Clarke Quay Pushcart Stalls Dispute & Price War

FF Fashion

Wed, Mar 11, 2009
The New Paper
By Vivien Chan



He said: She ran at me

BOTH run pushcart stalls selling similar fashion accessories in Clarke Quay.

But after four months of price wars and accusations of petty sabotages, the business rivalry ended in a fight.

Their leases were terminated soon after.

Ms Audrey Ong, 37, claimed that the other stallholder whacked her face with a wooden tray on 6 Feb.

But 35-year-old Mr David, who didn't want his full name published, claimed she had charged at him first.

He had held up the tray in self-defence and she crashed into it.

A police spokesman confirmed that they received a call about a dispute and a woman was sent to hospital with minor facial injuries.

They are investigating the case.

Both parties' leases were terminated by the Clarke Quay management after the incident.

That fateful afternoon, Ms Ong claimed she was walking to her cart when Mr David stared at her and scolded her.

'Suddenly, he rushed over with two wooden trays and used them to hit me on the left side of my face. My glasses flew off, and the area around my eye started bleeding.

'I called my mother and the police. I was taken to the Singapore General Hospital. I had a horrible headache and blurred vision in my left eye.'

But Mr David claimed he was arranging his display when she was walking to her cart.

'I was holding onto a wooden tray I use to display rings when I noticed she was still staring at me.

'Suddenly she shouted at me and said bad things about my mother. Then she rushed over.

'I thought she was going to attack me, so I held up my tray in defence. There was an impact and the tray flew out of my hands.

'I guess she hit her face against it. We both called the police.'

Rivalry started

And this was a culmination of several months of unpleasantness between the two stallowners.

Ms Ong had began operating her pushcart at Clarke Quay last August.

Two months later, Mr David resumed his business following a short break, selling similar things.

He claimed that on the first day of business, Ms Ong's staff shouted at him to remove a range of earrings.

Then began a round of price wars. Ms Ong cut the price of her earrings from $12 to $8 after she found out that Mr David priced them at $10.

She said: 'In December, I brought in a necklace that he was selling at $39, and priced it at $10. I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.

'When management learnt about it, we were told that price wars were not allowed.'

Mr David admitted complaining to the management after Ms Ong sold the necklace.

He claimed the management insisted that she follow his pricing, but when she refused, it decided that neither party could sell it.

But the bitter allegations continued.

Mr David said Ms Ong often threw 'white powder' at his cart, scaring potential customers away.

'They thought it was dirt that fell on them from the canopy above, got disgusted and left without buying anything,' he said.

He was also turned off by her daily ritual of stirring water in a bowl and throwing it away, sometimes near his cart.

But Ms Ong said she was washing gemstones and crystals with water for 'good luck' and discarding the 'dirty' water into the drain behind Mr David's cart.

The white powder was actually salt that she dispersed to 'prevent black magic'.

Said Ms Ong: 'It's for my own protection. Why would I throw it for him?'