Support pours in for SMOL eatery at Lau Pa Sat after man rips off LGBT Pride flag

SINGAPORE: Support has poured in for an eatery at Lau Pa Sat after CCTV footage that was circulating online showed a man ripping off an LGBT Pride flag that was displayed on a counter at the health food outlet.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Jan 19), SMOL’s owner Charmaine Low said she was heartened by “the love and support from the community” following the incident.

“Our Lau Pa Sat outlet sold out early today, and I’m so glad to have met many of you in person,” she wrote.

Footage of the incident on Monday was uploaded to SMOL’s Facebook page, prompting hundreds to speak out in support of the LGBT community. In the video, the man can be seen gesturing toward the Pride flag and a staff member, and appears agitated.

According to Ms Low, the man told staff members at SMOL’s Lau Pa Sat outlet to “go to hell”.

“Not everybody supports LGBT … how can you put this flag? You are the kind of people who is destroying Singapore!” the man is alleged to have said.

The man is captured on camera snatching the flag off the counter and throwing it at a staff member before walking away.

In response to queries by CNA, Ms Low said that while she did not make a police report, “multiple police reports” were made on SMOL’s behalf. She added that she had also given a statement to the police in response to these reports.

While the matter was now in the hands of the police, Ms Low said the outlet will not stop displaying the Pride flag, urging other small businesses to “show support for the LGBTQ community in their own ways”.

In SMOL’s Facebook post on Tuesday, Ms Low added that her intention of uploading the video of “homophobic abuse” was “not to dox or to track down the perpetrator, but to highlight the everyday reality that the LGBTQ community experience when most incidents are not even caught on camera”.