'My staff came to me and cried': Boss of Liang Seah Street slashing victim shares his account on livestream

Just a few hours after the Liang Seah Street slashing occurred on Thursday (April 14) night, the owner of Chong Qing Origin Steamboat who claimed to be the boss of the female victim took to Facebook live to provide some updates regarding the horrific incident. 

In the 22-minute long livestream, the owner, known as Edmund, described how he had just reached his restaurant when the attack took place. 

"I was in the car and I was wondering what happened, how come there's this guy holding a chopper going berserk," he told viewers of his Facebook livestream channel which he uses to sell frozen seafood. 

He confirmed that the victim, a 41-year-old woman, is one of his employees. However, he added that he doesn't know her assailant, and had never seen him prior to the attack.

According to media reports, the attacker is believed to be the victim's husband.

"I don't really talk about private stuff with my staff, [like what] happened between her and her husband. Last week I did ask her where's her husband, she said he went back to China already, so I don't know what happened." 

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Responding to questions from netizens, Edmund tried his best to describe what he saw: "There were about 20 to 30 people on the street, carrying chairs and whatever weapons they could find, trying to stop that guy from attacking her." 

Thankfully, save for the victim, the rest of his staff were not injured. "My staff, I think they're very traumatised by what happened," he said.

"Some of them are scared and they're crying...They came to me and cried," said Edmund, adding that he managed to speak to the victim briefly before she was loaded onto the ambulance.

His daughter, Seymour, who was also in the video, looked visibly scared as she gripped her father's arm tightly. She broke down in the later half of the livestream. 

"My hands are shaking, I'm really very scared, it's so bad," she said. The young girl shared that she didn't realise the victim was a staff in her father's restaurant when she first saw the video. 

She later confirmed that she knew the victim, affectionately referring to her as da jie (big sister). 

Many netizens sent messages of encouragement to the young girl, assuring her that it was normal to be scared and urging her to rest. Others also left their well-wishes for the victim. 

Edmund also thanked staff from the eateries nearby for their help in trying to stop the attack.

"I'm really thankful to all my neighbours...all the neighbours came out to help, take chairs and throw at him [sic].

"Everybody [was] very brave, they're not scaredy cats... they really stopped the attack from becoming worse." 

He told netizens that he was waiting for news regarding the woman's condition, and expressed his wish to go to the hospital to visit her. 

Replying to a comment asking him to "stay strong", the restaurant owner said: "I don't know how strong [I can be] already, I don't know what else can happen." 

According to a statement from the police, officers responded to a case of assault with a chopper at 5.30pm on Thursday. The attacker was subdued with Taser guns before being arrested. 

The 46-year-old man will be charged in court on Saturday with attempted murder. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Edmund for more information.

claudiatan@asiaone.com