Company director Tan Wai Khan, 43, was charged with two counts of assault for slapping Wong Chung Yi, 31, and hitting Lee Dek Kuan, 26, on Jan 12 at Restaurant Steamboat TST in Tropicana Damansara.
Tan and his friend, Ang Mow Loong, also pleaded guilty to another charge of jointly assaulting Kwan Pei Chong, 31, as well as causing public nuisance in the restaurant.
However, Tan denied a charge of committing mischief by smashing plates at the restaurants.
If found guilty for the said charge, he will face a maximum of one-year in jail or fine, or both.
Magistrate Nurshahira Abdul Salim has fixed April 2 as the next mention date.
The court also granted a RM10,000 bail to Tan while Ang was allowed to post a bail of RM4,000. Both men were represented by Suraj Singh while deputy public prosecutor Siti Zubaidah Mahat prosecuted.
The video on the incident, that took place the night before the movement control order (MCO) came into force last Wednesday, sparked fury among Malaysians after it went viral.
It was previously reported that an argument had broken out after a young man was believed to have asked the Datuk and his friends to lower their voices. The two men then slapped the youth before one of them hit the victim’s girlfriend on their way out of the restaurant.
Both men surrendered at the Mutiara Damansara police station last Thursday at 2pm and police obtained a remand order the next day to hold them until Saturday.
Just before the proceedings today, Tan expressed his regret over the incident and apologised to the victims.
“It was a misunderstanding that night, and we were at fault for hitting the youngster. I want to apologise once more to everyone,” he said.
This follows a video released last Monday, in which Tan read a statement in Bahasa Melayu, apologising to the victims and all Malaysians for his actions.
He said he was angry and embarrassed over how he and his friends were asked to lower their voices at the restaurant by someone much younger.
“Things were made worse when my friend thought I was hit by the young man. He then slapped the young man and the fight got worse, after which I slapped the young woman.
“I, Datuk Tan, and on behalf of my friend Ang Lee, want to apologise to the young man and his girlfriend for our actions,” he had said in the video.