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They should have referred the matter to the police immediately since it is a criminal case. The police could have deal with it better and interview the girl.
Now that the girl is gone..so sad. There is no one who can stand against this bastard.
Now that the girl is gone..so sad. There is no one who can stand against this bastard.
SINGAPORE - As A lecturer at the school, it was his duty to help students. But one of the students that he helped claimed that he molested her.
The school then initiated an investigation but he resigned before it could be completed.
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The student later killed herself.
But he went on to teach at a private school.
A Member of Parliament (MP) has called the teacher a bad role model and that he should not be allowed to teach in any school registered with Ministry of Education (MOE).
The alleged incident happened last year when Mr Michael Tay Jau Jen, 36, was teaching at ITE College East at Simei Avenue.
One of his students, Chiu Ka Ying, 16, claimed he had molested her.
ITE's investigation report said the allegation could not be confirmed as there were no witnesses but it found that Mr Tay had behaved unprofessionally.
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» My school counsellor molested me
He quit on Aug 8 last year citing the investigation and family problems as reasons.
About a month later, on Sept 6, Ka Ying jumped to her death from a building at her school.
On Monday, the state coroner said she had jumped with the intention of taking her life. It was revealed that just five days before her death, in an examination at the Institute of Mental Health, she said she had been molested by her lecturer and kept having flashbacks of the incident.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education, Mr Lim Biow Chuan, told The New Paper that what Mr Tay had done was improper and unacceptable as he had abused his position of trust.
He said: "If indeed he had breached the school's code of conduct, the school ought to record his misdemeanour and report the matter to Ministry of Education.
"In such a case, I would strongly urge MOE to ban him from teaching in any MOE-registered institution."
Asked if Mr Tay should be allowed near teenagers or teach them, Mr Lim said: "I would be slow to condemn him without giving him a chance to defend himself.
"But if indeed he has done wrong, then I agree that he should not be allowed to teach as he is not the right role model."
He said that the adverse publicity would help caution other vulnerable students.
"In addition, parents should also monitor their children and advise them to be careful about such behaviour," said Mr Lim.
Mr Tay had told police investigators the sexual intimacy between him and Ka Ying was "purely consensual".
Private school
The New Paper learnt that he was teaching at a private institution that prepares foreign students for O-level and A-level exams.
When TNP went to one of its branches on Tuesday, employees said Mr Tay usually had classes in the mornings. They said he also gave tuition in physics at another branch.
But when TNP contacted the private school again on Wednesday, it declined to comment on Mr Tay and said that "he's no longer with us".
Checks on the school's list of teachers on its website last night, however, which was last updated on July 24, showed that Mr Tay was a full-time teacher there.
According to the website, he graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Science with a Diploma in Education. He also has a Masters in Counselling from Monash University in Australia.
TNP visited Mr Tay's home on Monday and Tuesday but no one came to the door. Repeated calls to his home numbers went unanswered.
Neighbours said a couple in their 30s live there with an elderly couple. They also claimed that he has a Vietnamese wife.
TNP understands that he left Singapore on Thursday morning and went to Vietnam.
In an e-mail reply to TNP, ITE College East principal Eden Liew said Mr Tay was employed by ITE as a contract lecturer, not a counsellor.
However, Mr Tay was described as an ex-counsellor in the coroner's inquiry.
Mr Liew said: "There was inconclusive evidence that the incident had taken place but we noted that Mr Tay should not have attempted to counsel the student in a closed room alone."
Allowed to resign
He said Mr Tay was able to resign from ITE because "there was no disciplinary action against him pending at the time".
He said ITE staff are informed of the guidelines on appropriate conduct and are made aware of the consequences of misconduct.
When TNP asked MOE why Mr Tay was allowed to continue teaching after Ka Ying's suicide, it replied: "MOE expects all educators to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the standards of the teaching profession, including educators at ITE.
"ITE will take disciplinary action if there is any evidence that its staff has behaved inappropriately."
The Council for Private Education said private education institutions can be directed by the council to stop the deployment of a teacher if they have been convicted of any offence involving sexual embarrassment, child, physical or drug abuse, or fraud and dishonesty.
