Havelock Road hawker scalded after tussle with diner over extra bowl of rice

A simple question from a hawker to his customer turned into a tussle — all over an extra bowl of rice. 

The customer, surnamed Hong, told Shin Min Daily News that he ordered a bowl of fish soup and two bowls of rice from a stall at Jalan Kukoh Food Centre near Havelock Road on Tuesday (Dec 27) afternoon. 

According to the 64-year-old, the male stall owner then asked him if one or two people were sharing the soup — a question which Hong thought was redundant, as he felt he had already made himself clear. 

When he did not answer the question, the stall owner's wife, who declined to be named, told Hong that they only serve one bowl of rice for every order of soup. 

A bowl of fish soup usually costs $4 or $5 at the stall, and a bowl of rice costs 50 cents. Two portions worth of soup costs $12. 

Agitated by her curt reply, Hong then allegedly blocked other customers, preventing them from ordering their food. 

He then tried to take off with a bowl of fish soup on the counter, which was meant for another customer. 

Amid the struggle, some soup spilled out of the bowl, scalding the female hawker and diner, causing blisters on their hands.

The female hawker also called the police. 

Seeing that the police had arrived, Hong scrambled to de-escalate the situation by paying the stall owner $5, reported the Chinese daily. He then left in a hurry. 

When asked about why Hong had gotten so worked up in the first place, the female hawker suggested that it could be because of her husband's tendency to speak loudly, as he is hard of hearing.

Diner flips food tray at hawker 

In April, a 17-year-old diner was caught on video fighting with a noodle stall hawker at a coffee shop in Sengkang. 

A video of the altercation was uploaded to Facebook on April 25, showing an increasingly heated dispute between the pair. 

In the heat of the moment, the diner flips a food tray at the hawker. The latter retaliates by hitting the diner with a ladle repeatedly. 

It was reported that a 51-year-old man was assisting with police investigations then.

ALSO READ: 'Scold me one more time I'll hit you': Hawker and man lock horns over queue at Ayer Rajah Food Centre

claudiatan@asiaone.com