The 60-year-old man who assaulted local actor Huang Yiliang at his hawker stall on May 10 has been issued a 12-month conditional warning, the police told AsiaOne on Friday (Aug 28).
Yiliang, 64, who runs seafood zichar stall Old Fisherman at Circuit Road Hawker Centre, previously told local media that he was attacked by the husband of the woman who runs the neighbouring Enah Hainanese Chicken Rice stall.
He alleged that on May 10, Lihua had called his female assistant over to her stall, where she and her husband were waiting.
As there were already tensions between them, Yiliang told his assistant to ignore them. He claimed Lihua and her husband swore at them, and he retaliated by shouting back.
When he stepped out of his stall to confront them, he claimed that Lihua’s husband struck his right ear from the back, causing him to fall forward.
Yiliang was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he was given three days of medical leave and painkillers before being discharged that night.
In response to queries, the police told AsiaOne that the 60-year-old man was issued a 12-month conditional warning on Aug 3 for voluntarily causing hurt and intentionally causing harassment.
The warning was issued after the completion of investigations and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case by the police, in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the police added.
Origins of feud
Prior to the assault, Yiliang’s assistant Yeong reportedly complained to him that Lihua had kept asking if they had slept together and told others about it, implying that Yeong and Yiliang had an affair.
Lihua alleged Yiliang had called her a “chicken” — a slang term for prostitute — after seeing her male friends chatting with her at her stall.
After the attack, Yiliang said that he has no plans to move his stall as his business is stable and he has not been able to find a more suitable location.
He said: “I only wish to distance myself from [the chicken rice stall owner] and do our own business individually. After all, things can change in the future, and it’s hard to say whether our relationship will improve.”
Acting comeback
Yiliang is making his acting comeback in the microdrama BingBingBiangBiang Kopidiam, following support for and from his celebrity friends.
In June, local actors — some retired — including Cassandra See, Cherie Lim, Apple Hong, Amy Koh and Celine Neo visited Yiliang at his stall.
They filmed a few videos to express their support for him and mentioned to him that they wanted to film a microdrama.
“I didn’t know what that was. I thought it was just a few good friends filming a few videos together. I didn’t expect they wanted to film 100 episodes,” he told reporters recently.
Directed by veteran producer Michael Woo known for producing local sitcoms including Don’t Worry, Be Happy (1996 – 2002), the comedy series centres on first-time hawker Ah Liang (Yiliang), who rents a “cursed” stall at a neighbourhood coffee shop to sell crab bee hoon.
Rumour has it that when the stall is occupied, the whole coffee shop thrives. But when it’s empty, the rest of the businesses slow down too.
From day one, nothing goes according to plan at his stall, including staffing drama, nosy neighbours and a suspicious stall-owner convinced he’s having an affair with his own employee. Every small mishap pulls the whole coffee shop into chaos.
Besides Cassandra, Constance Song and Jason Oh, the microdrama also stars Jin Yinji, Tang Miaoling, Joy Yak, Cherie and Apple.
The first episode is expected to premiere in mid-September on Bing Bing Biang Biang Squad’s TikTok and Instagram pages.
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esther.lam@asiaone.com
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