SHOCK: Man slashed at
coffee shop
BIGGER SHOCK: Customers continue eating as blood
splatters
April 20, 2007
HE was being hacked by a parang-wielding man outside a coffee shop.
But shockingly other customers there just sat quietly, and
continued eating.Mr Mohd Ridwan Abdul Rahman, 28, was sitting at a
table with his fiancee, an air stewardess, when he was attacked by
a man.The incident happened outside Teh Tarik Muslim Restaurant
along Sembawang Road on Sunday.Mr Venkatesan Rasu Velaler, 40, was
helping his wife at her Internet cafe at that time. It is next door
to the coffee shop.
Said Mr Venkatesan: 'Even when the ambulance came, people continued
eating like nothing happened. His fiancee appeared very agitated
when she was talking to the police officers.' But she did not
scream, he recalled.
'Maybe she was too shocked,' he said.
Mr Venkatesan said by the time he went outside the shop, the
paramedics had arrived and were bandaging Mr Mohd Ridwan.
'Everything happened so fast,' he said.
Mr Mohd Ridwan is a regular customer at the coffee shop.At about
9.40pm, a woman approached him, reported Berita Harian. She gave
him a name and asked if he knew that person.Mr Mohd Ridwan replied
that the person was not there.Then, a man attacked him with a
parang from behind. He suffered injuries on his shoulder, chest and
back.Said Mr Venkatesan: 'There was so much blood splattered
everywhere. The coffee shop assistants cleaned up the place at
4.30am after the police left.'Mr Mohd Ridwan was conscious when he
was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
When approached by The New Paper, the coffee shop operators denied
that the incident had happened there. They claimed that they did
not know Mr Mohd Ridwan.
But a man in his 50s, who works nearby, said: 'They know him. He's
a regular. One of them just told me that the victim called them
from the hospital to inform them that he's okay.' Another shop
owner in the area, who has been there for the past 33 years, said
that this is the first time that such a thing has happened
there.
When The New Paper visited Mr Mohd Ridwan in the hospital, his
right arm was bandaged. He declined to be interviewed.
A family friend, who declined to be named, said that the family
were planning to celebrate Mohd Ridwan's birthday on Monday by
going out for a meal.'But now, we're going to the hospital to visit
him,' he said.
The police said they are investigating the incident.
No arrests have been made.
Nowadays people so daring...