An elderly couple allegedly visited a lion dance troupe's competition venue in Punggol on three occasions on April 6 to harass the members and make provocative remarks.
A video showing a 52-year-old woman engaged in a heated argument with a troupe member who retorted with vulgarities went viral on social media.
Shin Min Daily News reported that Lim Sok Lay, the woman in the video, was the aunt of 27-year-old member Esther Lim.
She told reporters that the two families had cut off contact for about 15 years, and she did not understand why her aunt and uncle visited her.
Ms Lim claimed that when the lion dance troupe arrived at the competition venue in the morning, her uncle showed up and caused a commotion.
"I said I didn't have time for him, and he got upset. He pushed my friend, and bumped into me. Luckily, my friend pulled us apart to avoid a conflict."
She said that her aunt later showed up with her daughter and started to argue with her, hurling vulgarities.
Later, at about 1pm, when the members were moving props, the other party allegedly called her and said: "I'm waiting for you here."
"We were moving props when they suddenly came to me and kept targeting me, so the group members called the police," Ms Lim said.
NamYang Lion Dance Centre Singapore issued a statement on April 7, stating that the trio went down to the competition venue at Punggol and disturbed Ms Lim due to personal matters.
The police were informed of the situation, and they later left.
However, they showed up again three hours later, and continued to harass the member.
They also added that the viral video of the member retorting with vulgarities "does not accurately portray the full context" as it was a response in "self-defense".
"Our member that was then involved in this incident felt deeply apologetic and regretful and admitted that he acted rashly in this situation as he was trying to defend the members," they wrote.
The lion dance troupe also attached a picture of a police report in the post, which wrote that the group was disrupted three times, at about 10.30am, 1.15pm, and 6pm.
A spokesperson for NamYang Lion Dance Centre Singapore told Shin Min Daily News that Ms Lim joined the troupe several years ago, and they have not had any unpleasant encounters with the woman before so they did understand why she visited and disrupted the competition.
The couple had also allegedly disturbed the audience at the competition.
The Chinese daily reported that Fu Yangjun, 27, together with his wife and three children went to watch the game and cheer for their friends, but he noticed the couple filming his children.
"When my friends who came to compete played with my children, they took a video of them together."
"Why did they take a video of my children? It has nothing to do with them," he said.
Mr Fu said he argued with them, and his friend also stepped forward to help, but the couple refused to cooperate. Both parties used vulgarities at each other, and the police were called to the scene again.
This is not the first time Lim Sok Lay and her husband Cheang Eng Hock, 60, have caused trouble in the lion dance community.
They previously poured coffee over a lion dance costume and created a ruckus at a competition at West Coast Community Centre on July 29, 2023.
The infamous couple first made the headlines in 2020 when they harassed their neighbour, who was a hospital nurse, by shouting phrases including "Covid spreader" and "virus family".
