One punch one kill – Fracas in dormitory led to the death of a foreign worker

A foreign worker punched another just once during a heated argument at a workers’ dormitory on May 21. But that single punch was enough for the foreigner attacked to sustain cerebral haemorrhage and for him to die from the injury.
The argument started at dinner time when 33-year-old Phan Duc Thang, a dishwasher, asked his friend Ah Nam why he failed to remit money to his parents. Ah Nam, 28, got angry and told Phan to mind his business. Unhappy at Nam’s response, Phan grabbed a chair and flung it at him. The chair missed hitting Nam.
A third person at the dinner table, another Vietnamese Nguyen Trong Phu felt that Phan’s reaction was not necessary and all of a sudden, swung his fist at Phan’s temple. That one moment of rage by 28-year-old Nguyen caused Phan to collapse.
When Nam and Nguyen saw that Phan lay motionless on the floor, they both got very scared and called the ambulance immediately. Phan died in the ambulance while being sent to the hospital.
Nguyen was arrested the same day at the dormitory near Block 218 Marsiling Crescent, and was charged in court on Monday (May 23). If convicted, Nguyen could face up to seven years in prison, and a fine or caning.
Phan was the sole breadwinner for his family, and he usually remitted 70 percent of his monthly income back home, said his elder brother who flew into Singapore on 25 May to retrieve his dead brother’s body.
 
He told the Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News: “He was supporting our family of eight in Nghe An, Vietnam, including our 78-year-old mother. Phan earned $1,000, and he usually remitted $700 back, leaving $300 for himself.”
Phan was married for 14 years and has two sons aged 13 years old and eight months old.