A video of the Circular Road scuffle that occurred between three Singaporean models and an unidentified man surfaced online recently, sparking accusations of the girls misrepresenting what had happened.
In the minute-long video, two of the three girls (Ziyi Kuek, Esther Lee and Anna Huang) were seen embroiled in a scuffle with a man. Lee (in a white dress) was seen being pushed to the ground while Huang, dressed in a green tube and a navy miniskirt, went for the man, landing a couple of punches at his head, while yelling at him for attacking Lee.
A contributor to citizen website STOMP claimed that it was the three girls whose car hit the man first, resulting in him retaliating and kicking the car.
He then said that police detained him for a period as well, on complaints that he had assaulted the girls. He also claimed the girls were lying in their account of the incident, adding that "they themselves were under the influence of alcohol too".
Yahoo Singapore understands that his claims of the man being detained are untrue, however.
When asked about the video, Kuek told Yahoo Singapore it did happen, but the clip did not show the beginning and subsequent parts of the scuffle -- where the man kicked their car and opened the front door. It also did not show what happened later on when the fight moved outward onto South Bridge Road, she added.
Explaining why Huang and Lee were seen attacking the man, Kuek said they were reacting to him punching her first.
"They were pissed at him (for) punching me," she said. "We've already predicted that (this would happen -- the criticism and accusations by users online), but it doesn't matter. They can blow it (up) big," she said. "STOMP never even interviewed us."
Meanwhile, Kuek said all three of them have filed police reports and have approached the magistrate's court for assistance with the case. They have not yet engaged legal assistance.
Earlier on 12 December, the girls said they were in a car headed for supper at a coffee shop on Circular Road at about 3am after a night of clubbing.
They were about 100m from their destination, BK Eating House, when a man who appeared to be drunk blocked their path.
"I horned him, but he got really agitated by the sound of the horn, and started knocking on the window and kicking at the side of the car," said Kuek, 23, who was driving Huang's car as she was the only one who did not drink that night.
Deciding to pay no mind to his rash behaviour, Kuek continued driving forward, but he followed their car and persistently kicked it until its front bumper dislodged.
"He then opened the door (on the front passenger's side), and started acting very aggressively toward her (Huang), but before he could do anything I got out on my side, so he came to me... and because of that we got into a fight," she told Yahoo Singapore about a day later.