A China-born woman described as a “little fairy” online showed her devilish side at SGH in the wee hours of one otherwise peaceful morning

Scolder of nurses, Han Feizi. Illustration: Just So

This post was SOTD’s most-read of 2023

It was widely shared online: A video showing a petulant and defiant woman with a girlish voice filming an investigating officer (IO) asking her questions during a police inquiry. The reel was first shared by the alleged “victim”, a Chinese national who identifies as Han Feizi (韩菲子; some people think it’s not her real name) on China’s social media platform 抖音 (Douyin) last Tuesday. By the next day, the video went viral. Ms Han had gone to the Singapore General Hospital’s A&E department at about two that morning to attend to a foot injury that she initially described as “被压了 (bei ya le or was pressed down)” by a motor vehicle. According to media reports, she arrived at SGH without a mask on. When she was given one to put on, she refused and turned “hostile towards hospital employees”, The Straits Times stated, citing a hospital spokesperson. As one Chinese Netizen commented, “这一下就摸了老虎屁股了”—from that moment, it was like having touched a lion’s backside.

Whether it was really the mask requirement that triggered her temper, Ms Han did not say. Nor did she explain why she would not accede to the nurse’s request and why she chose to be aggressive. Online chatter suggested that she drank too much, but she did not reveal if she was intoxicated that morning. Not, did the police. She, however, claimed to the IO that a nursing staff said she “isn’t a Singaporean.” As such, she was not, as told, eligible for treatment at the hospital, she alleged. She also added that the nurse pointed out: “I have no Singaporean identity (card); she said I have no right to medical treatment in Singapore.” The good ’ol xenophobia card! Ms Han was adamant that that was what was said to her; she insisted to the IO that the nurse in question to be called over and 当面对峙 (dangmian duizhi or for a face-to-face confrontation). She sounded ready to take on the hospital’s assertion—that it was she who behaved badly towards their staff, to the extent that SGH saw it necessary to summon the police.

Han Feizi from a Douyin post. Screen shot: blue&grey/Douyin

A fracas in a public space on the part of a young woman who styles herself as a sexily-clad influencer of sort online is nothing new. But one who stirred up quite a disturbance in a hospital while waiting to be seen by an A&E doctor is yet to receive such public attention and interest (it was a cover story in today’s 新明日报 [xingming ribao], Shin Min Daily News). During the initial investigation, which Ms Han shot and shared, she did not admit to shouting profanities at nursing staff when the IO asked, “你有没有爆粗口 (did you use vulgar words to scold)?” If the police were called in, surely something must have happened? Later, in a separate post on Douyin, she wrote: “没有存在辱骂护士的情况”—there was no situation where a nurse was insulted.” Rather, “是护士不礼貌待人，狠狠反击她而已—it’s the nurse who treated people unmannerly. [I] merely hit back firmly. But, “狠狠 (henhen)” could also mean ‘ferociously’, and in that fierceness, it is possible that insulting/unkind words were used.

But Ms Han was skilled at deflection. When she was repeatedly asked by the IO about the alleged verbal abuse, she refused to address the charges directly. She said, “你问护士啊 (you ask the nurse)”. When she was told that the nurse said yes, her reply: “她觉得有就有呗 (if she feel I did, then be it”. The IO did not give up: “I am asking you”. And Ms Han said, “你随便猜—guess as you please,” going on to taunt the IO (twice), “你愿意猜就猜—if you are willing to guess, guess.” Then she changed the gist of her story. She now wanted to go to the police station as her foot “被车撞了—was hit by a car”. And when that was not availed to her, she took to berating the IO: that she “不是听你在这，一个不知道你什么身份的人，在这乱说—was not there to listen to a person of unknown identity utter rubbish.” Immediately, she stretched her hand out to try to grab the IO’s ID (attached to a lanyard marked “police”, worn around the neck), even screaming at her, and insisted on filming the identification. She was determined to have the upper-hand and be difficult. She refused to cooperate; she would not make it easy for the police officers attending to her.

Showing her injured feet to the investigating officer. Screen shot: singapore_incidents/TikTok

Han Feizi seemed to believe that as long as the police officers were present, they were a one-stop constabulary service. The investigating officer explained to her that they were there to establish the facts about the hospital’s police report of her verbally abusing the nursing staff, and that her traffic accident would be handle by the traffic division. She refused to buy into that clarification. Despite being asked repeatedly if she had verbally abused the nurses, she declined to answer the question directly, even saying, at one point that she will not answer. She insisted that the IO “调监控—examine the security monitor”, even strangely challenging the police: “如果不符事实，你怎么办—if it’s untrue, what are you going to do?” She persisted with asserting that she was the victim and “是我被撞”—it was her who was knocked down. Pushing her luck with the patience of the police, she even told them to “推 (tui)” or push (she probably meant ‘wheel’) her to the police station so that she could file a report against the driver who allegedly ran over her feet. She even said, “我怀疑她是故意杀人—I suspect she intentionally kills people.” Did Ms Han consider herself dead?

