S’pore men and Vietnamese women trade insults in ugly spat at JB golf resort after dispute over balls
A verbal spat between two groups of golfers — purportedly involving two men from Singapore and a group of Vietnamese women – turned ugly, with insults flying as a course marshal tried to intervene.
A 43-second clip posted by The SG Daily on Aug 15 shows one man telling a woman to stop shouting, while the woman shouts at him to stop pointing his finger at her.
“What do you mean by show finger? I asked you to stop shouting,” the man retorts.
“Stop, stop show finger to my face,” the woman replies.
“You want me to show the middle finger?” the man asks.
A man whom we later learn is a course marshal stands next to the arguing pair as another man appears and says: “Wait, wait, wait, I tell the marshal what happened first, OK?”
But the quarrelling pair continue, trading insults in English and Hokkien. The man calls the woman a “slut” while she calls him an “ah kua” — a derogatory colloquial term typically used to refer to an effeminate man or a transgender).
At least one other woman can be heard joining the argument, while the second man makes another attempt to explain what happened to the marshal before the reel ends.
The video, with the in-screen title, “Golf dispute between S’porean uncle and Vietnamese women escalates into heated confrontation”, has since attracted more than 1.2 million views and thousands of reactions and comments across Instagram and Facebook.
The incident was first shared in the Complaint Singapore Facebook group, but the post has since been taken down.
Woman claims dispute started over golf balls
In response to Stomp’s queries, the original poster, who had shared screenshots of the incident in her own account, said the dispute occurred on Aug 14 at Ponderosa Golf and Country Resort in Johor Bahru and began at the first hole.
She said her group included her son, who teed off after their caddy confirmed that it was safe to do so.
According to her, his ball landed behind the two men ahead of them, but the man in blue allegedly walked back, picked up the ball and threw it away.
The group initially did not confront him.
She said their caddy later again confirmed that it was safe to tee off, after which her friend took her shot. However, the same man allegedly picked up her friend’s ball and threw it away as well.
After that, the two men “drive buggy (to) come find us”, leading to the confrontation seen in the video.
When asked how she knew the men were from Singapore, the woman said they were driving a car with a Singapore-registered licence plate.
A commenter on The SG Daily’s Instagram post, who claimed she was part of the same group, provided further details about the confrontation in remarks that have since been removed.
She alleged that one of the men shouted and pointed in her friend’s face, while the other challenged the group to a fight. The men also allegedly threatened to have them banned from the golf course.
According to her, her friend raised her voice and pointed back only after the men allegedly threw away two balls, including one belonging to the 11-year-old boy, and confronted the group aggressively.
“If they believed our shots were unsafe, they could have spoken to the caddy or called the marshal. There was absolutely no reason for two grown men to intimidate a group of women and a child,” she wrote.
“Their behaviour was completely unnecessary and unacceptable.”
In a later comment, she said both groups continued playing after the scenes in the video.
Stomp has contacted the resort for more information.
Netizens divided by behaviour
Netizens seemed appalled by the behaviour of the golfers in the video, with opinion divided over who was at fault.
One said: “Fight with a woman (and) you deserve to be called whatever she said.”
The woman in video was not spared criticism either, with one netizen saying: “The Vietnamese women obviously have no manners, no class.”
Many, however, felt neither side came out looking particularly good.
“Proof that money cannot buy class,” said one netizen.
“Although golf is often labeled as ‘high-end,’ ‘health-conscious’ or ‘gentlemanly’, the sport itself cannot filter or change a person’s basic qualities,” another said.
One commenter offered a more measured take, saying disagreements over pace of play or a ball landing near another group could happen on any golf course.
“What really matters is how people handle the situation and communicate with each other,” the user said, adding that any concerns could have been raised with the caddy or course marshal instead of someone picking up and throwing away another player’s ball.
Another added: “Chill... It is just a game of golf.”
A number of commenters saw the funny side of the altercation.
“Legend has it that the man in the blue shirt is still trying to explain the facts,” joked one, referring to the man’s repeated attempts to tell the marshal what had happened.
“Sounds like a duck and chicken are having an argument,” quipped another.
Some Malaysian commenters apparently had enough of both sides.
“We have enough problems! Both of you go back to your countries and fight, please,” said one.
Additional reporting by Lo Jun An
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