'Turf war' breaks out among senior citizens in Chinatown
At a glance, it would have looked like a turf war between two gangs at the Garden Link Bridge in Chinatown.
But on closer inspection, it was actually senior citizens arguing with one another in the evening of July 13.
Shin Min Daily News reported that a group of about 20 dancers and an equally big group of singers were jostling for space and arguing over the volume of music.
The line dancers complained that the singers, who were divided into two groups, were blaring their music so loudly that they could not hear their own music to dance to.
The singers, too, had their complaints about the line dancers.
Ms Chen told the Chinese daily: "I am singing here and they are dancing here, but they report us every time and try to stop us from singing here. This is unfair.
"I called the police more than a dozen times in total, and the police said this place belongs to the public."
The 64-year-old housewife shared that she and four or five of her friends would go to the garden to sing from 7pm to 9pm every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
A leader of the line dancing group, who wished to remain anonymous, admitted that her sister called the police because of a dispute with the Senior Citizen Singing Group over the "territory".
Another dance teacher said: "We are doing the right thing. We just want to let the elderly exercise here. The singers are the ones causing trouble."
A Shin Min Daily News reader claimed that another fight broke out between the groups at 9pm that day and that someone was injured.
The police said a 68-year-old woman was taken to hospital. Four women aged between 64 and 75 are assisting in investigations for using violence and intentional hurt.
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