Man who stabbed neighbour causes trouble at Toa Payoh food centre again

SINGAPORE - A man who allegedly attacked another man with a pair of scissors at a food centre at Toa Payoh Lorong 4 was once again seen at the same hawker centre again yesterday.

This time, he was holding a wooden stick, repeatedly hitting a table and making a racket.

The New Paper reported that on Oct 14, the man had attacked his neighbour and stabbed him with a pair of scissors, seemingly without any reason.

The man had then left the scene, only to return after changing his green T-shirt to a black polo shirt and pretending to be a bystander. He was recognised by three aunties before being arrested by police.

When Lianhe Zaobao journalists visited the same food centre yesterday morning, they saw the man there again, holding a wooden stick and repeatedly hitting a table.

His presence caused other patrons of the food court to sit as far away from the man as possible to avoid the possibility of getting into trouble or being hurt, Lianhe Wanbao reports.

A stall owner, known as Mr Hong, said that before the incident occurred, the victim had sat down at the assailant's table after seeing that it was empty.

"He has never liked sharing his table with others, and when he saw the other man sit down, challenged him to a fight," Mr Hong said.

Mr Hong also said that the assailant had been involved in another incident before the stabbing, when he had snatched a Rolex watch belonging to a woman sitting at the next table. When the woman took back her watch, the assailant was unhappy and threw some cigarettes at her three times.

A neighbour, Mr Ding, 53, told Lianhe Wanbao that the assailant stayed with his neighbour in a flat at Toa Payoh Lorong 5. He was previously a painter, but due to mental instability had frequently visited the Institute of Mental Health and was only released after two months.

Another stall owner, Madam Xu, said that the assailant often sat at the food centre. He frequently threw cigarette buds at stall owners, and sometimes also used a wooden stick to hit tables. Other patrons called him "Ah Xiao" (Hokkien for crazy).

According to Lianhe Wanbao, stall owners at the food centre expressed worry that the man's frequent presence there would affect their business and scare away other patrons.

Madam Xu said that the man would be at the food centre when she opened her stall at 6am and still be there when she was closing up at 2pm.

Diners said that when they see him sitting there and holding the stick, they do not dare to sit near him, but also dare not talk to him in case they were hurt.

seanyap@sph.com.sg