Man killed after staring incident at coffee shop
Stall assistant to be charged with murder for allegedly attacking customer after 2am staring incident
A 37-year-old man was killed yesterday after a scuffle near a coffee shop in Hougang.
The incident happened at about 2am.
The New Paper understands that the victim is logistics worker Ang Kim Keat.
A 50-year-old drinks stall assistant, Mr Khor Tzoong Meng, has been arrested in connection with the crime.
His colleague, who wanted to be known only as Mr Zhang, told Shin Min Daily News that Mr Ang was a frequent customer at the Block 23, Hougang Avenue 3, coffee shop.
He had ordered a drink and sat down, but was told by Mr Zhang that the coffee shop was in self-service mode at that hour.
Upset, Mr Ang shouted at the drinks stall worker, "Don't you want to do business?" before going back to his seat.
There, he caught the eye of Mr Khor who had finished his shift and was having a beer.
Mr Zhang told Shin Min that this sparked a staring incident and Mr Ang asked Mr Khor what he was staring at before the men returned to what they were doing.
After a while, Mr Ang was seen leaving the coffee shop.
It is unclear what happened after that, but Mr Ang was believed to have been attacked with a knife.
He was found bleeding and with wounds on his neck at the block's void deck.
Police said they received a call for help at about 2.15am and found Mr Ang injured at the same location.
DIED FROM INJURIES
A spokesman for the Singapore Civil Defence Force said Mr Ang was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he died from his injuries at about 3.30am.
When TNP visited the block yesterday, there were still some dried blood droplets just outside the coffee shop.
Another drinks stall assistant, who wanted to be known only as Mr Cheang, 50, said Mr Khor had been working at the coffee shop for only about a month.
Mr Cheang added that he was the one who interviewed Mr Khor, a former cook at a fishball noodle stall.
Mr Khor's shift was from 4pm to 11pm and he would usually have some beer before going home at about 1am, Mr Cheang told TNP.
He added that Mr Khor once said he lived with his girlfriend in her mother's flat in Ang Mo Kio.
When TNP visited the two-room flat in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, Mr Khor's girlfriend was not home.
Her domestic helper of two weeks, Madam Sriah, 39, said Mr Khor shared a mattress in the bedroom with his girlfriend, while her sickly 72-year-old mother and Madam Sriah slept in the living room.
She added that at least eight police officers showed up at 4.30am and Mr Khor was led away in handcuffs. Before he left, he kissed his girlfriend's mother on the forehead, something he had never done before.
When TNP telephoned Mr Khor's girlfriend of 10 years, she said that she was very stressed and hung up.
FIGHT
According to Shin Min, the girlfriend said Mr Khor had called her in the wee hours and said he had been in a fight.
"He told me that he was trying to talk sense to a customer who had caused trouble after ordering a drink," she told Shin Min.
"But because the man was bigger than him, he had taken a knife for self-defence."
She also said Mr Khor told her he had been punched in the right eye so he defended himself with the knife but could not control his strength because he had been drinking.
As of Friday (Feb 26), Mr Khor has been charged with murder which carries the death penalty.
He told me that he was trying to talk sense to a customer who had caused trouble after ordering a drink. But because the man was bigger than him, he had taken a knife for self-defence.
- Mr Khor Tzoong Meng's girlfriend
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