Remember Britney Spears and her very public breakdown?
Perhaps, Singapore might have a similar version starring disgraced lawyer M Ravi.
Or at least, that might explain some inexplicable behaviour in public from the suspended lawyer.
M Ravi has made the news once again, this time for slapping a man in public.
Here is what happened.
M Ravi Slapped a Man in Public Near an MRT Station
A couple of days ago, M Ravi (or Ravi Madasamy) was charged in court for his unbecoming behaviour a few days prior.
Why?
On 12 July, M Ravi had apparently slapped a man once on the latter’s left cheek. The victim was Sellvaraja T Muniyandi.
This incident occurred around 5.30 pm outside Yio Chu Kang MRT.
But the transgressions don’t just end there. M Ravi also allegedly was a public nuisance by shouting loudly during the incident.
As such, for these actions, M Ravi was charged in court with one count each of voluntarily causing hurt and behaving in a disorderly manner.
The 54-year-old is due back in court at the end of this month, where he is likely to be handed his verdict and punishments (if found guilty).
In Singapore, the offence of voluntarily causing hurt carries with it the punishment of imprisonment for up to three years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.
For behaving in a disorderly manner in public, the punishment is imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of up to $2,000 or both.
The punishment dished out becomes more severe with each instance offence, so M Ravi may be looking at double that time in jail and/or monetary fine, as he had previously been convicted on similar charges almost a decade ago.
This is M Ravi’s latest brush with the law. Could it be his version of a cry for help?
Since he was called to the bar in 1996, he has been charged with defamation of our Law Minister K Shanmugam in 2020 for his remarks about the latter in an online post.
The charges were ultimately dropped by the Attorney’s General Chambers (AGC) and replaced with a stern warning instead.
However, despite this close shave with the law, M Ravi continued to be outspoken about certain issues.
This ultimately caused him to be suspended from the practice of law for five years due to him making “grave and baseless accusations of improper conduct” against several key legal institutions in Singapore, including the Attorney-General, officers from the AGC as well as the Law Society.