Dispute arose over $1 change 3 years ago, says Bukit Merah slashing victim

The elderly man who was slashed in the head at a coffeeshop at Blk 111 Jalan Bukit Merah on Wednesday (June 29) has revealed the reason of the assault. 

Speaking to Lianhe Zaobao, the man surnamed Chen said he was attacked because of an argument that the pair had three years ago — over one dollar change for youtiao (fried dough fritters). 

"I've only met him four times. The first time was about three years ago, I went to Telok Blangah Food Centre to buy youtiao and he short-changed me $1. We ended up arguing and I never patronised his stall again," said Chen. 

The 75-year-old was at the coffeeshop with his friends on Wednesday morning, watching others play chess when the youtiao seller charged at him with a knife. 

While trying to escape, Chen slipped and fell, and was subsequently slashed on the back of his head by his attacker. 

Several passers-by helped to thwart the attack by throwing plastic chairs at the the knife-wielding man, and managed to subdue him by pinning him down with plastic chairs until the police arrived and arrested him. 

Chen was conveyed to the Singapore General Hospital, where he received seven stitches. 

One of the passers-by, a 71-year-old retiree surnamed Zhang, told Zaobao that he had seen the man lurking around the coffeeshop one to two weeks before the knife attack. 

Several stallholders from Telok Blangah Food Centre identified the assailant as the youtiao stall assistant.

However, he has stopped working there after he got into a dispute with the another stall owner three months ago. 

He told the Chinese daily he had completely forgotten about the incident at the youtiao stall until he bumped into the stall assistant on a bus at the end of last year. 

This isn't the first time the youtiao seller has attacked him. 

According to Chen, the man punched him in the face at the same coffee shop on June 9, making him fall to the ground. 

The elderly man lodged a police report after the first attack, and only recalled the incident at the youtiao stall after looking at police CCTV footage. 

Youtiao seller was known as Uncle Jason 

Zaobao spoke to a drink stall owner at Telok Blangah Food Centre, who told him that he knew the youtiao stall assistant as Uncle Jason.

The 33-year-old surnamed Lin said that Uncle Jason would often encourage him and buy drinks from his stall when he first took over the business from his father in 2017. 

However, Lin noticed a shift in the latter's temperament in recent years, saying that he would often fight with customers. 

Lin said that he never saw Uncle Jason after the latter got into a fight with the youtiao stall owner earlier this year. 

claudiatan@asiaone.com