'Don't have money?' Chinatown stall owners taunt man who touched peaches without paying

Growing up, you would have heard this a lot: "See no touch, touch no see. See and touch must pay money". 

A recent dispute between a pair of Chinatown grocery stall owners and their customer might be the perfect epitome to the iconic rhyme.

In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, an eyewitness, surnamed Wu, shared that he heard a loud quarrel coming from a stall located near People's Park Centre on Monday (Jan 9) at 9.30pm.

The cause of the dispute? A customer refused the stall owner's demands to pay for peaches that he had touched, according to the 55-year-old eyewitness. 

Adding that the stall owner later called her husband for help, Wu said: "The man angrily picked up a broom and waved it at the customer, while taunting 'you don't have money?'"

While watching the bizarre 'shouting-match', 20 passers-by tried to persuade the customer to pay for the fruit.

But Wu shared that the man refused to budge.

"After seeing the two parties become more hostile [towards each other], I called the police," he said.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, another stall owner, who declined to reveal his identity, said that the customer had 'triggered' the grocery stall owner.

"From my perspective, it's fine if the customer touched the peaches and refused to buy them," he said.

"But instead, he angered the stall owner by throwing them on the ground."

The argument went on for 30 minutes, the unnamed eyewitness said, adding that the police arrived at the scene and left after mediation.

Responding to the Chinese daily's queries, the stall owner declined to make further comments on the incident.

The eyewitnesses to the dispute can judge for themselves on who's right or wrong, he said.

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