SINGAPORE: A female hawker involved in a viral argument with local former actor Huang Yiliang is demanding an apology after accusing him of making defamatory comments about her relationship status.
A five-second video shared on the SingaporeSpeaks subreddit on May 6 shows Huang engaged in a heated argument with a woman in red.
Standing in front of their respective stalls at Circuit Road Hawker Centre, the pair pointed fingers at each other and exchanged insults in Hokkien.
He could be heard calling his neighbour an “embarrassing person”, followed by an expletive.
Recently opened in February 2026, Huang’s stall Old Fisherman sells seafood dishes, including stir-fried crab.
When Stomp visited Circuit Road Hawker Centre in the late morning of May 7, the 64-year-old had yet to open his stall for the day, while the neighbouring Hainanese chicken rice stall was already operating.
Enah, the chicken rice stall owner, told Stomp that the argument occurred on a Sunday afternoon in early April. Huang had allegedly entered her stall’s food preparation area, shouting aggressively and pointing at her.
The 50-year-old declined to reveal what sparked the altercation, citing safety concerns.
However, she claimed that she had maintained a cordial relationship with Huang before the incident, with both rarely speaking to each other.
Huang then allegedly accused Enah of being involved in multiple relationships with men, including male friends she regularly hangs out with at a table in front of her stall.
“Am I not allowed to have male friends?” questioned Enah, who is married and has adult children.
Speaking to Stomp at the hawker centre, Huang labelled Enah’s accusations as “fabricated”, but did not go into detail about the incident as he did not wish to “fire the first shot”.
He also described her as being similarly “straightforward” as him.
Huang added that he had a good relationship with neighbouring stall owners. Speaking to local Chinese-language publication Shin Min Daily News, a number of these hawkers described the ex-artiste as “friendly” but said they were unclear what the dispute was about.
During and after the interview, tensions continued as Huang and Enah clashed twice. Both hawkers were heard shouting at the hawker centre, with her demanding an apology from him.
In a subsequent chat with Stomp, Enah accused Huang of “slandering” her, adding that other hawkers and passers-by had heard his accusations.
“I don’t want to see him,” she said angrily. “I don’t want to speak to him unless he wants to apologise. When he says such things about me, he needs to say sorry publicly.”
Enah said she plans to keep to herself and ignore Huang if he does not apologise, adding that she did not wish to answer questions about the incident any more.
The altercation comes amid operational challenges faced by Huang. According to Shin Min, Old Fisherman did not open for service recently as he was unable to secure enough crabs.
Though it was recently reported that he had an assistant who helped with orders and preparation, Huang said he is now a “one-man show”, after his employee quit due to persistent health issues and difficulties adapting to the hot conditions of the kitchen.
Asked whether he would continue running the stall after his three-year lease expires, Huang said it would depend on his luck and how business fares.
In 2021, Huang was sentenced to 10 months’ jail for assaulting his employee — records show he was the director of a plumbing works company and movie production house during the time of the incident.
Three years later, Huang was fined S$3,000 (US$2363) and issued a five-year driving ban after colliding with a cyclist, leaving the rider with a fractured elbow.
This article first appeared in Stomp. - Stomp via The Straits Times/ANN
