Royston Tan's movie cast pelted with eggs during promo event

WE'VE all heard of the proverbial egg-in-the-face.

Actress Mindee Ong actually got it.

The lead for Royston Tan's new movie about Singapore's getai circuit was
happily going about promoting the show on a pickup truck on Wednesday night,
when she was pelted with an egg - and, by all accounts, a rotten one at that.

The egg flew and landed smack on her forehead, spilling egg yolk on her eyes
and leaving them bloodshot.

A piece of flying egg shell cut the outer corner of her left eye.

Mindee, 28, wasn't the only one who was hit.

Co-stars Qi Yuwu got it on the shoulder, Yeo Yann Yann got it on the back of
her neck, and twins May and Choy got egg on their wigs.

Even the director, Royston himself, got egg on his brand new suit.
All five - together with Yuwu - were standing at the back of the pickup, which
had moved off from The Heeren Shops.

It was just about to reach Orchard Emerald, when a motorcycle allegedly pulled
up close to the vehicle.

That was when the bike's pillion rider allegedly started throwing eggs at the
cast, the movie's crew members said.

Royston, who directed the movie titled 881, said they were bantering with
pedestrians and singing a Hokkien song when they were struck.

"It all happened so fast. I just heard Mindee say 'Shit'. But she assured us
that she was okay. We were shocked, but we quickly recovered ourselves and
continued to wave to the crowd," Royston told The New Paper yesterday.

The cast had just finished a 7.30pm-road show at The Heeren Shops and heading
to Plaza Singapura where they had another show at 8.30pm.
Mr Eric Ng, music director of the film, was following in his own car behind the
pickup and saw the incident.

He told The New Paper: "The traffic was quite heavy. We were driving along the
second lane from the left when the motorbike came from the bus lane.
"Then I saw eggs flying and the men were throwing and smiling. I immediately
gave chase."

Mr Ng, who had two passengers with him, said the two men rode dangerously,
weaving in and out of the traffic.

He said he lost them when they made a left turn into Central Expressway after
the Le Meridien Singapore hotel. He added that they appeared young.

He also claimed the motorcycle's licence plate was covered with white gaffer
tape and he could only see the letters FV.

Mr Gary Goh, one of the producers of the film, said he received Mr Ng's call
about the incident and when the cast reached Plaza Singapura, they were taken
to the washroom to clean up and to check for cuts.

The cast, including Mindee, continued with their show.

Mr Goh added: "We asked if she was okay and that we could remove her segment
but she said she will press on."

The New Paper could not reach Mindee for comments.

But actress Yann Yann, 30, told The New Paper: "When it happened, we were
shocked for a while. Then we told ourselves that if someone wants to sabotage
us, all the more we'd want to give an even better performance."

After the performance, Royston, MrGoh and another crew member said they booked
a cab and rushed Mindee to the hospital.

She was allegedly given an injection, as well as some eyedrops and an eye patch
to protect her eye, said Royston.

Getai singer Karen Lim, 36, who has a supporting role in the movie, said she
visited Mindee at home yesterday.

She said Mindee removed her eye patch and showed her her red and swollen eyes.

"I am so angry. What if her face was hurt and she was left with scars?

"I have never encountered such an incident in the 21 years that I have been
running the circuit," she added.

Royston said that they did not file a police report as they "did not want to
kick up a big fuss".

But by not reporting the incident, wouldn't he be putting his cast in danger?

He said: "We're too busy with the publicity of the movie and would like to
think it's a one-off incident.

"It would be too difficult to catch the culprits anyway because we did not see
their faces or their licence plate number."

Royston said he does not know who might want to do such a thing to them.
He added: "If it was staged, I would have been more relieved. I don't want
people to think it's a publicity stunt. It would make us look very cheap."

Meanwhile, the weekend promotional activities at various heartland malls will
continue and Royston said they will continue to use the pickup.

However, Mr Goh said they might consider blasting music from the vehicle
instead of having the cast on board.

"We cannot afford that sort of risk and must protect the interest of the
artistes," he said.

Why would we do such a thing to ourselves and injure our own artistes?
-
Producer Gary Goh