'Haolian' man who taunted cabby identified as chicken rice stall owner, restaurant being 'harassed'

A man who flaunted his wealth to a taxi driver and told him why he could not 'achieve great things' has been identified by, not surprisingly, vigilant netizens.

In an earlier report, Stomper Peter had alerted Stomp to a posting by Facebook user Yan Ting Ong, who uploaded a video showing the incident that occurred on Apr 27 at 2.51am.

In the clip, the man posed proudly for the camera and refused to move away so that the taxi driver, who had already called the police, could close his vehicle door.

The cabby wanted to close the door as he had stashed money in a side compartment there.

Instead, the passenger sarcastically said, "Wah so much money, how much money, Tell me. Wah seh, so much money. I've never seen so much money, brother."

He even took out a stack of $1,000 notes and started leafing through it in front of the cabby, then told the latter, "Do you know why you are a taxi driver today? Because you can't achieve great things."

According to Shin Min Daily News, netizens have identified the man as Mr Gary Lim, the boss of The Yang's Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice at Serangoon Road.

The 37-year-old told Shin Min in a Apr 29 report that he was deeply sorry for the incident.

"I drank too much that day, and cannot remember clearly what happened. I actually take cabs very often, and often talk to taxi drivers and get along with them very well, I really didn't mean to offend the profession," he was quoted as saying.

He also explained that he was carrying so much cash with him as he had meant to pass it to his suppliers.

"During that time, the money was in my pocket, so I took it out and 'haolian'," he said.

The taxi driver, Mr Sun, told Shin Min that he had picked Mr Lim up from a taxi stand at Clarke Quay, and was dropping him off at Potong Pasir.

Mr Lim tried to pay for his $12.45 taxi fare with a $1,000 note, but "there was no way I could give him change for that," added 33-year-old Mr Sun.

He said Mr Lim then took out two $10 notes from his wallet and threw them at him.

According to The Straits Times, Mr Lim's restaurant has taken a hit from the incident, with netizens leaving unhappy comments on its Facebook page and restaurant review pages.

When Shin Min visited the restaurant, its manager Mr Chen told Shin Min that he made a police report as well, as the restaurant had allegedly been harassed by numerous phone calls and he was worried that the restaurant was under threat.