22 year-old SAF regular, Kelvin Poon Kai Chen, and his girlfriend were waiting at the Bedok MRT Station at 5PM on 6th February this year and were just about to board their train when they were rudely cut off by a Malaysian man, who jumped their queue and barged his way into the MRT cabin.
Angered by the man's uncouth behavior, the young Singaporean reprimanded the Malaysian principal engineer, 35 year-old Mr Choo Chin Huat, but the latter refused to back down and challenged Mr Poon to a fight. He grabbed Mr Poon by the clothes, which forced Mr Poon to back off and push Mr Choo's hand away.
2 students in the train intervened and tried to calm down the situation, but faced with persistent taunts by an aggressive Mr Choo, Mr Poon reacted by punching Mr Choo in the left eye, damaging the older man's spectacles and slightly bruising his left eye.
Poon was then restrained and escorted off the MRT train by station staff at Kembangan station.
Mr Choo later sought treatment at Changi General Hospital, where he claimed to be suffering from headache, pain around his left eye and giddiness. However, doctors diagnosed that he merely suffered minor bruising around his left eye.
Poon's lawyer, Ms Alice Tan, a Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas) Fellow, said in mitigation that Poon was most remorseful for what he had done and, on hindsight, realised it was foolish.
She said he has an unblemished record and is looking forward to a fruitful and meaningful career in the Singapore Armed Forces.
Poon was sentenced to a fine of $3000. Poon could have been jailed for up to 2 years and fined up to $5,000 for voluntarily causing hurt.
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