ComfortDelGro
supports cabby's claims of assault
HE HAD refused to help her carry her luggage into the boot.
And that irked MediaCorp TV host Quan Yifeng, 36, so much that
she lost her temper.
The cabby claimed she later kicked him in the groin, ripped out
his stereo and stole his car keys.
The police were called in but Quan left before they arrived.
The case has been classified as theft and investigations are on.
Quan is believed to have left Singapore shortly after the
incident.No one has been arrested.
The cabby, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, 52, told
Lianhe Wanbao that he had picked up a man in his 30s on East Coast
Road around 8am yesterday.
The man told Mr Tan to go to a condo on Nallur Road first, and
then to the airport.
When they arrived at their first destination, Quan was there
with her daughter Eleanor, 11.
She asked Mr Tan to help put their luggage into the trunk.
But MrTan told her to do it herself.
He said Quan then told him: "What kind of service is this?"
Mr Tan claimed that Quan behaved in an "uncontrollable" manner
towards him after she boarded the cab. Her male friend sat next to
MrTan while Quan and her daughter sat in the back.
Mr Tan said that when he asked which road they wanted to take,
her reply was: "Are you from Malaysia? Changi Airport also don't
know how to go?"
She threatened to make a complaint against him and hit him with
her mobile phone, he said.
When Mr Tan stopped at a traffic light, Quan jolted forward. He
claimed it was because she was not wearing a seat belt.
Unhappy about that, she accused him of braking "on purpose".
Mr Tan retorted: "You should know you have to put on a seat belt
when you're in a car."
She then shouted Hokkien vulgarities at him and continued to hit
him.
Mr Tan said he stopped at the junction of Upper East Coast Road
and Bedok South Avenue 1 and got out of the cab "for safety's
sake".
He claimed that Quan also exited the cab, confronted him and
kicked him in the groin.
He claimed that she then took the keys to his cab and locked
herself inside. It is not known if her friend and daughter were
also in the taxi at that time.
Mr Tan said she went on a 15-minute rampage, during which she
broke his stereo and taxi meter, tore up the calendar, emptied a
bottle of soft drink inside and overturned the money box.
The taxi was a mess after that, with coins, notes and pieces of
the calendar strewn over the front seats.
Mr Tan said he tried to take a photo of her using his mobile
phone and when Quan saw that, she even made a "V" sign at him-
signifying "victory".
He then called the police for assistance. But before they
arrived, Quan unlocked the door and got out. She grabbed his phone
and threw it on the ground.
By this time, Eleanor was crying and a crowd had gathered.
According to the report, Quan then told onlookers that she had
been hit by MrTan.
The trio took their luggage out from Mr Tan's cab.
They hailed another taxi and left before the police arrived.
MrTan said she did not return his keys to him.
Mr Tan later told Lianhe Wanbao he had refused to help her carry
her luggage because his arm was hurting.
When contacted, Mr Tan said he was dealing with the case through
the police and his company, Comfort- Delgro. He did not want to
comment further.
Calls to Quan's mobile phone last night went unanswered.
Quan is no stranger to controversy.
In January 2008, a contractor accused her of making an obscene
sign and scolding him with vulgarities. She had apparently been
upset because he was driving too slowly. Quan later said she had
scolded him because she had been provoked.
And in 2006, the owner of a car workshop said she was rude and
had uttered vulgarities when she went to get her car repaired
there. Quan had said then that the other party was the one who had
been rude.
In 1996, she got into a fight with a bowling alley attendant and
was fined $1,000.
That same year, she also drove without a licence and caused an
accident. She was fined $1,300.
This article was first published in The New
Paper.
http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20100628-224274.html
