One throws insult, another throws mannequin

SINGAPORE - They run women's clothing stores next to each other and their relationship is tense as they sell similar products.

The two women, both from China, often argue, said other shop owners in Chinatown Complex.

Things boiled over again around 2.30pm last Friday, but this time it led to violence at their premises on the first storey.

Their fight, which also involved two men, was caught on video by a relative of the shop owner.

On one side was a woman in blue and her husband in green. They declined to be named when approached.

On the other was Ms Zhang Yin, in her 40s, and her brother-in-law, Mr Jeff Tan.

First, the woman in blue hit Mr Tan with a clothes hanger.

Things escalated from there and all four got into a scuffle with the woman in blue hitting Ms Zhang with a large plastic container.

The scuffle stopped when Mr Tan called the police.

Then it suddenly resumed and this time the woman in blue attacked Ms Zhang with a mannequin.

The women were restrained and the fight eventually ended.

The husband of the woman in blue suffered multiple scratches on his face and Mr Tan had bruises on his head and shoulder.

Police confirmed that the two were sent to Singapore General Hospital and that investigations are still ongoing.

When The New Paper spoke to the woman in blue, she claimed the fight started when Ms Zhang provoked her.

"She had her finger pointed right at my face and even insulted my parents," she claimed.

She added that Mr Tan and Ms Zhang were the first to attack her and they used her store's plastic chairs to hit her.

Despite what was shown in the video, she insisted that she did not mean to hit anyone.

"When I first swung the hanger, I was aiming for the railing. He (Mr Tan) came into the way on purpose for the camera," she told TNP.

"But that's not all. What they didn't capture was that woman (Ms Zhang) clawing my husband's face," she continued.

Mr Tan, however, claimed that the only violence he exhibited was that one punch he threw.

"It was lucky that I missed. Immediately after that, I told myself to calm down and to not get involved physically any further," he said.

Mr Tan said he originally went up to the woman in blue and Ms Zhang after hearing them arguing to break them up.

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ALWAYS ARGUING

"To be honest, both of them were quite vulgar to each other. But they're always arguing, so it wasn't anything new," Mr Tan maintained.

Mr Tan owns a clothing store selling children's apparel, across from the two.

"She turned aggressive first, then her husband came, and things went out of control," he said.

Mr Tan added that the scratches inflicted by Ms Zhang to the husband of the woman in blue were in self defence, after she was hit over the head by the water container.

Both sides told TNP that they are here to do business, not to create trouble.

"I've heard the other tenants say that they're trying to drive me out of business, but I'm not going anywhere," said the woman in blue.

Mr Tan told TNP: "In the end, I don't care. They can say whatever they want.

I won't waste my time and effort, because when they're always like this, there's no point."

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