SINGAPORE: A 31-year-old Singaporean male tried to step in and help a security guard, asking others not to smoke in a queue outside an eatery in Taiwan on Mar 1. However, the situation heated up, and a fight ensued, according to local media reports.
The Singaporean man, who is unnamed, ended up getting pepper sprayed and was rounded up by the police to assist with investigations.
The incident offered an Ichiran ramen outlet at the Xinyi district in Taipei at around 5 a.m. on Mar 1, which was part of a holiday weekend in Taiwan, having come after Peace Memorial Day was celebrated the day before.
Two Taiwanese men, identified as Meng and Ye, lit cigarettes while in the queue. A security guard surnamed Xu, stepped forward to stop the men from smoking, which led to a physical altercation between him and the two men.
The media reported that the 31-year-old Singaporean man tried to help the security guard, and the argument turned into a tussle with the four men involved. When another security guard from a nightclub beside the ramen eatery saw the brawl, he took out his pepper spray and aimed it in the direction of the Singaporean man.
The brawl ended after local police received an alert concerning the fight and sent officers to the scene. They took the four men to Sanzhangli Police Station to get their statements.
Both parties expressed the intent to press charges, a Taiwanese media reported.
Because the security guard from the nightclub, a man named Hong, had used pepper spray, he was charged with violating the Social Order Maintenance Act. He could be slapped with a fine of $1,230 and a jail sentence of three days.
Meng, Ye, and the Singaporean man, meanwhile, are under investigation for causing injury to others.
This is not the first time in recent months that a Singaporean has run afoul of the law in Taiwan, although the situation last November was very different.
On Nov 19, 2024, the Yilan County Government Police Bureau said a 22-year-old Singaporean man had been arrested due to suspected involvement in a scam syndicate.
The man, surnamed Ye, was reportedly a runner for the syndicate, collecting money from scam victims. He had entered Taiwan on a social visit, but local police caught him in the act of collecting money from a woman after having been recruited by the syndicate. /TISG
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