PUBLISHED ONSeptember 02, 2026 4:25 AMBYKoh Xing YingA Singapore family has raised concerns about customer privacy and safety after a stranger allegedly entered their private room at a massage spa in Johor Bahru (JB).
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, one of the family members, Hong Jianwei (transliteration), said he and his family of four had travelled to JB on Sunday (Aug 30) for a two-hour massage session at around 9pm.
The 40-year-old added that he and his wife, Gao, 40, were assigned a private room, while the other two members of their group shared a VIP room.
About 35 minutes into their massage, a man wearing a white short-sleeved shirt came upstairs and shouted that he was looking for a driver.
Hong said the man did not call out any vehicle registration number or identify the person he was looking for.
"We were lying on the massage bed, partially undressed with our backs exposed, when the man opened the door to our room," Shin Min quoted Hong as saying.
Gao recounted the incident, saying she was almost completely undressed at the time and did not get up to check what was happening.
"My masseuse had to chase him away, and the whole scene was extremely embarrassing," she said.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Gao said the incident had raised serious concerns about customer privacy.
"How can an unauthorised male person be allowed to open the door of a private massage room while customers are undressed inside?" she asked.
"This is not a small matter to us. A customer should never have to wonder whether a stranger or unauthorised person can simply open the door while she is changing or lying undressed inside."
But the matter did not end there.
Gao alleged that a few minutes later, another man knocked on the VIP room occupied by the other two female members in their group, saying that he wanted to take a pillow.
The incident caused further concern for the family's niece, prompting her to stop the massage and leave the room to confront the situation.
"The matter then escalated to the management (and) the manager spoke to us and acknowledged that what happened should not have happened and that the establishment was at fault," said Gao.
The spa also reportedly offered to waive the charges for all four customers, but they rejected the offer, saying they wanted the incident to be fully investigated.
The family subsequently went to the police station at around 11 pm to make a report.
While there, a person from the spa arrived at the police station in connection with identifying the man involved.
However, the family disagreed with the identification because it did not believe the person presented to them was the same man who had allegedly opened the door to their room.
They were later referred to another police station, where they allegedly waited from around 1.30am until 4.30am before being told to return and wait for further contact from the local police.
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xingying.koh@asiaone.com
