SINGAPORE: A man who attacked an older man in a hawker centre over a debt was jailed for a year on Thursday (Aug 29).
Ang Thiam Soon, 48, confronted 62-year-old Tan Seh Kiat at a hawker centre at Block 75, Toa Payoh Lorong 5 on Jun 21. Mr Tan owed Ang’s uncle money, the court heard.
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At about 8.20pm that day, Mr Tan bought a bowl of laksa and carried it towards his seat.
He was confronted midway by Ang, who began arguing with him. Laksa bowl in hand, Mr Tan tried to walk away, but Ang grew angry and swiped at his hands.
The bowl of laksa flipped over and fell to the ground, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Vaswani. Ang then took out a pair of scissors from his waist pouch and began striking Mr Tan with it.
Mr Tan ran to the void deck of a block nearby, but fell down. Ang continued to strike him, stabbing him repeatedly on his left ear, before leaving.
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Mr Tan was treated for his injuries at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and had a Y-shaped wound from a laceration on his ear, with some exposed cartilage.
The victim required 12 stitches for the wounds on his ear, and was given three days’ medical leave.
Ang was identified and arrested after the incident and admitted to the offence. He pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt to the victim.
The prosecutor asked for a year’s jail, saying it was an unprovoked attack. Ang has previous convictions for offences including theft and drugs.
Ang told the court in Mandarin that he was very close to his uncle and stood up for him as he “couldn’t bear to see him duped out of his money”.
The scissors were forfeited to the police for disposal.
For voluntarily causing hurt to Mr Tan with a pair of scissors, he could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.
