HUIXIAN

THE Tampines Rovers Football Club's director of operations is no stranger to controversy.

Yesterday, R Vengadasalam, better known as Venga, was in court for two charges of causing hurt.

The court was told that the complainants had agreed to compound the matter.


Venga was then given a discharge amounting to an acquittal.

If convicted, he could have been jailed for up to a year and fined $1,000 for each charge of causing hurt.

LOW PROFILE

Now the colourful football personality just wants to keep a low-profile.

Venga was in the news when a fight broke out at his Lucky Plaza pub on 16 Jul last year.

He was said to have punched a patron in the face and head-butted another outside the pub.

Sounding unusually subdued, he told The New Paper in a phone interview yesterday that the incident has 'taught me a good lesson'.

He said: 'It was not a massive brawl. It lasted about 8 to 10 seconds. But a person like me should not be involved in the slightest melee.

NO MORE TROUBLE

'I don't mind football controversy, but I don't want any more personal trouble.'

He said business at his pub had been badly affected by the fight.

He said: 'The pub closed down three months ago. No one dared to go there after the fight. My other businesses have also closed down because I've got such a bad reputation. It's hard to carry on.'

He said he is now helping a friend manage his pub to 'earn some pocket money'.

And he is eager to put the past behind him.

His voice cracking, he said the few months after the fight had been hard on his family.

He said: 'Everyone knew about it when I came out of the police station. And the day that I was charged, the media also reported it.'

He said he is used to people stopping him to chat about football.

But he said strangers have had no qualms stopping him to ask about the incident.

He recalled: 'I'll be at the traffic junction and people would wind down their car windows and ask me, How's the fight case going?'

He said he is thankful for his 'football supporters', including his bosses, who have stood by him.

He said he will focus on mentoring young players and advising them not to get into trouble.

He said: 'I don't want to be a hero, I just want to be part of the supporting cast.'

He paused, then repeated one of his quotes from 1998: 'Controversy courts Venga.'