Tue. Mar 19th, 2024

TL;DR – “Everybody makes mistakes, maybe I made a bit more”.

The Internet is currently abuzz with how lawyer Edmund Wong Sin Yee indecently defended his client with the way he questioned the molest victim and ogled her in court.

During the trial, Wong had asked the victim to stand up. When the judge asked what he was trying to show, he said, “Your Honour, I want to see… how attractive (she is) when (she) stands up…”

When interrupted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Kong Kuek Foo to ask whether it was his case that only attractive women would get molested in the train, he replied, “If you get an old lady, you think people want to molest her?”

He also used the F-word in court. More here

[media-credit name=”straitstimes.com” link=”http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/molesters-lawyer-acted-indecently-during-trial” align=”aligncenter” width=”780″]ST_20160805_AHXU05_2497091[/media-credit]

Thanks to the Internet’s CSI capabilities, it appears that Wong who was a marketing manager of a multinational company before becoming a lawyer in 1998, had previously been convicted of several things himself, such as road rage, molest and even suspected of running a drug syndicate.

Here’s what we uncovered,

August 1992

He punched a nurse at the Singapore National Eye Centre and insulted the modesty of another woman working at the clinic.

2001

He hit a motorist in the mouth with his mobile phone, and was sentenced to a year in jail after the prosecution said he behaved like a “gangster”. He was also fined S$1,000.

The court heard that Wong had squeezed into the lane of another motorist who then sounded his horn. In the confrontation that ensued, Wong then hit the man and although his car was not damaged, demanded compensation.

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July 2003

He was suspended from practice for two years over the road rage incident.

It gets exciting from here…

September 2005

He was detained without trial for two years under a ministerial order, as he had been accused of being a leader in a drug syndicate that smuggled ketamine from Malaysia to Taiwan and from Malaysia to China through Hong Kong between early 2004 and April 2005. He had allegedly used his former clients as runners and was held under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, a last-resort law used on those whom no one would dare testify against in court.

It is not known when he was released from detention but in 2008, he had lost his appeal against his detention. Wong, who is divorced with two children, was allowed to see immediate family members twice a month.

2006

Wong was given a four-month jail term for drug use. The sentence ran concurrently with his detention.

[media-credit name=”TNP” link=”http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/lawyer-edmond-wong-used-f-word-court” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″]NP_20160806_TMWONG06_1347181[/media-credit]

We don’t know why he hasn’t been disbarred – maybe it’s got to do with his (in)famous philosophy that “Everybody makes mistakes, maybe I made a bit more” – but the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) is currently looking into his conduct.

We certainly can’t wait to see how this unfolds.

 

By AJ

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