"What are you lookin’ at?” – a phrase that, perhaps more than any other, is a sure-fire precursor to violence.

One Phnom Penh man, coming back to his Por Sen Chey district home from a dance party on Tuesday night, had the temerity to ask that very question to four men staring him down.

One thing led to another, and unsurprisingly, the four men produced sticks, bricks and stones and started pummelling the partygoer.

His cries drew bystanders, who managed to turn the four over to police. RASMEI KAMPUCHEA