Uh-oh! Hong Kong couple forks out $5,900 after son knocks down Teletubbies statue

This couple paid an expensive price after their son recently knocked over a life-sized Teletubbies sculpture at a toy store in Hong Kong.

In an interview with Commercial Radio Hong Kong on Tuesday (May 24), the five-year-old boy's father, who only wanted to be known as Cheng, said that he visited the KKPlus toy store with his wife and two sons on May 22 evening. 

After stepping outside to take a phone call, Cheng claimed that he heard a loud bang before realising that his eldest son had knocked over an 1.8 metre-tall Teletubbies statue.

"My son was motionless. He was staring down, looking at the toy," Cheng said, adding that toy store staff accused his child of kicking the sculpture.

Since Cheng and his wife did not see what had happened, he said that he agreed to pay HK$33,600 (S$5,900) in compensation to the toy store. The same item has a retail price of HK$52,800 on its website.

But did the boy break the toy on purpose?

CCTV footage showed the boy leaning back to avoid the crowd at the store, in turn toppling the Teletubbies sculpture.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39m5MAXsYTg[/embed]

According to The Standard, Cheng also criticised the toy store for accusing his son of intentionally damaging the item.

"He took a day off school today. Yesterday, he asked me three times why the doll was so terrifying," Cheng said.

In a now-deleted Facebook post that was originally shared on Tuesday (May 24), KKPlus clarified that the compensation they received for the sculpture was less than its retail price.

The toy store added that they have reached out to the boy's parents to settle the dispute, and "would learn from this experience".

KK Plus has apologised to Cheng and promised him a full refund, South China Morning Post reported.

chingshijie@asiaone.com