A man who picked a fight with a Penang convenience store owner bit off more than he could chew as his opponent happened to be a taekwondo black belt.
He was beaten three times despite once going for a sneak attack from the back with a helmet.
A video of the one-sided beatdown has since gone viral after being circulated online.
One version shared to Facebook by user Ary Aery on Jun. 5, has been watched over 8.1 million times.
49 year old Wu Yerong, owner of Kim Leong Mini Mart, said that he has a black belt in taekwondo. He explained that he started learning taekwondo at the age of 17 and had even won a 1996 championship held in Penang.
Wu added that he had previously taught taekwondo classes as a substitute for a local coach.
“The coach suggested that I become one myself, I gave up on the idea as I was too busy managing my family’s convenience store business,” Wu said.
Wu reconstructed the incident and said that the altercation happened in his store at around 11:45 pm.
He said that the man he knocked down was visiting his store for the second time and was not a regular customer. He came on a motorcycle that night with a companion.
“I was chatting with a customer at the time. As soon as he came to the door, he called me in a bad tone to get some beer. I told him to go to the shelf at the back to get it. This made him unhappy and agressive, and then we had an argument.”
“So I invited him to a ‘one on one’ fight, and we fought from inside the store to outside until he fell to the ground. Unexpectedly, he attacked me when I was walking out of the store, smashed my head with his helmet, and then rode away on a motorcycle with his companions.”
Following the incident at the store, he also lodged a police report.
Penang police arrested both men, who are in their 30s and 40s, over the convenience store scuffle. They were detained and released on Saturday, June 8th.
The man who lost, who remains unnamed, alleges that the altercation stemmed from what he perceived as disrespectful behavior from the shop owner.
In a follow-up video released on TikTok the man revealed a pre-existing history with the shop owner, claiming a 13-year-old dispute that was previously settled through legal means.
He explained that he was at the grocery store at the behest of a friend when the shop owner’s demeanor sparked the confrontation.
“Even if I had not drunk any alcohol, it would still trigger me. When he asked for a fight, of course I would not deny him,” the man admitted, acknowledging his intoxicated state at the time.
“If I wasn’t drunk, I would’ve beaten him,” he claimed.
Despite his inebriation, the man, a self-proclaimed black belt in karate, accepted the challenge.
He acknowledged the shop owner’s expertise in taekwondo, highlighting the difference in their fighting styles.
The viral footage depicts the physical altercation, with the man struggling against the shop owner’s defensive tactics.
Despite numerous attempts to land a blow, the man is seen repeatedly knocked down.
In the wake of the incident, the man expressed remorse for the disturbance caused, offering apologies specifically to the Tamil community.
He attributes his actions to his intoxicated state, conceding that he was at a significant disadvantage against his opponent.
Penang police chief said that both men have retracted their police reports and the case has been classified as No Further Action.
Meanwhile, the grocery shop owner said that he was called to the police station in Bandar Bertam, Bukit Mertajam on Monday night, 10 June.
According to Wu, when he arrived, the other man involved was also present at the station.
“The investigating officer said that they would give us one last chance to see if we were willing to reconcile. In the end, both of us accepted the police’s offer and shook our hands in peace,” Wu said, stressing that it was a satisfactory outcome to the issue.
