Influencer claps back after family claims hot claypot was served over toddler's head
A dinner outing turned sour for a customer at 8889 Ji Gong Bao in Ang Mo Kio after a hotpot incident involving her young grandson.
What followed was a heated online exchange between the customer and the restaurant's owner, local influencer Shirli Ling.
Stomper Jenny visited the hotpot restaurant with her family on May 18 at 8pm.
"The owner's son carried a hot claypot over my two-year-old grandson's head twice, despite being told not to," she alleged.
"This was not only unsafe but incredibly reckless. One small slip, and it could have caused serious injury or burns."
Jenny claimed that the staff member did not apologise to her after the incident, and her family quietly left the stall without confronting anyone.
Her family members left numerous reviews of the restaurant on Google and Facebook, with the restaurant responding in defence.
However, the restaurant owner's response left her family feeling "deeply upset".
"Not once did she acknowledge that what her son did was wrong," said the Stomper.
"There was no apology from her son. We did not scold anyone or cause a scene.
"We're not trying to ruin a business. But when something dangerous happens, the proper response is to take responsibility and promise to improve, not to shift blame and attack those who were affected."
Shirli fired back by posting a series of Instagram stories explaining her side of the story.
Jenny was also blocked by Shirli on Instagram after they had messaged each other.
In the story videos, Shirli expressed: "For such a small matter, you went to write a review on Google, Facebook, and even Xiaohongshu! Is it necessary? Hello, your son is not even injured."
"I have so many customers who tell us we are friendly and helpful. We are usually well-mannered to our customers. But when it comes to these types of people, I really cannot take it. Go and do some self-reflection lah."
This further upset Jenny, who said: "Instead of reflecting on their actions, the owner posted on social media blaming us, accusing us of acting 'childish' and 'reprimanding their staff', which is completely false."
However, Shirli shared a different perspective on the incident in response to a Stomp query.
She told Stomp: "The server had no other route due to a pillar blocking the table. The parents did not give space to him, and they did not panic even as the pot was served over their son's head.
"They mentioned that the staff did not know how to ask them to shift, but are they blind?"
Shirli also explained what happened after the incident, leading to her blocking Jenny on Instagram.
"She messaged me. I said that on behalf of my son, my worker, I am sorry. She replied 'I don't need it'. So I asked why she is still harping on it? She kept spamming me until I had to block her."
In the messages, Jenny wanted Shirli to post the CCTV footage to the public.
Shirli responded: "CCTV footage is only for internal investigations or any police cases.
"We don't post any footage online just to prove customers wrong for small arguments due to the privacy of other customers.
"I will not give in to any customer who is unreasonably nasty to our staff."
