A 66-year-old hawker suffered second-degree burns after a customer threw hot porridge on her for not cooking his egg completely.
According to Zaobao, the incident took place at about 11am on 1st February at Whampoa Hawker Centre in Singapore.
Zhou Yu Ye suffered burns on her face and shoulder which will most likely become permanent scars.
Zhou said the customer was a man who looked about 40 years old. He did not ask for his eggs to be thoroughly cooked and later got angry and started swearing at her.
“He was unhappy that the egg was not completely cooked, and asked me, ‘How can infants eat raw eggs?’. After that, he swore at me and belittled me by saying that I’m just a worker,” Zhou said.
Zhou then made another bowl of porridge for the man, but he was still angry even after taking the new bowl of porridge and continued to scold Zhou.
Zhou responded and said, “What if I’m the boss of this stall?”
Probably even more angered by this, the man took his packet of porridge and threw it at Zhou. She did not realise what was happening at first until she felt a burning sensation on her face.
She then called the police and begged customers for help. Her face swelled and her arm and shoulder were scalded as well.
“I got two huge blisters on my face. The doctor said that I have second-degree burns on my face and shoulder. They will definitely leave scars. The remaining skin injuries will require at least two years to heal,” Zhou said.
The mother of the man immediately went to help Zhou and offered to help her change her clothes and clean her wounds. She even brought anti-inflammatory medication, but Zhou declined it.
The mother and her son have since apologised to Zhou.
“My son always had a bad temper. He is definitely in the wrong. I can’t say anything if the other party wants to take action,” the mother said.
“I just hope that that this won’t blow up. If the other party requests medical compensation that is within my means, I will definitely consider paying it.”
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