Activist lawyer M. Ravi has been in the news again as of late. On November 8, the police confirmed that they have initiated investigations against him for an offence of criminal defamation in relation to a Facebook post alleging that lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam had told him that Law Minister K Shanmugam has said he “wields influence over the Chief Justice.”
In the same week, Mr Ravi went on a tirade against Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Lee Suet Fern in a Facebook post published last Wednesday (Nov 4).
He had insinuated that both Lees, who are rumoured to be worth $600 million, are implicit in their partipation in the alleged abuse of power and cronyism associated with the former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his family.
Mr Ravi, who recently in September, praised Suet Fern for her kind soul, now calls her out for hypocrisy. He said, “…I told Suet Fern that she would be seen equally corrupted if she claims her in laws are corrupted (sic) given that she would have benefitted from Lee Kuan Yew’s network.”
Both Hsien Yang and Suet Fern previously accused their sibling Lee Hsien Loong – the current Prime Minister of Singapore – of abusing the organs of state for his own benefit.
Mr Ravi went on to imply that Lee Hsien Yang’s appointment to top positions in SAF and government-linked corporations were due to his connection to the elder Lee.
He also implied that Hsien Yang and Suet Fern’s net worth are the result of “seemingly ill-gotten gains” and that they should “come clean on their total assets own.”
Mr Ravi went on by labelling Suet Fern as a “fake acquaintance” with “fake smiles”. He recounted the past where Suet Fern derided fellow colleague Eugene Thuraisingam for billing clients involved in capital offence cases too low. According to Mr Ravi, Suet Fern allegedly said to Mr Eugene, “you join those Chinatown lawyers if you want to bill so low.”
A different picture of Suet Fern
Mr Ravi berating of Suet Fern painted a different picture of the daughter-in-law of Lee Kuan Yew who just last month was featured on Yahoo! in what was perceived as a public relations campaign to prop up her image.
Suet Fern is currently embroiled in a legal saga where she was found guilty of misconduct by the Law Society in handling Lee Kuan Yew’s last will.
The two-man tribunal appointed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon described Suet Fern as a “deceitful witness, who tailored her evidence to portray herself as an innocent victim who had been maligned”.
This was a “facade”, the tribunal said. “Before us, she lied or became evasive whenever she thought it was to her benefit to lie or evade.”
The Law Society in August this year set out its arguments on why senior lawyer Lee Suet Fern should be disbarred, saying she had been involved in its preparation and execution despite knowing her husband stood to gain from it.
Judgement has been reserved in the case. If Suet Fern were to lose the appeal, she may face a fine, suspension or even be disbarred.
As for Mr Ravi, he ended the post by saying that while he ended the lunch with dignity, he now prefers to eat at home rather than being treated to a meal with seemingly ill gotten gains, and that one should not believe in fake smiles and fake acquaintances – in an indirect stab to both Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Suet Fern.
Ouch.
See Mr Ravi’s full post below:
