He punched a fellow cabby in the head and face again
and again.
The attacker, Chng Chuan Siak, 53, alleged he did so
because the victim had made vulgar remarks about his mother who
allegedly did not have long to live.
But Mr Low Swee Kuan, 39, denied provoking Chng in a
statement he gave to the police.
Yesterday in court, Chng was convicted for voluntarily
causing hurt to Mr Low.
District Judge Low Wee Ping adjourned sentencing for
three weeks for the prosecution to determine if Chng's claim was
true.
The incident happened on Dec 5 last year, at around 6pm
at the taxi stand of Singapore Expo Foyer 2.
Mr Low had stopped his taxi behind Chng's, and when the
taxis in front moved off but Chng's didn't, Mr Low drove to the
side to see if Chng was moving forward.
According to court documents, Chng "then gestured
wildly and was seen mumbling before moving his taxi forward".
Mr Low then reversed to join the queue again. Then,
Chng alighted from his taxi and approached Mr Low's vehicle,
yelling.
Mr Low claims that he wound down his window to explain
that he only wanted to check if Chng was moving his taxi
forward.
But Chng claims that Mr Low hurled a string of Hokkien
vulgarities about Chng's mother.
It was then that he punched Mr Low, inflicting multiple
superficial head and facial injuries.
Chng said in court that at that time, he had just
received news that his mother's illness was incurable. He added
through an interpreter: "(Mr Low used) very vulgar language three
times. That's why I told him that my mother doesn't have long to
live, and I don't allow anyone to scold my mother."
An eyewitness account verified that Chng did say words
to that effect, leading Judge Low to say: "So it's reasonable that
the victim said something to the accused."
The eyewitness said she "could not hear what the other
driver (Mr Low) was saying at all". But Assistant Public Prosecutor
(APP) Lydia Goh said that Mr Low denied any provocation, saying he
only wound down his window.
Judge Low said: "I think the investigating officer
(has) got to do more work."
In mitigation, Chng admitted that he was in the
wrong.
He added: "I have been driving for 20 over years. This
incident is what I feel most remorseful about."
Judge Low asked APP Goh to verify if Chng did indeed
find out that his mother's illness was terminal on or before the
time of the incident, and if Mr Low did utter such words to
Chng.
He said: "It looks as though the accused was a model
driver and citizen, then he went into a rampage. It doesn't make
sense."
The case will be mentioned again on May 29.
This article
was first published in The New
Paper.
