Man, 27, & 3 friends beat up M'sian man in Geylang club over staring incident

While at a night club celebrating his wife's pregnancy, a 27-year-old man felt that another man was staring at him and his friends several times.

Feeling affronted, he confronted the other man, a Malaysian, and the situation quickly turned violent.

Along with three of his friends, Jonathan Soo Wen Jie punched and kicked the Malaysian repeatedly. At one point, Soo also struck his head with a metal bar.

All four assailants were drunk at the time, according to court documents.

As a result of the assault that lasted almost two-and-a-half minutes, the victim suffered lasting blurriness and pain in his left eye for several months after the incident.

Soo pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous hurt, and was sentenced on Oct. 5 to a year-and-a-half in jail and four strokes of the cane.

His three friends involved have also been convicted.

Tan Swee Heng, 45, was also sentenced on Oct. 5 to a year and five months in jail and three strokes of the cane, while Ong Jun Ren, 37, was previously sentenced in April 2026 to a year in jail and two strokes of the cane.

The last accused, Koh Ming Quan, 20, was sentenced in August to probation as he is a young offender.

How it started

The incident happened at the Mask 51 night club in Geylang at around 2:02am on Apr. 28, 2025.

It was caught on video by the club’s CCTV cameras.

In addition to celebrating the pregnancy of Soo's wife, they were also there to celebrate Tan's wife's birthday.

The victim was there to meet a friend for drinks, and sat at the back of the club.

Soo noticed that he appeared to be staring at him and his friends as they went to get drinks.

It aggravated Soo, and he walked aggressively towards the victim along with Ong. After arguing with him, Soo threw a punch at him.

The commotion alerted Koh and Tan to go over, and Koh attempted to calm Soo down.

Ong, however, began pointing aggressively at the victim and arguing with him.

When the victim's friend tried to defuse the situation, Soo told him not to intervene or else he would be beaten up too.

The assault

After Soo and the victim exchanged more words, Soo threw a flurry of punches at the victim's face.

The victim turned away and did not retaliate.

Soo, Koh, and Tan then pulled him over to the centre of the club and hurled him against a table, causing him to hit his head and fall to the ground.

While he was still on the ground, Soo and his three friends began punching and kicking him multiple times.

Tan grabbed the victim by his hair and attempted to pick up a bottle to hit him, but was stopped from doing so by Tan’s wife.

As the victim got to his feet, Ong went forward to elbow him in the back, and Koh shoved him against a table. Koh also picked up a glass bottle and smashed it on the victim's back.

As the victim staggered towards the exit of the club, Soo picked up a metal bar stool and struck the victim's head with it, then threw it hard at his head.

Soo, Tan, and Ong continued to punch the victim after that.

The victim's injuries

Due to their attacks, the victim had to be sent to the hospital to be treated for multiple injuries, including severe facial fractures and eyelid lacerations.

According to the prosecutor, he requested to be discharged against medical advice for admission.

He felt that he could not afford to pay for medical treatment in Singapore and wanted to return to Malaysia to receive medical treatment.

However, he still did not undergo surgery in Malaysia and his injuries were managed medically. He had to stay at home for a month without working to recuperate.

Months after the incident, he continued to experience blurriness and pain in his left eye, which made it difficult to focus with it.

'Cowardly act'

The prosecutor called for the court to jail Soo between a year and seven months to a year and nine months, along with four strokes of the cane.

He described the case as "a vicious, gratuitous, and cowardly act of hooliganism", arguing that the joint assault of a "hapless male victim" was "an irrational and disproportional response to a perceived slight" against Soo.

On the difference between the four men's sentences, the prosecutor felt it was justified.

He argued that Ong and Tan were less culpable than Soo, who was the main instigator of the assault and displayed much more violence towards the victim than the other two.