Cheers instructs Lau Pa Sat franchisee to dismiss staff member who refused to comply with police

Cheers has instructed its Lau Pa Sat franchisee to dismiss the staff member who refused to cooperate with police officers after calling them in regarding a dispute that had happened at the store on Jan 1.

Stomp earlier reported that the police were alerted to a dispute at 18 Raffles Quay at 8.05pm.

"Preliminary investigations revealed that comments about race and nationality and verbal threats were allegedly exchanged prior to police's arrival," the police said.

Two men, aged 29 and 64, are assisting with police investigations. No injuries were reported.

The incident came to light after the Cheers staff member, who identifies himself as Jonathan, uploaded five videos of his verbal exchange with the police officers on his TikTok page.

In the footage, the police officers were heard repeatedly asking him for his identification card but he refused to hand it over and started questioning them instead.

He also asked them about a "loss of income" due to the closure of the store to which one of the officers replied it was not closed.

In an earlier statement on Jan 2, Cheers said in a statement on its Facebook page that "the staff involved has been counselled and put on administrative leave pending further investigation".

In an update on Jan 4, Cheers said: "Following the incident that occurred on 1 Jan at our franchise store located at Lau Pa Sat, having spoken with the staff and assessed the incident, we have instructed our franchisee to dismiss the staff involved.

"We require all staff to offer full co-operation and compliance with the authorities, and we do not tolerate acts from staff that undermine the authority of the Police.

"We appreciate the feedback and concern that we’ve received from the public on the matter, and we sincerely apologise for the distress caused."