my ah pek tutor is the best! is he?

The below article is copied from the new paper today. a lesson that shouldn't be taken lightly.

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Inspiring teacher. Religious man. Sexual predator.

To strangers, Singaporean private tutor Leow Thiam Heng, 62, looked like an "Ah Pek" (heartland uncle). He was often in slippers, spoke broken English and cracked Hokkien jokes.

Hardly your image of a teacher.

but to many of his students, he was a caring, commited and inspiring teacher.

The private tutor did have a talent for maths, physics and chemistry, which he made easy for his students.

But, good as he was with numbers and formulae, Leow miscalculated when he thought he could get away with molesting his students.

He betrayed his students' trust and took advantage of teenage girls.

Leow had been found guilty of molesting two of his students in February this year after a three-week trial.

He had his appeal in the High Court dismissed last Friday. He will have to spend two years in jail.

POPULAR TEACHER

For over 20 years, his tuition centre - now at Peace Centre - had been popular among students.

A tutor since 1964, he was the man behind the centre's success, though some of his family members helped out.

He said he must have taught over 7,000 students over two decades.

Students fondly called him "Ah Leow" and during the weekends, his classes were often filled to capacity, with over 40 students in each class.

He was popular, funny and friendly, said his students.

But his sordid side was kept well hidden from most of them.

Leow molested two secondary school girls, aged 14 and 15, in two separate incidents in mid-2004. They cannot be named as they are victims of a sexual offence.

The first victim, a Secondary 4 student, had attended classes two days a week, for four hours each time. She went to the centre for maths, physics and chemistry tuition.

On 4 Jul that year, after her class ended around 6pm, Leow asked her to stay behind.

CHICKEN POX RUSE

She guessed he was going to give her cream for her face as he had done before. It was to help heal her chicken pox scars, he had told her.

She said Leow waited for everyone to leave before taking out the cream from the refrigerator.

He asked her to lie down on a sofa and applied the cream on her face.

Then he went to the fridge and returned with a bottle with a nozzle.

He asked her to lie down, and he lifted up her shirt and applied the cream on her stomach.

She said he continued rubbing his palms on her body, and moved upwards. He even pushed her bra up and started rubbing her breastes, and back down to her stomach.

She was too shocked to resist him.

Her parents noticed that she was quiet after picking her up and when she got home, the girl cried and told her mother everything.

The second victim was only 14 when Leow used the same ruse on her.

On 25 Jun 2004, Leow molested her while her two friends waited outside.

He even told her to shave her pubic hair in order to study better, she said.

He warned her not to tell anyone about the incident. But the girl told her friends and, after consulting a former tutor and her father, she made a police report.

Leow, who is married, with grown up children, accused the two girls of conspiring to frame him.

He claimed they had tried to extort money from him as they knew he owned private properties and shares.

But his statements to the police were inconsistent. This, he claimed, was because he had been shouted at and he couldn't understand English well.

District Judge Toh Yung Cheong did not believe him and gfound the two victims' testimonies to be credible and consistent.

Leow appealed against his decision.

In the High Court, Leow's lawyer, Ms Melanie Ho, from Harry Elias Partnership, argued that even if Leow did touch the girls, he did not touch their breasts and private parts, but massged only the waist area.

She presented testimonies about his character, from both his present and former students.

She said the accused was also a religious person who had been to Thailand and Myanmar for monastic training.

He also gave generously to charities, like the NKF, and Buddhist temples, she added.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hay Hung Chun argued that both victims did not know each other before the case and had no reason to frame him.

He said it was Leow who offered $20,000 to compound the offences. The victims did not ask him for money.

CUNNING

He added that Leow had abused his students' trust and "there was pre-meditation and cunning on (his) part".

"These acts were not fleeting or momentary intrusions but lasted for a few minutes," he said.

High Court judge V K Rajah dismissed Leow's appeal saying: "Once tuition teachers do silly things to their charges, it's no point nuancing the charges and what part he touched or did not touch."
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a SHAME to the tutor world. me, as a tutor, is so ashamed of him. a 'caring and pious' wolf in disguise. for female students who are having male tutors, try not to accept requests that allow the male tutor to be with you alone. if there is really a need to, eg. your parents aren't at home, and things really happened, SHOUT! SHOUT OUT LOUD! HIT HIM!!! from my point of view, the male tutor will be frozen in his path and will not dare to do anything further. in most cases, he will ask you to stop screaming and hitting him. he will beg you to not tell this to anyone even. promise him that you will not tell anyone and stop screaming and hitting him. he will most probably have to believe in you and run away as fast as he can. BUT! when your parents come home, TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED!!! the reason for promising him not to tell anyone is to lower his guard against you. you never know... some crazy dudes might even try to kill you in desperation. its always wise to not drive him crazy and do the necessary things when he is not around.