Weekend, July 22, 2006
Elderly man arrested for hitting MP
AN elderly man was arrested for punching Member of Parliament Seng Han Thong on Thursday evening and leaving him with a bruised lip.
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The punch came during Mr Seng's meet-the-people session, when the Chinese man — a former taxi driver — came to seek the Yio Chu Kang MP's help to reinstate his terminated taxi contract.
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When it was his turn to see the MP, he reportedly raised his voice at Mr Seng and stunned those present by hitting him.
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In a statement, the police said it received a call for assistance at about 9.35pm on Thursday. And when its officers arrived, the staff at Ang Mo Kio's Community & Education Centre — where the session was conducted — had already detained the man, who is in his 70s.
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Mr Seng had "suffered a bruised lip and had declined medical attention", the police added. The man, who was arrested for assaulting a public servant, cannot be named as the case is under investigation.
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Today understands that the 74-year-old man, who is currently out on bail, was formerly a taxi driver with ComfortDelGro and was unhappy with the company for terminating his contract.
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When contacted, ComfortDelGro spokesperson Tammy Tan confirmed that the man's contract was terminated in February 2002 for "rude behaviour and for a threat made against a customer".
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Said Ms Tan: "As (he) is no longer a hirer with the company, we are not able to go into details about the case. We however stand by our decision to terminate him based on the threats he made to the customer in a letter he wrote."
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On the assault, Ms Tan added: "The police is currently investigating the matter and we are rendering them all assistance."
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Mr Seng is currently in Shanghai on business. When contacted, the divisonal director for the National Trades Union Congress' administration and research unit told Today that he was "all right" but declined to comment further. Nonetheless, he said that he was not unduly shaken by the assault.
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"I continued meeting the residents until around 11pm and then went to board my flight at midnight," he added.
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— Loh Chee Kong
Taxi driver is old, and he is already in the wrong for being rude to customers.
Hitting a Public Servant is a serious thing. But I guess at his age, he's nothing to lose...
But have you ever gone to meet an MP? Well, my experience was that they'd only see you if the matter is in their accepted list. Meaning, matters that they can do something about, or are not related to gov policies. Particularly CPF.
singapore press stories r so 1 sided...
i dont feel that someone will whack someone for no reasons
i feel bad for the 74 yr old man
Could this taxi driver be the same guy who threatened an elderly couple, parked his taxi along the expressway, pretended to eat his lunch and refused to call another cab to pick up his passengers? The infamous taxi driver from 'hell' which was covered in a letter to the press that badly embarrassed Comfort-Delgro?
Based on the two items of 'rude' and 'letter to comfort-delgro' stated by their spokesperson, it certainly seems so.
If that be the case, he has no sympathies from me.
I have respect for the old cabby. In the 21st century, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poor. Poverty are getting worst in some parts of Asia, and other parts of the whole. I am really disgusted by the amount of salary drawn by MP, PM, MM, P. O God, give us our daily bread.
Let say normal singaporean draw a monthly salary of $3000.
See P's salary, $disgusted figures.
We are working so hard for those who are counting the notes. Deeply saddened
