The man involved in a fight outside a lift in VivoCity has shared his side of the story.
Mr Suresh Vanaz said he reacted that way because a man had blocked him and his wheelchair-bound brother while they were exiting the lift.
Source: @sureshvanaz on TikTok
The fight drew the attention of netizens when a now-deleted video showing part of it was posted on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group and TikTok.
A 29-second clip still available on Imgur showed Mr Suresh, who was carrying a large backpack, shouting at someone off-camera while being restrained by a few men.
A wheelchair-bound man can be seen in the foreground, being cared for by a woman.
Source: Imgur
As he lunged forward, he fell on the floor, bringing one of the men down with him.
Source: Imgur
When he got back on his feet, Mr Suresh pressed the lift button while a woman in a multicoloured top grappled with him and told him to “cool down”.
He then threw a bag at one of the men who restrained him earlier, prompting the woman to say, “This is my bag!”
The incident appeared to come to an end when they disengaged and Mr Suresh pushed the lift button again. A man in a white T-shirt was seen trying to calm him down.
In a close to 6-minute TikTok video on Monday (2 Dec), Mr Suresh confirmed that the man in the video was him.
He asked netizens what they would do when somebody is coming out of the lift, answering his own question: “Give way, right?”
However, when he was trying to wheel his wheelchair-bound brother backwards out of the lift that day, he was scolded by a guy who said, “Hey, bro, you cannot see ah?”
Mr Suresh sarcastically said that he didn’t have eyes on the back of his head, adding:
God has given me only two eyes.
Thus, the onus was on those outside the lift to give way, he said.
Source: @sureshvanaz on TikTok
Addressing the man, he told him to “be mindful” that he had a physically challenged brother and was trying to pull him out of the lift.
Instead, what the man did was “block, block, block”, he said.
Worse still, the man allegedly challenged him to “settle” the matter, Mr Suresh claimed.
When he professed to be up for it and even gave him his name, the man ran away, he said.
Then his wife and his family also got involved, with the wife talking “rubbish”, he added.
Mr Suresh admitted that he got angry when he was challenged, telling the man:
You have a family who can walk, take the escalator!
He also had a word for the other people who were trying to “pull (him) down”:
Bro, when there is a wrong when somebody is going to be like against with the wheelchair guy or with me, you guys, we have to be mindful to stop them, not me.
As for the woman in the colourful shirt, Mr Suresh said she was trying to stop him “for some reason”, adding:
She really didn’t know what’s going on, but she was trying to be nice.
Mr Suresh also called out a woman who posted the video on Facebook, saying it was “edited”.
He asked where the “other version” was, which showed the family of the man who blocked him and his brother.
He also accused her of “trying to get points” for social media, telling her to “tell the whole story”.
Mr Suresh then cautioned Singaporeans to be mindful when commenting on such incidents on social media, adding:
Caregivers are going through stress in this Singapore situation here.
In a second TikTok video posted on Monday night, lasting more than seven minutes, Mr Suresh revealed that he had filed two police reports.
Source: @sureshvanaz on TikTok
The first one was about the lift fight, where he would “let the authorities take action”.
Vivocity’s management didn’t let him see CCTV footage of the incident due to “certain protocols”, which he said he respected.
The second police report was against the woman who posted the video, Mr Suresh said.
This was made after she was “arrogant” in her messaging replies to him. He shared screenshots of a conversation where she purportedly challenged him to sue her.
Source: @sureshvanaz on TikTok
She then deleted the videos, blocked him and also deleted her “multiple accounts”, he said.
Mr Suresh also said he would report her to the authorities for working “extra jobs”. As she is purportedly a Filipina domestic helper, this is not allowed under Manpower Ministry regulations.
He thanked netizens for digging out details on her, including where she lived, saying that he would take “legal action” against her.
As for the auntie in the multicoloured shirt, Mr Suresh apologised to her for flinging her bag.
Saying he was “trying to react to another incident”, he added that the bag was flung “accidentally”.
He also claimed the video was edited and the bag flinging was “not on purpose”.
He acknowledged that she was trying to calm matters down but advised her to “be mindful” as others would “take advantage” by making both of them look bad — referring to the allegedly edited video.
Finally, Mr Suresh thanked netizens who sent supportive messages for him and his brother.
But he requested that they refrain from posting anything about his brother as he was still “affected” and “upset” over what had happened.
Thus, he pleaded for some space for his brother, inviting people to send him a direct message if they wanted to share anything.
Many videos in Mr Suresh’s TikTok account depict him looking after his brother, revealing the obvious love the siblings have for each other.
Also read: Fight ‘suddenly’ breaks out between 2 men on MRT train, 1 suffers head wound
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Featured image adapted from Imgur and @sureshvanaz on TikTok.
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