TL;DR – Nightmare before Chinese New Year.
About 30 minutes into a pre-Chinese New Year celebration with friends, Stephanie Chu’s tempered glass dining table top “exploded” and shattered into pieces without warning
Devastated and traumatised by the turn of events, homeowner and host of the party took to her Facebook on Monday (20 Jan) to recount her story in a now-viral Facebook post:
“My friends and I were having steamboat at my place. About 30 minutes into the dinner, my dining table “EXPLODED” and the entire tempered glass top shattered into pieces. Now, steamboat lovers would know the potential devastation when a hotpot pot were to be toppled/spilled over. Now x10 of the damage because of the sudden shatter with glass flying everywhere.”
According to Chu, the unfortunate incident left her and her friends shellshocked as there were glass shards and hot soup everywhere.
Chu and her guests were later taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital where she received treatment for her second-degree burns, while her the rest of her friends were also treated for their injuries.
In her post, Chu wrote:
“I understand that there is a potential possibility of thermal stress that may occur on a tempered glass even though it is supposed to be tough, with 15mm of thickness. With no right or wrong answer to how much heat and duration will cause a tempered glass from shattering, we were unfortunate enough to experience this traumatic experience.”
Aside from physical injuries caused by the explosion, Chu also listed out the damages she suffered.
“Damage occurred:
1. New kitchenware
2. Lots of injury (blood spilt everywhere)
3. A&E medical attention + follow up appointments
4. Blood stain on wall and sofa
5. Blood seeping into grout (have to dig out and reapply grout as there is no way we can clean it)
6. Food ”
Chu revealed that she had contacted Comfort Design, the furniture company which sold her the table, for compensation.
Although the company had offered her a brand new laminated tabletop as a replacement, however, it wasn’t what she was looking for. She felt that the company could have at least covered their medical bills and repair costs.
While the incident has left Chu worried about the safety of the table, she was thankful that it did not occur during Chinese New Year, with younger children and elderly around the table. And she hopes that her story will serve as a warning to others, especially those with tempered glass table tops.
You can read her full post below: