On 24 July, a Singaporean performer was busking at Covent Garden in London when he was punched in the stomach by a member of the public.
The busker, 28-year-old Bryan Wong, has since shared a video on his TikTok page, showing the moment he was attacked.
The TikTok video showed a man in a grey hoodie talking to Bryan before landing a punch on the latter’s midriff.
In a subsequent TikTok video, Bryan claimed the man disrupted his performance twice, “The first time, he did it at the start of the show. I played it off like every busker does.”
When it happened again, Bryan was in the middle of a performance and told the man:
Can you just leave? Because I’m trying to do a show here.
For reasons unknown, the man started kicking Bryan’s items on the stage.
Bryan subsequently approached the man to usher him away, and that was when the latter landed the blow.
After the attack, Bryan asked the audience if they wanted him to continue the show. After receiving mixed reactions, he proceeded with his final act and ended his show prematurely.
Bryan was commended for how calmly he handled the situation.
Source: TikTok
When asked why he did not retaliate, Bryan said it would not “look good” on himself and other buskers at Covent Garden.
In his TikTok video, Bryan admitted that his biggest regret was that kids had witnessed the incident.
“The most frustrating thing for me is the kids’ reaction. The (girl) who was sitting in front of the camera. Watching her reaction just made it… not fun,” Bryan said.
Source: TikTok
He added that the punch did not hurt and that he would not let the incident affect him.
Speaking to MS News, Bryan said the man mouthed “Ok me first” before proceeding to hit him.
The man then said “your turn”, which Bryan implied was the man’s way of asking him to retaliate.
Bryan explained that was the reason why he said “I’m not going to” in the video.
As for the attacker’s motivations, Bryan said many suspect it might be fuelled by racism. However, in his view, the man was just trying to be a nuisance:
From my perspective, it felt like the guy was just trying to be a gangster and be disruptive.
Afterwards, the man apparently disrupted another busker’s performance by attempting to steal an audience member’s phone.
Bryan has since lodged a police report. However, no action was taken as the man did not appear again.
The 28-year-old said he was in the UK to improve his busking act and bring better quality shows back to Singapore.
He shared that he was in London for most of July and is currently in Edinburgh, Scotland. He will be heading to Portugal for a gig and will return to Singapore on 27 Aug.
Also read: Thai man in mascot costume gets punched & knocked out after stranger asked to shake his hand
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Featured image adapted from @brylights on TikTok.
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