An elderly man who was injured during a scuffle with a popular curry puff stallholder and his fiancee at Hong Lim Food Centre has come out to deny several claims the stallholder made about him.
Speaking to the media on 16 Nov, the retiree said that he felt “wronged” after reports emerged of him being a spy for a rival curry puff stall at Hong Lim Food Centre.
He has since denied knowing the curry puff stallholder or his younger brother.
Above all, he says his conscience is clear — police checked his phone but found no images of the stall.
Currently, the elderly man is considering legal action but has no desire to engage further with the perpetrators.
CCTV footage obtained of the incident shows what happened close to the Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original stall at 11.05am on Sunday (12 Nov).
Right before the scuffle, the elderly man, Mr Lim, is seen exchanging words with a red-shirted man, believed to be the Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original stallholder.
This man was identified as Peter Ng.
Mr Lim (left) appears to exchange words with a red-shirted man
Then, a woman, who is reportedly Mr Ng’s fiancee, comes over angrily and tries to grab Mr Lim’s phone.
A scuffle ensues, during which Mr Lim’s arm was scratched badly.
Eventually, it was Mr Ng who called the police. He also claimed that Mr Ng’s fiancee was injured during the scuffle and had some scratches on her arm.
However, only Mr Lim had to visit the hospital due to his injuries.
Mr Lim, a retiree, said at the time of the incident, he was at Hong Lim Food Centre to have lunch.
He said he had not decided on a stall to eat at and was walking around the eatery to check out the options. It appeared that during this time, he’d walked past Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original.
Source: KPO Food on Facebook
While Mr Lim was passing by the stall, he checked his hair using his phone as he’d forgotten to apply something to his hair.
However, this appeared to be interpreted as an attempt to take pictures of the Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original stall.
Mr Lim said that Mr Ng “charged” towards him, and demanded, “Show me your phone”.
But Mr Lim refused, retorting that he “doesn’t even know who he is”. It appeared that the scuffle occurred after this, as Mr Ng’s fiancee had come over to grab Mr Lim’s phone.
This led to Mr Lim’s injuries. According to him, he had not even noticed that he was bleeding until several onlookers came over and passed him tissue paper to wipe up the blood.
Mr Ng then allegedly threatened to call the police, to which Mr Lim told him, “You call, you call. I’ll wait.”
After the police arrived, they asked Mr Lim to show them his phone, which he did.
However, they did not find any pictures.
“Let me tell you, even if I took any pictures, it’s not illegal,” he continued, noting that Hong Lim Food Centre is a public area.
“In Singapore, it’s about law,” Mr Lim added. “I’m an old man, but these two people ganged up on me.” He also did not wish to retaliate as he felt he would be in the wrong if he did so.
Mr Tan, a witness to the incident, told the media that the pair had tried to grab Mr Lim’s phone several times.
“They pushed him after he refused to show them his phone,” he said. Mr Tan had been eating noodles nearby.
Following the incident at Hong Lim Complex, the man was taken to Singapore General Hospital for treatment.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
A medical report seen by MS News stated that Mr Lim had suffered a laceration on his right forearm. Mr Lim is unsure as to how it occurred.
MS News understands that when reporters visited the scene on Sunday, they were unable to find Mr Lim as he had gone to the hospital.
As a result, the reports only included statements from Mr Ng, which included the allegations of Mr Lim being a spy.
“All I was doing was walking around the stalls,” Mr Lim said. “I could report them for theft for trying to snatch my phone.”
Mr Lim said he has to wrap his arm with a towel when he showers to prevent his wound from getting wet. Since Sunday, he has visited the doctor twice to clean his wound.
Doctors have told him that it would take between a week to 10 days for his wound to heal. Luckily, he’s been able to pay for his medical bills, albeit out of his own pocket.
He added that the pair have not contacted him since the incident to apologise or clarify matters. However, he has no desire to engage further with them, either at the stall or elsewhere, noting that he will let the matter slide.
Regardless, Mr Lim hopes to share his side of the story amidst the accusations levied against him.
The pair accused him of taking photos of their stall on behalf of another stall, Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff — claims which they repeated to media outlets.
As it turns out, the two stalls are embroiled in a huge family feud.
Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original is run by Peter Ng, the eldest brother of founder Ng Yong Cheong. Meanwhile, Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff has been run by Ray, his younger brother, since Apr 2022.
The pair had fallen out over disagreements beginning when Ng Yong Cheong transferred ownership of the business to Peter.
Mr Lim has strenuously denied knowing the owners of either stall.
The only thing he can remember is that Ray would sometimes greet him when Mr Lim has coffee nearby.
He believes that Peter misunderstood these interactions as them knowing each other and hence, being a spy.
Mr Tan, who works at a fish stall at the wet market, noted that the police would often come down to the curry puff stalls.
Peter would allegedly call the police on his younger brother for trying to poach his customers.
Thankfully, the scuffle did not scare off the elderly Mr Lim from Hong Lim Complex.
“I feel wronged,” Mr Lim said. “But I don’t fear visiting the area [after the incident].”
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Featured image provided by Mr Lim.
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