Ex-LTA officer jailed, fined after fight with Uber driver
Tan Hock Guan. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — A former Land Transport Authority (LTA) traffic warden was sentenced to a day in jail and fined S$2,000 on Friday (May 27) for getting into a brawl with an Uber driver at a Bugis Junction taxi stand last November, causing the latter to lose two teeth.
Tan Hock Guan, 51, had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of committing affray and swearing at Goh Kok Ling, 60. The second charge falls under the Protection from Harassment Act.
On the day of the incident, Tan was deployed to the taxi stand at about 7pm to manage the traffic flow.
While directing traffic at the entrance to the stand, he spotted a car entering, and indicated to the driver, who was Goh, to proceed to the pick-up point a short distance away.
Goh was unhappy, and told Tan to speak to his passenger who called for the service using the ride-hailing app, for she had asked to be picked up from the taxi stand.
When Tan later took a picture of his car, Goh alighted to confront him. He pushed Tan on the shoulder and challenged him to issue a summons.
After an exchange of words, Tan told the driver that he had recorded a video and action would be taken against him.
Goh started swearing and both men hurled vulgarities at each other before Tan punched Goh in the stomach. As the fight escalated, Goh slipped and fell and Tan kicked him.
A male passer-by broke up the fight at that point, but the two men continued to quarrel until Tan moved to the other side of the taxi stand. Goh followed and Tan threw another punch at him, starting yet another fight until the same passer-by intervened again.
Both parties eventually left the scene, but a video of the altercation was widely circulated on social media after it was published by Goh’s passenger, Ms Amber Pek. The LTA suspended Tan shortly after and has since stopped using his services. Ms Pek wrote in a Facebook post last November that she had booked a ride with Goh and set the pick-up location without realising that only taxis were permitted to stop at the taxi stand.
Goh suffered a bruised chest and lost two teeth in the fight, while Tan had an abrasion over his left knee, medical reports stated.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Daphne Lim rapped Tan for “engaging in aggression himself”, even though she noted that the Uber driver had used vulgarities on Tan and had taunted him.
She said: “Not only did (Tan) react to the vulgarities uttered by the Uber driver by uttering vulgarities himself, he had also thrown the first punch. By throwing the first punch, the accused had clearly taken the law into his hands.”
Their fight was played out in full view of the evening peak-hour crowd, DPP Lim said, pointing out that public peace was disrupted, and a member of the public even had to step in to separate the duo twice.
Tan, who was unrepresented in court, served his jail term on Friday.
Goh, who was charged with similar offences, will be in court on Monday for a pre-trial conference.
