SINGAPORE: Paralympic swimmer, Sophie Soon posted an apology video on her TikTok channel on Sunday (Mar 12), acknowledging that “both parties had a part to play in all of this.”
The paralympic swimmer has also taken down the original dispute videos of the incident, which occurred at Rocky Masters café at Hougang 1 Mall.
“I owe everyone an applogy for my wrong doings . Like most have pointed out, both parties had a part to play in all of this, and this is my apology to all of you. Please take care, have a wonderful week ahead.💜 #tiktoksg #guidedog #accessibility #apology,” she wrote in the caption.
@sophsoon I owe everyone an applogy for my wrong doings . Like most have pointed out, both parties had a part to play in all of this, and this is my apology to all of you. Please take care, have a wonderful week ahead. 💜 #tiktoksg #guidedog #accessibility #apology
Ms. Sophie Soon, who has an eye condition and whose guide dog helps her get around, had not been allowed by the staff to eat inside the café but was told to sit in the outdoor dining area with the dog.
The swimmer, 25, posted a video of a Rocky Master staff discussing the issue with a supervisor over the phone. The staff said it would call the police if the swimmer posted the video, and mall security was also reportedly called.
Moreover, the Rocky Master staff allegedly also refused to take their orders.
In another video that she posted, Ms. Sophie Soon said the staff was “discriminating against guide dog users and ultimately treating us incredibly rudely just because they think that they’re in the right even though they’re the ones that are uneducated.”
She added that this type of incident has occurred “way too many times” and that “businesses are just going to continue to get away with this kind of behaviour” if not brought to light.
On Mar 10, Rocky Master issued an apology to Ms. Sophie Soon on its Instagram account.
The swimmer, however, initially left this comment on the cafe’s apology post but has since deleted it as well.
Ms Sophie Soon’s videos have drawn mixed responses from the public, but have gotten support from some others as well, including Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh.
In her apology, Ms Sophie Soon says, “I recognized that I am the one who has started the whole incident and I wanna put an end to this as well.”
“It was a poor move and poor judgement on my part for thinking that this is the way to resolve discrimination issues. This was not in a way that would garner better responses and to not cause so much chaos and hatred among the community,” she added. /TISG
Tommy Koh speaks up for paralympian who was not allowed to bring guide dog into cafe