When it rains, it pours.
That’s the expression most suitable to be used in Edmund Tan’s, the boss of Chong Qing (Origin) Steamboat, situation.
What Happened
If you have zealous friends who mainly consume their news from WhatsApp, or you’re one yourself, you might’ve come across videos of a woman being slashed at Liang Seah street recently.
The incident happened on 14 April 2022 outside Mr Tan’s steamboat eatery and the victim is one of Mr Tan’s employees.
Due to the incident, he had to close his restaurant for three days.
Earnings during the pandemic period were already bad enough for Mr Tan, and he had to sell food products via live streaming on Facebook.
But that’s not all.
Boss of Beach Road Victim Obligated to Pay Her Medical Bills
On 21 Apr 2022, Mr Tan was told that his employee, Ms Han Hongli’s hospital bill was S$48,000.
Ms Han is a work permit holder from China and Mr Tan is obligated to pay for her medical bills.
For work permit holders, their employers are required to bear the costs for both inpatient and outpatient medical treatment, regardless of whether the cause of injuries was work-related or not.
While Mr Tan has bought and maintained medical insurance coverage of S$15,000 for Ms Han, it wasn’t sufficient.
Will Definitely Rise Even Further
The S$48,000 bill was for Ms Han’s one-week stay in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Mr Tan knows that the bill will rise even further, given that she’ll likely need to be hospitalised for “some time”.
Thankfully, Ray of Hope is currently in touch with Mr Tan to try and help with the hospital bill.
A spokesperson for the platform told Straits Times that they are looking to speak to Ms Han to get her permission to start a fund-raising campaign.
S$25,000 Raised So Far
Ray of Hope isn’t the only one trying to help Mr Tan and Ms Han get through this unfortunate incident.
Mr Leonard Shi, the 42-year-old owner of Samurai BBQ located at Liang Seah Street, started a fund-raising drive for Ms Han as well.
At the time of writing, more than 50 restaurant owners operating in Bugis, Chinatown and Geylang have managed to raise around S$20,000 for her.
Mr Shi hopes that the funds will help with her recovery and support her children.
Another restaurant owner, Mr Zhuang Qian Hua of Chef China restaurant in Beach Road, said he managed to raise another S$5,000 together with his staff.