SINGAPORE: Employees at a spectacles shop in Tiong Bahru Plaza who were sworn at and assaulted by a woman on Monday (Apr 3) are still in shock and have bruises on their arms to show for the incident.
The two shop girls were about 10 minutes away from closing the Owndays outlet for the day when a passerby burst in, seeking help against a woman whom she said was aggressive towards her for “no reason”.
A nearly six-minute-long video of the incident has garnered more than eight million views on Facebook as of Wednesday. It shows a middle-aged woman berating and hitting the two petite staff and demanding that they help retrieve a bracelet that she apparently dropped. One of the staff members is yanked by her hoodie and the other ends up leaning against a counter as the woman slaps her repeatedly on her arm and back.
Other passersby and a security guard try to intervene but the woman gets behind the counter and rains more blows on one of the staff members.
The area manager in charge of the outlet, Trevor Hwong, 29, told Channel NewsAsia that the staff have been given a few days off to recover.
“I met them yesterday to check on them. They are still shocked. When I was trying to find out how they are, one of them started tearing up,” he said.
Owndays area manager Trevor Hwong arrived at the Tiong Bahru outlet shortly after the incident, having received a call from his colleague. (Photo: Jalelah Abu Baker)
STAFF CRYING UNCONTROLLABLY ON THE PHONE
On Monday, Mr Hwong received a call from his colleague during the incident. All she managed to say amid her crying was that she had been hit. He said he abandoned his dinner with friends and arrived at the outlet at about 10.30pm.
When he arrived, three policemen were at the scene and the woman at the centre of the fracas was yelling for filming to be stopped, Mr Hwong said.
The woman, aged 45, was arrested shortly after, he said. The two staff members who were assaulted went to the hospital for a check-up the next day.
“When I asked them why they didn’t run away, they said they just couldn’t think. They wanted to remain professional, so they didn’t retaliate,” said Mr Hwong. Another colleague who was on shift with them had been out washing equipment during the incident, he added.
Police said they were alerted to the incident just before 10pm on Monday and that investigations are ongoing.
A spokesman from Owndays said it has discussed with mall manager AsiaMalls how such incidents can be better managed in future.
Mr Hwong said of the staff members: “I’m proud of them. Despite the situation, they remained calm and professional.”
