A prison officer of extreme #nochill levels landed himself a hefty fine after he went ballistic on a poor credit card promoter who simply asked him if he was a Singaporean or a permanent resident.
Nur Azam Ab Rahman, 31, will have to cough out $2,000 for hurting Cheng Chin Lin, who worked as a direct sales officer at United Overseas Bank (UOB), according to The Straits Times. The incident, which went from 0 to 100 pretty quickly, took place at Tampines Bus Interchange on April 16 last year.
Azam had reportedly felt offended that 24-year-old Cheng approached him and asked if he was a Singaporean or a PR — so offended, in fact, that the former punched the latter several times in the face and stomach. This, despite the fact that the question is a rather standard opener in Cheng’s line of work to promote UOB credit cards.
The offended man replied, “Do I look like a PR to you?”, and he wouldn’t calm down despite Cheng’s attempts. Azam then punched him, and when Cheng tried to grab his bag to prevent him from leaving, Azam punched and kicked the victim again. He also flung Cheng’s mobile phone away during the scuffle.
Cheng — said to be of a bigger stature than Azam — had the attacker in a headlock, but Azam continued punching the victim’s stomach. He broke free of the headlock and kicked Cheng’s head, before a bystander broke up the fight.
Cheng wanted to call the police, and he followed Azam when he walked away from the area. The latter hit Cheng’s head again, who placed him in another headlock. After escaping the headlock, Azam punched his victim’s head once again.
Cheng was diagnosed with multiple contusions when he sought treatment for his injuries.
In court, the prosecution requested for a “high fine”, stating that the completely unprovoked attack transpired for quite some time in a public space.
The district judge, however, did note that Cheng’s headlocks were “quite an aggressive way” to detain Azam.
The father of two has since made $350 compensation to Cheng, and he expressed his remorse and regret for his actions. He could have landed himself a two-year stint in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.
