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Woman apologises for scolding deaf and mute cleaner, says she was ill at the time

June 5, 2016

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SINGAPORE – She sparked an outrage and a massive online witch hunt when a video of her now-famous tirade against a deaf and mute cleaner went viral over the Internet. Now, less than two days after the clip was shared online, the woman in the video has apologised and given her side of the story.

Identified only as Madam Fong, the 37-year-old was quoted in Shin Min Daily News as saying that she had been down with the flu on Friday (June 3), the day of the incident.

After taking half a day off from work, Madam Fong went to the foodcourt at Jem for lunch at around noon.

However, she was irked when she saw that there were dirty objects in her food and as a result, felt like she was down in her luck. She told the Chinese daily that she was planning on taking photos of her plate to lodge a complaint with the food court management. Just then, a cleaner approached the table and proceeded to clear the plates.

Woman loses cool at deaf and mute cleaner at Jem food court

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She said she told him three times not to remove her plate, but he continued to do so and also stared at her.

As there was no indication that he might have been handicapped, she did not suspect that he was both deaf and mute, she explained.

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Does anyone working in the Jurong area know this troll?
At lunch today at JEM, I had the gross misfortune of crossing…
Posted by Euphemia Lee on Friday, 3 June 2016

A video uploaded by netizen Euphemia Lee shows that Madam Fong berated the cleaner loudly. According to Ms Lee, when Madam Fong learned that he could not hear or speak, she told his supervisor that he was better off being a “beggar”.

In her interview with Shin Min Daily News, Madam Fong said that she had said those words in a fit of anger, and now feels sorry for it. She also claimed that she had spoken to the cleaner’s supervisor and come to a consensus with him over the incident.

Nonetheless, Madam Fong said she was not apologising for the entire incident, insisting that she was not entirely at fault.

And the cleaner at the centre of the storm seemed to agree. He indicated to Shin Min Daily News that he was not angry at Madam Fong, and did not think she should apologise. Instead, he felt that he was in the wrong first, and was worried that she might be unhappy over the incident.

However, a man identified by Shin Min Daily News as the cleaner’s brother felt that Madam Fong had humiliated the cleaner, and that her behaviour was inhumane.

Since the video was uploaded on Friday evening, it has been shared close to 28,000 times with many netizens expressing shock and anger and calling her names like “lowlife” and “swine”.

Despite this, Madam Fong says she isn’t an evil person and told the Chinese tabloid that her conscience is clear. She does not intend on shying away from her daily work routine, and plans on making a police report about the threats made against her online.

She also clarified that she was neither a grassroots leader nor a volunteer.

ljessica@sph.com.sg

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