Saigon’s coffee-maker market has never witnessed a scandal so riveting.
Last week, Vietnam’s Facebook community was buzzing after a local user uploaded a clip featuring an altercation between a man and a female salesperson in a coffee-making appliance store. In the footage, after a few minutes of conversing, the male customer suddenly slapped the woman in the face, to her astonishment.
Usually the video would be brushed aside as quickly as it surfaced since such incidents are not rare in the local cybersphere. However, some hawk-eyed netizens managed to identify the man in the clip as Vu Khanh, the owner of Khanhcasa Teahouse coffee chain, thus blowing the scandal slightly out of proportions.
The infamous slap. Image via Zing.
According to Zing, the clip might have been filmed around 8pm on August 8 at a shop at District 1’s Saigon Centre. Phuong, a 30-year-old employee of the store, told the news source that the victim was her coworker, Nhi.
“The customer was asking Nhi questions about coffee-making machines. However, some were difficult questions that she couldn’t answer, so she asked for my help,” Phuong shared with Zing in Vietnamese. “However, he didn’t agree to let me consult him. He pointed at Nhi’s face, insulted her and slapped her.”
She also added that having been to the outlet many times before, Khanh is not a stranger at the store.
“Everybody recognizes him [at the store], but he gave a different name when the security guard came to file a report, as if he couldn’t admit to his wrongdoing,” she told the online news outlet.
Local netizens quickly sided with the shopkeepers and lambasted the restaurant owner. Some vowed to shun Khanhcasa Teahouse as an act of protest. A range of reasons were given by commentors, but most agree that slapping a stranger when unprovoked is uncalled for, especially for a person of Khanh’s stature as a successful business owner, reports Zing in a separate post.
“No matter how delicious the tea, cake and coffee are, I won’t support the vulgar action of the owner,” Duy Tuong, a netizen shared.
On Khanh’s side, VietnamNet reports that on August 11, he personally made a call to Nhi to apologize for his action.
“Khanh owned up to this rude actions and called me to apologize,” Nhi told the newspaper. “He said that his temper was bad at the time so he couldn’t stop the reaction. He asked for my forgiveness.”
She also added that she has calmed down from the incident and will go back to work soon.
Lawyer Huynh Phuoc Hiep from the Ho Chi Minh City Lawyer Association explained to Zing that should Nhi decide to press charges, Khanh could be fined up to VND300,000 for physically harming her.
If the victim feels that the violent act also damages her dignity and public reputation, the fine could go up. However, in Hiep’s opinion, Khanh and Nhi’s case isn’t severe enough to warrant a “public humiliation” charge.
Have a closer look at the incident below:
Video via YouTube user Lương Trí Thiện.
