new to her role, the victim approached her and questioned her actions.

After Wang explained that she wanted to promote the massage oil to the customer, the victim agreed and allowed her to carry on.

Shortly after, another customer arrived and requested Wang’s services.

As Wang was still promoting the massage oil, the victim assigned another beautician to attend to the customer.

Wang objected to the work arrangement and argued that the victim should have assisted and taken over the sale of the massage oil so she could serve the other customer.

She claimed the victim made things difficult.

Both women argued on the spot, and Wang reportedly swore at the victim.

The victim confronted the accused and asked her who she was directing the vulgarities at.

The pair continued shouting at each other and moved toward the back of the salon.

The argument then escalated into a physical fight.

Fight

At about 2:39pm, Wang punched the victim's face multiple times.

Another female colleague heard the commotion and went to check.

She saw the victim trying to protect herself with her hands.

She immediately stepped in to separate the two.

The victim's nose began to bleed, and she became unsteady on her feet.

She then alerted the police to the incident.

Nasal bone fracture

The victim subsequently sought medical attention at a hospital that evening.

A computed tomography (CT) scan of her head and face revealed that she had sustained a comminuted nasal bone fracture.

The victim was given five days of medical leave.

She incurred medical expenses amounting to S$2,174.98.

Wang was arrested on Apr. 21.

After being charged on Apr. 22, she was remanded as she was unable to post bail.

Initiated altercation

The prosecution sought three to three-and-a-half months’ jail for Wang.

They argued that Wang initiated the altercation by “directing vulgarities at the victim”.

“Throughout the assault, the victim did not retaliate and was reduced to shielding herself from the accused’s blows. There is no indication that the accused would have ceased the attack of her own accord,” the prosecution said.

Wang’s lawyers argued that the witness “only saw a portion of the altercation and not from the start”.

“The accused claims that she only intended to cause simple hurt in the heat of the moment due to the stress/ provocation but did not intend or foresee causing a fracture (grievous hurt),” they said.

Wang’s lawyers had sought a reduced charge for Wang.