http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,199828,00.html?
'She tried to hit me with chair'
Coffee shop owner alleges unhappy hawker attacked her
By Lediati Tan
April 24, 2009
ATTACKED: Madam Ta Huai Ju, 43, the coffee shop owner, who was allegedly attacked by her tenant, had her stall wrecked. TNP PICTURE: JONATHAN CHOO
SHE said she was chatting with a friend in a coffee shop when the woman appeared out of nowhere, picked up a wooden chair and allegedly swung it at her.
'She didn't even say anything. She just came, picked up a chair and tried to hit me with it,' Madam Ta Huai Ju, 43, told The New Paper last night.
The incident, on Monday afternoon, involved Madam Ta, the coffee shop's owner, and an ex-tenant of the coffee shop.
Madam Ta, a Chinese national, claimed she was bullied by the woman, a Singaporean in her early 60s, because she was not a local.
She said that the woman had signed a contract on 17Feb to rent a stall in her coffee shop to sell bak kut teh. She also paid a deposit of $1,000 for the lease, which was to last a year from 15 Mar 2009.
But five days after opening, she told Madam Ta that she did not want to rent the place anymore and wanted her deposit back.
Madam Ta said that she tried to persuade her to stay another month as tenants are required to give a month's notice if they decide to break the lease.
But Madam Ta said she refused and cleared out of the stall within two days.
Also, claimed Madam Ta, according to the terms of the contract, the $1,000 deposit would be forfeited if tenants break the contract.
She couldn't show us the contract because she didn't have it at that time.
'But as she was already old, I decided to return her the deposit, and told her to come back on Monday,' said Madam Ta, in Mandarin.
The woman turned up with her husband at about 3.20pm.
As Madam Ta was busy at that time, she claimed she told the elderly couple to wait a while.
Said Madam Ta: 'The moment they sat down, they lost their temper and started to scold me loudly. They said crude things about me and she even pointed her middle finger at me.
'I told them that if they continued to scold me, I'm not going to settle the matter with them. I would talk to them when they decide to stop the scolding.
'Then I went back to my work and they left soon after.'
But at 5.40pm, when Madam Ta was sitting down to tea with a friend, the woman returned on her own and allegedly tried to attack her with a chair.
Some workers in the coffee shop tried to stop her, said Madam Ta.
The woman allegedly tried to hit her three times with the chair but missed.
She gave up and decided to wreck Madam Ta's drink stall instead.
First, she pushed the bun steamer located at the counter to the floor. Then, she swept at the neatly stacked up canned drinks, spilling them all over the floor.
Captured on CCTV
Her alleged attack was captured on the coffee shop's CCTV, which Madam Ta later showed The New Paper.
When Madam Wang Xue Qun, 30, a worker at Madam Ta's drinks stall, tried to stop her, the woman allegedly hit her instead.
Said Madam Wang: 'When I tried to pull her away, she tried to hit my face, but she missed and hit my neck instead.'
Then, the woman spotted Madam Ta hiding in a corner outside the coffee shop, ran up to her, and picked up a yellow plastic chair and allegedly tried to hit her again.
'She chased me around the coffee shop, screaming and cursing,' alleged Madam Ta.
The woman stopped only after the police arrived.
A police spokesman confirmed that they were informed at about 6pm that a person was breaking things and trying to assault another at the coffee shop.
A woman was arrested. Police investigations are ongoing, the spokesman added.
Madam Ta added that she spent two hours cleaning up after the police left and was unable to operate her business the whole evening.
But she said the one thing that hurt her most was the woman's alleged contempt for foreigners.
Said Madam Ta: 'When I asked her why she hit my worker and wrecked my place, she said, 'You're nothing but a Chinese national, I'm a Singaporean.' That really hurt me.'
Madam Ta, from Beijing, has been living in Singapore for the last five years with her husband, also from China, and her two children.
'She tried to hit me with chair'
Coffee shop owner alleges unhappy hawker attacked her
By Lediati Tan
April 24, 2009
ATTACKED: Madam Ta Huai Ju, 43, the coffee shop owner, who was allegedly attacked by her tenant, had her stall wrecked. TNP PICTURE: JONATHAN CHOO
SHE said she was chatting with a friend in a coffee shop when the woman appeared out of nowhere, picked up a wooden chair and allegedly swung it at her.
'She didn't even say anything. She just came, picked up a chair and tried to hit me with it,' Madam Ta Huai Ju, 43, told The New Paper last night.
The incident, on Monday afternoon, involved Madam Ta, the coffee shop's owner, and an ex-tenant of the coffee shop.
Madam Ta, a Chinese national, claimed she was bullied by the woman, a Singaporean in her early 60s, because she was not a local.
She said that the woman had signed a contract on 17Feb to rent a stall in her coffee shop to sell bak kut teh. She also paid a deposit of $1,000 for the lease, which was to last a year from 15 Mar 2009.
But five days after opening, she told Madam Ta that she did not want to rent the place anymore and wanted her deposit back.
Madam Ta said that she tried to persuade her to stay another month as tenants are required to give a month's notice if they decide to break the lease.
But Madam Ta said she refused and cleared out of the stall within two days.
Also, claimed Madam Ta, according to the terms of the contract, the $1,000 deposit would be forfeited if tenants break the contract.
She couldn't show us the contract because she didn't have it at that time.
'But as she was already old, I decided to return her the deposit, and told her to come back on Monday,' said Madam Ta, in Mandarin.
The woman turned up with her husband at about 3.20pm.
As Madam Ta was busy at that time, she claimed she told the elderly couple to wait a while.
Said Madam Ta: 'The moment they sat down, they lost their temper and started to scold me loudly. They said crude things about me and she even pointed her middle finger at me.
'I told them that if they continued to scold me, I'm not going to settle the matter with them. I would talk to them when they decide to stop the scolding.
'Then I went back to my work and they left soon after.'
But at 5.40pm, when Madam Ta was sitting down to tea with a friend, the woman returned on her own and allegedly tried to attack her with a chair.
Some workers in the coffee shop tried to stop her, said Madam Ta.
The woman allegedly tried to hit her three times with the chair but missed.
She gave up and decided to wreck Madam Ta's drink stall instead.
First, she pushed the bun steamer located at the counter to the floor. Then, she swept at the neatly stacked up canned drinks, spilling them all over the floor.
Captured on CCTV
Her alleged attack was captured on the coffee shop's CCTV, which Madam Ta later showed The New Paper.
When Madam Wang Xue Qun, 30, a worker at Madam Ta's drinks stall, tried to stop her, the woman allegedly hit her instead.
Said Madam Wang: 'When I tried to pull her away, she tried to hit my face, but she missed and hit my neck instead.'
Then, the woman spotted Madam Ta hiding in a corner outside the coffee shop, ran up to her, and picked up a yellow plastic chair and allegedly tried to hit her again.
'She chased me around the coffee shop, screaming and cursing,' alleged Madam Ta.
The woman stopped only after the police arrived.
A police spokesman confirmed that they were informed at about 6pm that a person was breaking things and trying to assault another at the coffee shop.
A woman was arrested. Police investigations are ongoing, the spokesman added.
Madam Ta added that she spent two hours cleaning up after the police left and was unable to operate her business the whole evening.
But she said the one thing that hurt her most was the woman's alleged contempt for foreigners.
Said Madam Ta: 'When I asked her why she hit my worker and wrecked my place, she said, 'You're nothing but a Chinese national, I'm a Singaporean.' That really hurt me.'
Madam Ta, from Beijing, has been living in Singapore for the last five years with her husband, also from China, and her two children.
