Do not slap the person who brings you your food

Here’s an interesting news article in the papers over the last few days:

Stewardess suing Venture Corp CEO’s wife for allegedly slapping her

By Teo Xuanwei, TODAY, 12 February 2008

SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight attendant is taking the wife of one of Singapore’s richest men, Mr Wong Ngit Liong, to court for allegedly slapping her on a flight from Singapore to Tokyo last year.

Madam Tan Siew Hoon, the wife of Venture Corp chairman and chief executive Mr Wong, 65, is alleged to have struck Ms Then Jiamin on the cheek sometime during that flight on Sept 20, after she saw her speaking to Mr Wong.

The SIA flight attendant was serving passengers in business class, including the Wongs. According to the writ of summons — which was served on Mdm Tan at her home last Monday evening — immediately after striking the stewardess, Mdm Tan had said loudly: “Why are you talking to my husband!”

Ms Then, 25, is suing for “general damages and damages for consequential loss and emotional and mental distress” she suffered as a result of the “wrongful assault and battery”. She is also claiming damages for defamation.

blog-2007-Cooking-CIMG2845.jpgThe article has a bit more information, but what I’ve posted above is the general gist of it. The thread has been well commented on in blogs and discussion forums, with at least a few posters remarking how fierce Mdm. Tan looks too. Anyway, putting aside the legality of assaulting someone else in public, I must issue a well-intended warning: Do not ever slap a person who brings you your food!! Doing that sort of thing is a very, very, very bad idea.

How’s that? Well, story telling time again. Years ago I was dating this friend (before marriage OK!!!!) who was a flight stewardess for two of the regional airlines. She was quite the quintessential poster-person. Tall, charming, and she played computer games and could assemble her own computer haha. My kind of hobbies. Anyhow, she’d tell me of all these stories of how some flight attendants get their “revenge” on passengers who harass them. Specifically, those select passengers get special, ahem, ingredients into their beverages. Not food because it’s easy to see any sort of additional condiments. But beverages like tea and coffee, you stir and bingo any trace or incriminating evidence of those special ‘additions’ are gone.

Now, how true or widespread were these things going on I have no clue and my friend stated emphatically that she personally would never do such a thing. But it’s a scary thought eh. Heng ar – lucky I’m always very polite to any person who is serving me, whether it’s at the bank, at the faculty canteen, or on an airplane. Otherwise, I’d have more than just my own bodily fluids inside me over all these long years.:)