Man Reportedly Spits On AMK Grocer As He Couldn’t Use PayNow To Buy Cigarettes

Man Reportedly Spits On AMK Grocer & Curses At Pregnant Wife, Arrested By The Police

PayNow has become a popular mode of payment in Singapore due to its ease, as users just have to scan a QR code.

However, when something goes wrong, it might get frustrating.

Unfortunately, after a man wasn’t able to use the payment method at an Ang Mo Kio grocery store, he allegedly spat on the owner.

Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook

He’s been arrested by the police.

Grocer’s wife was manning store at the time

The unsavoury incident took place at 8am last Saturday (1o Dec) morning, reported Shin Min Daily News.

At the time, the owner’s wife was manning the counter of the grocery store in Block 332 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1.

Source: Google Maps

The 28-year-old store owner, named only as Mr Lee, was resting upstairs.

When the big-sized man entered the store alone, he had beer in his hand, and went directly to the counter to buy cigarettes, said Mr Lee.

According to his wife, the man couldn’t specify which brand of cigarettes he wanted and became impatient.

Upon her recommendations, he settled on a box and wanted to use PayNow to purchase it.

Man got aggressive when he couldn’t complete transaction

However, though the man scanned the QR code, he was unable to complete the transaction for some reason.

He then started raising his voice at Mrs Lee, who is five months’ pregnant.

Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook

As Mrs Lee can’t speak English well, she only discerned that he was being aggressive and leaning his head into the counter, demanding to know why the transaction couldn’t be completed.

So she called her husband for help.

Grocer smells alcohol on customer

When Mr Lee came down, he heard the man yelling at his wife, and smelt alcohol on him, he said.

He also noticed that he couldn’t even stand properly.

Suspecting that the customer had been drinking, he asked him to calm down.

However, the man continued spewing vulgarities, so he refused to sell anything to him and asked him to leave.

Man threatens AMK grocer, spits on him

The man didn’t let up, though, instead intensifying his actions by threatening Mr Lee.

He allegedly stretched out his arms towards the grocer twice, once waving his fist at him saying,

Don’t think I don’t dare to hit you, I can kill you with one punch.

Mr Lee called the police and returned the cigarettes to the shelf, but when he turned back the man did something even more shocking.

He allegedly spat on him, leaving a trail of spit on his T-shirt.

Source: Shin Min Daily News print edition

Mr Lee asked his wife to take a photo as evidence, and the man finally left after about 10 minutes.

After the man left his grocery store, Mr Lee followed him to a nearby kopitiam, reported Shin Min’s print edition.

There, he tried to buy beer but also failed to pay via PayNow.

He then ventured towards the park, continuing to issue verbal provocations when he saw the grocer.

When the police came, they questioned the man.

However, he still behaved aggressively, speaking loudly on the phone and slamming it down on the table at one point, kopitiam boss Mr Xie, 47, told the paper.

He was then taken away by the police in handcuffs.

31-year-old man arrested

The police confirmed to Shin Min that they’d arrested a 31-year-old man.

He’s suspected of causing annoyance whilst drunk under Section 14(2)(b) of the Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act 2015.

The offence carries an imprisonment term of up to six months’ jail and/or a fine not exceeding S$1,000.

The case is currently under investigation.

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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Shin Min Daily News print edition.