A Chinese woman has been sentenced to 24 days in jail for throwing a signage at a Singapore Airlines ticketing staff member.
The victim, 30-year-old Sharin Chan Suet Gek’s nose and left eyebrow split open due to the attack which occurred after the perpetrator was denied a boarding pass for failing to provide adequate proof for why the details on her passport did not match the details credit card that was used to book the ticket.
The Chinese woman, 33-year-old Chang Lihui insisted that she had used a family member’s credit card to book the ticket but could not verify who the family member was nor whether that individual had agreed to buy the ticket for Chang.
Sharin advised an agitated Chang to inform the credit card owner to contact the SIA office in China to confirm that they had consented to the purchase. Chang claimed that she did not have a mobile phone and that she was unable to contact her relative.
After Chang proceeded to shout and volley abusive words against Sharin, a male SIA staff member stepped in to tell Chang that SIA cannot accede to her request.
Following this, the male colleague left and Chang demanded a refund from Sharin. Sharin responded that it would take 2-3 weeks to process a refund request, before moving backwards to discuss the matter with her supervisor over the phone.
It was at this point that Chang picked up a “Counter Closed” sign nearby and forcefully threw it at Sharin. The signage hit Sharin squarely in the face and she screamed in pain, bleeding from open wounds on her left eyebrow and nose bridge.
Chang was arrested at her hotel one day later. A psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health diagnosed Chang with schizophrenia, but added that she was not of unsound mind at the time of the offence.