SINGAPORE, March 22 — Singaporean actor and presenter Suhaimi Yusof has issued a public apology amid controversy surrounding allegations that he acted disrespectfully toward a worker at a Ramadan bazaar stall recently.

The 53-year-old today took to his personal social media accounts to share a five-and-a-half-minute apology video, detailing his account of the incident.

What happened

On Wednesday, Mr Sheik Mohammad, who owns the drinks stall Sizzlers by Bismi Biryani, published a TikTok video calling out Mr Suhaimi for "causing chaos” at his shop in Bazar Raya Utara located at Admiralty.

He did not reveal the exact details on when the incident took place.

Speaking in Malay, Mr Sheik claimed that the entertainer had cut to the front of a snaking queue and told his mother that he wished to give alms to the stall’s customers in the form of drinks. Mr Suhaimi then supposedly offered to pay S$50 (RM175).

Upon agreeing to it, Mr Sheik said that he began giving away drinks randomly to the customers but was then stopped by Mr Suhaimi who said that he wanted to let the customers choose the drinks they wanted.

"You want to let the customers choose? Why don’t you open up your own shop?” Mr Sheik asked in his video.

Mr Sheik went on to claim that when the situation became chaotic, Mr Suhaimi allegedly called his mother and workers "blur” and "stupid”, and even insulted one of the staff members for having tattoos.

The business owner then questioned if Mr Suhaimi was merely putting on a show of generosity since the artiste had turned up with a crew of cameramen.

Mr Sheik said: "That’s not giving alms. Giving alms should be done in secret.”

He went on to accuse Mr Suhaimi of not having manners and urged him to become a better role model for his family.

Suhaimi’s response

In response to Mr Sheik’s accusations, Mr Suhaimi offered an apology on social media two days later, writing: "With humility, I would like to ask for forgiveness from the stall owner, his family, staff members as well as customers who were affected by the incident caused by my miscommunication.”

He added: "I really hope that my apology can be accepted as I am also a human being who errs.”

In his video, Mr Suhaimi acknowledged that Sizzlers had the right to be angry over what occurred.

The actor explained that he had completed a shoot that day and came up with the spontaneous idea to drop by the Admiralty bazaar with the filming crew to help promote the businesses there.

Mr Suhaimi had been hired to host the launch event for the bazaar the week before this.

When he arrived at the venue, Mr Suhaimi said that the long queue at Sizzlers caught his eye.

He then approached the woman who was serving the customers, presumably Mr Sheik’s mother, to ask if he could film with them.

He claimed that he offered to pay S$50 worth of drinks for the customers, which the woman said would get him about 14 drinks.

"I think it was at this point that the miscommunication started because the stall owner said that there are big cups and small cups. Turns out there was also a promotion of ‘buy 10, get two free’ and ‘buy 5, get one free’. I wasn’t aware of that,” he continued.

He also admitted fault in approaching the stall during a busy period and requesting to film out of the blue, adding that he failed to "explain the plan” properly to them.

On the allegation that he called Sizzler’s workers "stupid”, Mr Suhaimi said that he has never used the word against elders but expressed regret that he may have inadvertently said such words in the midst of the chaos.

Appearing to hold back tears, Mr Suhaimi said: "I am very sorry to makcik (Mr Sheik’s mother) for hurting your feelings. I am willing to admit that mistake.”

He went on to apologise to the customers who may have been taken aback by the incident that day.

"Although the initial intention was to promote the stalls there, I made a mistake,” he said, before apologising again to Sizzler’s owners and offering to compensate them for the incident.

TODAY has reached out to both parties for comment. — TODAY