June 04, 2023, 06:01 PM
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A video showing a woman hitting and berating a girl in a tuition centre at Toa Payoh Central went viral recently.
What the video shows
The two minutes and 51 seconds video was sent to Mothership by several readers and was also uploaded by Landy Lee and Miu Tan on Facebook.
According to Lee and Tan, the incident occured at ALT Learning of School Afterschool Care and Tuition.
Image screenshot from Facebook.
It is located at Block 183 Toa Payoh Central, according to the Singapore Businesses website.
The centre goes by Ling English Class and ALT - No 1 Ôn luyện Trường Công lập Singapore dành cho học sinh Việt Nam on Facebook.
Girl berated for lying
A girl could be seen kneeling before a woman in a black short-sleeved top while holding her right hand up to her face.
The woman sat behind a desk and appeared to be grading some assignments.
Warning: The following images and description may be distressing, viewer discretion is advised.
She used a pen to strike the girl three times while berating her in Vietnamese.
According to the subtitles in Lee's video, the woman was telling the girl to put down her right hand and accusing her of lying.
The girl lowered her right hand and responded to the woman in Vietnamese, claiming that she did not lie.
She asked the woman why was she hitting her and asked the latter to stop doing so.
Image screenshot from Landy Lee/Facebook.
Woman used profanities
The woman, seemingly angered by the girl's response, struck her a fourth time, causing the pen to fly out of her hand.
A boy seated behind a table next to the woman picked up the pen and handed it back to her.
The woman continued berating the student and allegedly used profanities.
She struck the girl four more times before the video ended.
Image screenshot from Landy Lee/Facebook.
Individual claims a boy was also abused
After the video went viral, multiple individuals left negative reviews on the ALT - No 1 Ôn luyện Trường Công lập Singapore dành cho học sinh Việt Nam Facebook page.
Most of the reviews were in Vietnamese, where individuals slammed the woman for her behaviour in the video and urged others to boycott the tuition centre.
One of the individuals alleged that another student was abused at the tuition centre in their review.
The individual attached a photo of a WhatsApp conversation with pictures of a boy with injuries on his neck and head.
Image from Mothership reader.
Owner had approval to discipline goddaughter
Speaking to Mothership, the owner of the centre, Bui Thi Xuyen, confirmed that she was the woman seen in the video.
She said the incident happened sometime during the Covid-19 pandemic, but she cannot remember the exact date.
Bui also said that the girl in the video was her goddaughter, whom she has known since the girl was seven years old.
The girl is 14 years old now.
She claimed that she had informed the girl's parents that she will be disciplining her and received their approval prior to the incident.
Girl reportedly went astray
Bui said she was punishing the girl as she had reportedly gone astray, picking up smoking among other things.
She said she felt like it was her responsibility to teach the girl a lesson so that it will deter her from doing the wrong things in future.
According to her, she is still on good terms with the girl and her parents.
With regard to the boy's injuries, Bui claimed that the boy got injured by a door at the tuition centre six months ago.
She said his parents were aware of the incident.
Filed police report
In response to the video, Bui filed a police report on May 31, 2023.
She said the video has affected her reputation, as well as that of her business.
According to the report seen by Mothership, a mother of a former student at Bui's school was allegedly involved in circulating the video on Facebook.
Bui is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with the same person.
The person allegedly withdrew her child from the school without giving notice and asked Bui to refund her the school fees worth S$800.
According to Bui's statement, the person has allegedly been harassing and hounding her for the S$800 refund.
A court order seen by Mothership was issued on May 15, 2023, prohibiting the person from contacting Bui.
Video affected reputation
The police report did not mention when the incident in the video happened or what was Bui's relationship with the girl.
Since the video went viral, Bui has filed another lawsuit against the person for harassment and causing harassment, alarm or distress.
She said she feels really stressed as there are plenty of rumours circulating online, both attacking her and her business.
Top image screenshot from video courtesy of Mothership reader
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