S'porean pleads guilty to fighting with family of 3 over spilled beer in JB mall: 'I was forced to defend myself'
Four Singaporeans who were involved in a fight at a shopping centre in Johor Bahru were charged in Malaysian court on Christmas Eve.
Married couple Louis Chua Chin Heng, 56 and Annie Loe Sou Peng, 55, as well as their son, Axl Chua Kai Jun, 27, were charged with intentionally causing hurt to Suresh Vanaz at KSL City mall on Dec 21 at 5.17pm.
Suresh was charged with voluntarily causing hurt to Louis Chua, reported The Straits Times.
The police said the fight was due to a dispute after Loe Sou Peng was splashed with beer when someone nearly bumped into her.
Suresh later recounted on social media that it happened at the counter of a massage parlour in the mall.
He said: "I had placed a can of beer on the floor in front of me. My friend accidentally knocked it over without noticing it. The drink spilled near my feet and touched the counter, but it did not come into contact with anyone. I immediately apologised to those around me.
"Unfortunately, about two minutes later, a Chinese family confronted and attacked me. I repeatedly explained that it was an accident. During the confrontation, racist remarks were made, and there was behaviour that appeared to look down on Malaysians. And I have to defend myself."
The argument escalated into a fight, prompting police officers on patrol to intervene.
Videos of the incident were posted online.
The two men also faced an additional charge of disorderly conduct for allegedly arguing at a JB police station where they were brought following the fight at the mall.
"While one of them was filing a police report, the other approached the counter and a sudden attack led to a scuffle," said the police.
The scuffle was broken up by the police officers on duty. The duo sustained minor injuries and were treated at a hospital before being arrested.
Suresh, who has a brother with cerebral palsy, pleaded guilty to both charges and was fined a total of RM1,900 (S$600).
He explained in the video: "I had to think for my brother. I said I wanted to plead guilty because if I don't plead guilty, I can't come back and I can't take care of my brother.
"I agreed to plead guilty just to be here with my brother."
On the other hand, the three family members are claiming trial and were released on bail.
On Christmas Day, Louis Chua posted on Facebook: "Not proud or and certainly not ashamed to write about it here."
He said his family had booked a massage at their favourite massage parlour, Century Health Care & Beauty, on level one of the mall.
Chua recounted: "Suresh and his girlfriend were there too. He smelled of alcohol even though we were at a distance. He placed his Heineken beer down and, unfortunately, his girlfriend kicked it and some beer spilled onto Annie's legs. Although not happy about it, she asked for a tissue and shrugged it off.
"Then when he almost bumped (apparently intoxicated and still drinking) into her a few minutes later. Annie exclaimed, 'Excuse me.' He glared at her. My son and I stared back at him.
"I told him about the two incidents and he had the cheek to reply that if things happened accidentally, there's no need to apologise.
"He started to walk towards me and taunted me with vulgarities to start a fight. When I tried to walk away. He said that I had no balls to 'go outside to settle'.
"I decided that I was not going to be bullied by someone who looked physically stronger, able to spew a string of vulgarities in all his sentences and continously taunting me to just shut up and thus got into verbal exchanges.
"Unfortunately, he decided to swing the first blow at me after failing to draw me into a physical fight with his words. By then, I had already decided that I need to defend myself if this drunkard started to be physical and threatened our safety.
"I tried to end this episode early by not attacking him when we were separated and hope he came to his senses, but this guy kept charging and was unstoppable.
"Can't even take him down fast to stop the altercation as this guy is built like a bull. My usually quiet and mild son came of age by trying to tried to restrain him and got punched in his face. Secretly glad he managed to even the score.
"Of course, my dear wife and brave Annie who will always jumped in to assist anyone especially her family though I wished she stayed out of this. They placed their bodies in the line of fire by trying to shield me and to break out the fight."
Chua said Suresh went "totally berserk".
"He swore at the Singapore Chinese, China Chinese and the crowd for taking pictures and videos," claimed Chua.
"Initially, I thought I was fighting a Malaysian Indian (only did I learnt at the police station that he is a Singaporean Indian, which made good headlines for media with Singaporean vs Singaporean spin).
"Round the corner near the escalator, I fell again (really tall guys no balance, main disadvantage for being tall) and he picked up a metal stool to smash onto me. Luckily, I blocked with my right arm and got a big baluku.
"The police then thankfully arrived and a few policemen were needed to restrain and handcuffed him to bring him to police station. Anyway, the swearing did not stop throughout."
Chua reflected: "So did I regret my action and would've done anything differently?Absolutely not. This is a fight that was inevitable. And you fight if you have to and not run away. Just hope I did not look too bad in the scuffle against someone 10 years younger and is some gym coach."
On Dec 26, Suresh posted a nine-minute video on social media to address what happened.
He wrote: "Regarding the KSL incident, I am not here to defend myself blindly, but to explain my side of the story truthfully.
"Yes, I acknowledge that I made a mistake by reacting to the situation. However, I was forced to defend myself at that moment and felt I had no other choice.
"If the law determines that I was wrong, then I accept that decision, and I have already agreed to move on."
He added that he would be taking legal action against the family.
"Malaysian law enforcement has informed us that there is sufficient CCTV evidence showing their actions and reactions. As a result, their legal expenses have reportedly reached around RM19,000," said Suresh.
"My lawyer and I will be pursuing legal action against them for multiple reasons. This is not about ego, but about accountability."
He has since deleted his social media posts about the incident.
Suresh was also involved in an altercation in VivoCity in December 2024.
Earlier this year, he made the news for carrying his disabled brother up the steps of Batu Caves in Selangor as part of their Thaipusam tradition.
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