[A Toyota Wish belonging to Madam Tan Lai Bee, a fish seller at the temporary Geyland Serai Market. Her car was damaged after it was allegedly splashed with a corrosive liquid. She now has to fork out about $2,000 to repair the damage.]
TWO cars belonging to two separate stall owners in the Geylang Serai temporary market were allegedly splashed with a corrosive liquid last week.
Madam Tan Lai Bee, 40, who owns a stall that sells fish, was one of the victims on Sunday.
Just three days earlier, Mr Muhammad A Rahman, a chicken seller at the market, suffered a similar incident.
In Madam Tan's case, her brother-in-law, who also works in the stall, had driven her 21/2-year-old Toyota Wish to the market at 4.15am.
He had parked the car on a stretch of road behind the market, where Madam Tan holds a season parking pass.
Half an hour later, Madam Tan arrived in the stall's lorry.
She passed by her car and did not see anything amiss.
But at about 6am, a neighbouring stall owner came across the damaged car. Recognising it as Madam Tan's from its car plate number, he alerted her.
Madam Tan Lai Bee (above) said
that in her three years of working
at the market, she has not
experienced such an incident.
'At first I thought he was playing a prank on me or just joking with me,' Madam Tan told The New Paper.
'But when I went out to take a look at my car, I was shocked and very upset.'
The paint on the car's roof at the driver's side had peeled, said Madam Tan.
The driver's side door, part of the bonnet and the side-view mirror were also damaged.
She immediately called her husband, who suggested she make a police report.
Madam Tan said: 'I don't know who might have done this to my car.'
She said that in her three years working at the market, she has not experienced such an incident.
Madam Tan said she had to fork out about $2,000 to repair the damage.
As her car is still in the workshop, she now relies on her mother to drive her to work every morning.
A mechanic at the car repair shop said the corrosive liquid was acid.
Like Madam Tan, Mr Rahman, a chicken-seller, suffered extensive damages to his car last Thursday, reported Berita Harian.
He had parked his Toyota Estima at the carpark directly opposite the market. This is where he usually parks his car as he holds a season parking pass there.
Mr Rahman, who has been working at the market for the past 10 years, arrived as usual at around 5am.
But two hours later, a neighbouring stall owner told him that his car had been splashed with a corrosive liquid.
Shocked
Mr Muhammad A Rahman, a chicken seller, next to
his Toyota Estima, also splashed with acid.
When he rushed out to where his car was parked, Mr Rahman was shocked.
The paintwork on at least half of the vehicle had peeled off.
The liquid even seeped into the car, damaging the insides of one of the car doors that was upholstered with leather.
The windscreen wiper, a headlight, and a side-view mirror were also damaged.
Mr Rahman, who suspected that the corrosive liquid was acid, told Berita Harian: 'When I arrived, I saw the liquid still dripping and it gave off a really strong smell.'
There were a few people surrounding his car when he arrived at the carpark, but no one saw the culprit.
The repairs would set him back by $4,000 and two weeks without a car.
Like Madam Tan, Mr Rahman said this is the first time in his 10 years working at the market that such an incident has happened.