One marketing professional who had worked in Shanghai before the pandemic told us that Ms Han’s “demeanour is not at all unusual or shocking in China,” including among those of her generation. They behave as she did “to be in a controlling position,” he said. “And in China, it is not at all astonishing that an individual would raise his/her voice and rebuke government or public servants, or even the police. 骂脏话 (mazanghua)—or cussing—is not considered socially unacceptable even if it shows a lack of manners or breeding. Her telling the investigating officer that she had asked the driver who allegedly ran over her feet for a compensation of $5,000 is also very revealing of the culture she hails from.” A mainland Chinese Netizen commented that in order to understand Ms Han’s behaviour towards the police, you’d have to realise that “在中国，法律是政治的工具，不是人民的保障—in China, the law is used as a political tool, not as guarantee for its people.” While that could be understandable, egotistic arrogance, self-entitlement, and clear misconduct are not easy to accept.

Looking her coquettish best in a Douyin post. Screen shot: blue&grey/Douyin

At this moment, it is not known which part of China Han Feizi is from. On her Douyin page, the IP displays (based on the network location that the user is linked to) Beijing, a city she hashtags often in her posts. It is also unclear when she moved to our city, what brought her here, and what line of work she is in. According to The Straits Times, the police “believe (Ms) Han could have contravened the conditions of her work permit.” It is not stated which work permit (or pass) she holds. Prattle on social media that followed the SGH incident suggested that Ms Han was engaged in an extremely well-paying, but, as some speculated, morally-questionable job. On several of her Douyin posts, she has tagged The Sail @ Marina Bay (although one curiously came with the hashtag #东方美行走在东京街头 or oriental beauty walks on the streets of Tokyo), suggesting that that was her residence, which led to the speculation that Ms Han is wealthy or comes from a moneyed family. Or, is kept. Interestingly, last week, at a condominium “located at Marina Boulevard”, as the authorities also revealed, the police responded to a call that was related to Ms Han. Apparently drunk one night when she returned home, she manhandled a security staff so severely that law enforcement officers had to be called in to contain her unruly behaviour.

Ms Han has 266 thousand followers on Douyin (the higher figure between what seems to be a couple of accounts attributed to her: one main, one secondary), but a mere 606 on TikTok. Despite a relatively modest following on whichever platform, she has been frequently described in the Chinese media as a “网红 (wanghong, Internet sensation) or influencer. And like most of her ilk, she enjoys showing off a lifestyle that is evidently better than most of those who follow her. In about 168 posts so far, she shares her shopping hauls, including in one photo purchases from Valentino, Hermès, and Jimmy Choo, the many and frequent holidays she takes, and the fancy resorts she stays in, usually togged in what might be considered sexy clothes, revealing considerable cleavage. A fitness fan, she shows videos of herself in impressive suspension training, working out with bands, rings, or Möbius hoops, taking on fluid gymnastic forms that augment her sexiness. She lifts weights too, and occasionally golfs, although it is unknown if she is a member of any club.

Ms Han is a fitness enthusiast and appears to be an expert in suspension training. Screen shot: blue&grey/Douyin

In the videos—there were, in fact, two that totalled 11 minutes—of the momentous day, shared on Douyin, Ms Han did not show her face. Only her bare feet were revealed (and the supposed injury—crooked big toes that could be the result of bunions). Her voice, at one time flaring up to a reprimand of the IO, was heard. It is not known if she speaks English at all (on Douyin, she does comment in English and use English hashtags). Ms Han spoke entirely in Mandarin (not a single English word was thrown in), with an accent, as well as inflections, modal particles, and the odd curse phrase that would be associated with Northern China. Although the un-uniformed IO spoke Mandarin to her and was able to stand firm against the recalcitrant’s demands and remain unflustered by the younger woman’s “东拉西扯 (dongla xiche, rambling)”, she was no match for the more fluent and garrulous Ms Han, and was unable to put the latter in her place or even convince her to give a 口供 (kougong, oral statement) or a 笔共 (bigong, written statement), an option not offered. Her plainclothes partner, too, was, barely able to speak sufficient Mandarin to adequately explain to Ms Han the situation she was in and why the police was summoned. The unyielding wanghong had the upper-hand.

But her conduct and attitude was rather the opposite of what Chinese Netizens and fans here call her: 小仙女 (xiaoxiannu) or little fairy (she is not, however, as diminutive as Tinker Bell). On Chinese social media, she has even been described as a “大美女 (dameiren)” or a major beauty. Some were even more specific with regards to her body: “前凸后翘 (qiantu houqiao)—protruding front/perky back”, borne out by the sexy but not too scanty clothes that she is partial to. She often appears dolly in her online photos, with big eyes that Xiaxue would adore and a pronounced chin that looks like the work of an over-enthusiastic surgeon: A sum that screams vixen, in every sense of the word. Or, 美图 (Meitu, the Chinese photo beautification app). In one Douyin post, Han Feizi wrote, referring to Singapore, “不同世界的人 才会相互吸引吧—people from different worlds will attract each other, right?” Hearing her defending herself to the police that fateful morning in SGH, we aren’t so sure of that.

Update (13 October 2023, 21:00): Press reports have emerged that earlier today, Han Feizi was handed six charges, including the use of abusive language against a public servant. The Marina Boulevard incident landed her with three. She appeared via video link to listen to the charges and told the court she would plead guilty and apologise. Bail was set at S$15,000, but she was reportedly unable to find a bailor. She remains in remand until 25 October, her day in court

Update (14 October 2023, 12:00): According to reports in the local Chinese press, Han Feizi’s name is correct in pinyin. But in written Chinese, it is 韩霏紫, not 韩菲子, as was previously thought and used