TR EMERITUS

ComfortDelGro is backing the taxi driver involved in the incident. The company has described Mediacorp artiste Quan Yifeng’s incident with one of its taxi drivers as an ‘act of aggression’. The land transport giant is supportive of the taxi driver accusing Quan Yifeng of thrashing his taxi, according to a Shin Min Daily report. A spokesperson confirmed the cabby’s claims, saying that he was beaten up and the taxi was damaged. The taxi’s trip meter was ripped out as well. The company is currently assisting police with investigations and is providing assistance to the driver who has been ‘badly affected’ by the incident. The embattled star has reportedly hired criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan to represent her. Quan Yifeng, a popular local TV host, made headlines again on Monday - but for all the wrong reasons. The bubbly Taiwan-born celeb, 36, who is well-known for her quick temper and sharp tongue, was accused of hitting a cab driver, thrashing his taxi and stealing his car keys. The Mediacorp star was on her way to the airport with a male friend and her 11-year-old daughter, Eleanor, when the spat occurred. According to a Lianhe Wanbao report, the incident began when the 52-year-old cabby, only known as Mr Tan, failed to help the host with her luggage. Quan reportedly flew into a rage and demanded, “What sort of service attitude is this?”. The driver claims that he did not help the star because he was recovering from an elbow injury. Driving away from Hua Xin Court Condominium where he picked the trio up, he asked for directions to the airport, to which Quan allegedly snapped, “Are you from Malaysia? Don’t you know the way to the airport?” Tensions reportedly reached boiling point when the driver braked hard at a junction and the star was thrown forward. The cabby said that Quan accused him of doing it on purpose and swore at him in Hokkien. She then insulted his mother and proceeded to shove and hit him, he told the paper. Mr Tan claims that when he stopped the taxi, the TV host alighted and kicked his groin and a car door. She even locked herself in the taxi for 15 minutes to destroy it, ripped the meter and stereo out, emptied a bottle of water on his things and spilled his change everywhere, he said. Police have classified this case as theft because Quan left the scene with the driver’s car keys, the report said. The vivacious TV host, however, denied the allegations. “Why would I take his keys? Do you think I’m mad?” she said in an interview from Mauritius where she was filming. She also explained that she could not have spent 15 minutes thrashing the taxi as she was the one who called the police and had to leave to catch the plane to before they arrived. “I called the police at 8.45am and arrived at the airport at 9.02am. The entire incident was five minutes, how could I have locked myself in his car for 15 minutes?” According to Quan, the taxi driver was rude and had not only refused to help her with her baggage but also said, “Which law in Singapore says I have to help with the baggage?” She adds that Mr Tan was the one who chased her out of the taxi after he braked abruptly at a junction when she complained about his driving. According to the star, he tried to stop her from retrieving her belongings. ”So I shoved him and kicked his car door,” she said. Quan also accused the driver of shutting a door which she tried to open, hitting her on the back and leaving her with bruises. He also swore at her young daughter when she started to cry, she said. According to the report, Quan is now seeking legal advice. In 1996, the star, who split from her ex-actor husband Peter Yu two years ago, was involved in a fight with a bowling alley attendant and was fined S$1,000. With his word against hers in this dramatic case of he-said-she-said, it’s anyone’s guess whose version of events is true. Source: Shin Min Daily and Lianhe Wanbao  Read More →

MEDIACORP artiste Quan Yifeng has made headlines again - but for the wrong reasons. A 52-year-old taxi driver, identified only as Mr Tan, has accused her of hitting him, thrashing his taxi and taking his car keys. The incident happened on Saturday. Quan who is filming in Mauritius, has denied his allegations and hit back by saying that she was the one who got hurt by his violent behavior that the 52 years old slammed his car door and swore on her. In Wanbao's report, Mr Tan was quoted as saying that the star lost her temper after he did not help her load her luggage into his taxi and asked 'what sort of service attitude is this?'. He claimed she also swore at him in Hokkien, kicked him in the groin and locked herself in the taxi for 15 minutes, after accusing him of braking hard on purpose and throwing her forward. According to the sources, the taxi picked up a male passenger around 8: 45 AM who asked to go to Hua Xin Condominium to pick up more passengers and then head to Changi airport. 36 years old Quan Yifeng and her 11 years old daughter were the other passengers. All of them were on the way to Mauritius. The problem started when Mr Tan, the taxi driver refused to help the lady with her luggage which said to allegedly made her angry and repeatedly swearing, shoving and hitting him. On the exit point, she kicked his groin and locked the car for 15 minutes to thrash it.   Police have classified the case as theft because she allegedly took off with his car keys.   Francis Koh    Read More →

Barely a week after Upper Thomson Road, Boon Lay and Ang Mo Kio were hit by flash floods, some parts of Singapore are submerged today in knee-high flood water due to another heavy downpour which occurs “only once in fifty years”, in the words of PAP Minister for Environment Mr Yaacob Ibrahim. Floodwaters were seen along Paterson Road, near Wheelock Place in Orchard Road, the scene of the worst flooding in 26 years two weeks ago, as well as in Tai Seng Road, Kampong Ampat Road and MacPherson area. The National Environment Agency (NEA) warned of heavy showers with thunder between 1 pm and 2.30 pm on Thursday but there was no warning of possible flood. Not surprisingly, Mr Yaacob was nowhere to be found, heard or seen let alone present at the sites of the flooding but according to his earlier statement, he and his ministry are “still learning from the experience”. Mr Yaacob is the most expensive Environmental minister in the entire world. He earns about $2 million dollars a year, or more than 4 times the annual salary of U.S. President Barack Obama. It is ironic that Singaporeans are actually paying millions of dollar a year for Mr Yaacob to “learn” instead of coming up with solutions. How many more floods do Singaporeans need to put up with before Mr Yaacob finally learn from the experience, only God knows.   John Doe  Read More →