Elderly man sits across from boy, 19, at Sengkang hawker centre, flings leftover food at him after staring for 1 minute

A teenager in Singapore was dining alone at a hawker centre when an older man he did not know allegedly sat down in front of him and later flung leftover food at him.

The incident first came to light after the teenager uploaded a video of the encounter on Instagram.

Flung pieces of leftover brinjal at the teen

Speaking to Mothership, the teenager, 19-year-old Junbin, said the incident took place at around 7:28pm at Anchorvale Village Hawker Centre on Oct. 22.

He said he was eating alone when the man sat down opposite him without a word and pushed his tray against Junbin's.

The man stared at him for about a minute, then used his chopsticks to flick pieces of leftover brinjal at him, some of which landed on Junbin's food, he said.

That was when he started recording.

In the video, Junbin can be heard asking the man what was wrong and whether he had done something to offend him.

The man did not answer, except to say: "Stop pointing the camera at me ah."

The man then stood up and moved towards the camera, pointing at it, prompting Junbin to try and block him with his hand.

The man appeared to be pushed backwards, but later went in front of Junbin again, raising his hand.

The video ended after the man appeared to jab his hand forward.

After the recording ended, Junbin said he asked people nearby three times if anyone could help.

They either kept watching or shook their heads, he said.

He eventually took his food and bag and moved to another table.

"I encourage anyone who encounters situations like this, please try to avoid reacting rashly and try to de-escalate the situation, especially when dealing with the elderly," he said.

Cleaner and stallholders recognised the man

When a Shin Min Daily News reporter visited the hawker centre the next day, a 70-year-old cleaner said she had seen the man while working at another nearby hawker centre.

"He is always staring at young men. If they ignore him, he'll make gestures to try and get their attention," she said.

However, she said she had never seen him get into an actual altercation.

She added that some people have not taken too kindly to his stares, adding that her nephew was once stared at by the man and nearly got into a physical confrontation with him.

Other hawkers also said they recognised the man, saying he often dined at the hawker centre alone.

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