Man threw steamboat food at ‘noisy and smelly’ car with children inside, gets 7 days’ jail

• Chew Thiam Huat was dining with his girlfriend when another patron parked his car near their table with the engine running
• Chew became incensed at the man’s actions and tipped food all over the car
• He pleaded guilty to one charge of disorderly conduct and one of committing a rash act

SINGAPORE — Upset that a fellow steamboat restaurant customer had left his car engine running, Chew Thiam Huat threw his own food all over the vehicle and confronted the other man.

On Monday (March 29), the 56-year-old Singaporean was jailed seven days. He pleaded guilty to one charge each of behaving in a disorderly manner and committing a rash act that endangered others’ life or personal safety.

Two other harassment charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Chew was at Lao You Ji Fishhead Steamboat Restaurant in the Outram Road area on Aug 16 last year to have a meal with his girlfriend, the court heard.

The victim, Mr Lim Zhen Long, stopped his car beside them as they sat at an outdoor table, before stepping out to smoke a cigarette, accompanied by his wife and friend some distance away.

A restaurant staff member soon went to tell Mr Lim that someone was unhappy he had left his engine running. He had done so to let his two young daughters enjoy the air-conditioning in the car.

Mr Lim immediately stubbed out his cigarette and returned to his car but Chew had already thrown his food all over it, upset by the noise and exhaust fumes. Mr Lim’s children were crying from the shock of Chew’s actions.

Mr Lim asked the staff member who had done this and Chew confronted him, identifying himself and saying that he had thrown the food because the car was “noisy and smelly”, the court heard.

As the two men argued, Mr Lim’s wife and friend returned. The former decided to wipe the food off the car while the other woman stood beside Mr Lim to find out what had happened.

Chew then aggressively challenged them to a fight, shouting a Hokkien vulgarity at them. Mr Lim also angrily flipped a plate of leftover food at Chew.

“Fortunately, the food was not hot,” Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Samyata Ravindran told the court.

Chew proceeded to lurch forward and throw an unknown object in the direction of Mr Lim and his friend. They managed to dodge it and Mr Lim’s friend threw a chair at Chew.

Someone else restrained Chew to prevent the situation from escalating but they continued to argue.

DPP Samyata sought the sentence imposed, revealing Chew’s criminal record dating back to 2007. He was twice jailed and caned for drug-related offences, and jailed in 2018 for theft offences.

In mitigation, he pleaded for leniency and said that he had been in remand for more than a month. His sentence will be backdated to Feb 23.

For disorderly behaviour, he could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$2,000, or both.

For committing a rash act, he could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$2,500, or both.