TL;DR – We’re equally confused.
M Ravi is quite a colourful character. Amongst certain circles, he’s known to be a “human rights” lawyer. He was suspended from applying for a practising certificate for two years by a High Court in 2016. That means that he won’t actually be able to practise as a lawyer until 2018 at the earliest. The reason for his suspension is his misconduct, which included:
- Causing a ruckus at the Law Society of Singapore’s (LawSoc) premises
- Making inappropriate statements against the LawSoc president and his family members in a Facebook post
- Making false allegations against two lawyers
M Ravi often posts some rather interesting things on his Facebook. Recently, he put up a series of videos with him speaking to some police officers.
We aren’t sure about the exact context of the video. But from what we can make out, it seemed like some people entered the office of the law firm he works in. It seemed like he called the police, but he felt that the police were negligent in their investigation.
He wants to sue the police
Because he thought that the way the police were negligent in their investigation of his complaint, M Ravi wants to sue the police. He felt that the police shouldn’t have allowed those people from unlawfully entering the law firm’s office. He felt that those people committed criminal trespass and the police allowed the crime to occur. That was enough for M Ravi to want to sue the police.
We can understand that M Ravi’s concerns. The law firm’s office contains important materials, documents, and even money. And M Ravi, as part of the law firm, has a duty to protect the things in the law firm. But we aren’t quite sure whether he has a case if he were to sue the police over the way they investigated his complaint.
He wants to educate the police
At one point in the videos, M Ravi told the police officers that they don’t know the law. He went on to lecture the police officers on the law and legal procedures at various points in the video. Sure, M Ravi has been in the legal profession for a long time. Or, as he said in the video:
“I’m the Head, Knowledge Management and Strategic alliance… I’ve been in practice for 19 years, I’m one of the most senior lawyers in town. In fact when I was in practice, I think everyone knows me. Except you. But it’s fine….”
M Ravi also told the police officers that the way they had approached and communicated with him was wrong. He felt that they didn’t follow the professional “code of conduct” expected of police officers. But he was rather, erm, magnanimous about it. He said he won’t bear grudges, and even went so far as to offer to conduct a course for the police on how to conduct themselves and yes, on “professional communication”.
But maybe not for the lady police officers…
Unfortunately, lady police officers may have to miss the great opportunity to learn from the seemingly very knowledgeable and definitely very experienced (he said so himself!) M Ravi. Because it seems like he doesn’t like women very much. He said so, not us. Here’s the exchange between him and the police officer at the end of the last video:
Police Officer: we are now referring this case to our senior investigator
M Ravi: What’s his name
Police Officer: Ms Adeline Chan
M Ravi: I don’t like women. I don’t want her. I don’t need her investigation. I won’t comply.
So… lady police officers, it seems like you’re going to miss out on a great learning opportunity.
Need a lot of patience to be police officers…
We aren’t sure whether the police managed to sort out whatever was going on. But we must commend them for their patience. We’re not sure at all if we’ll be able to remain as patient as them in a similar situation. It goes to show that our police officers can be professional even when it’s difficult to be. Kudos to them!
(Cover image via)
