Chia Boon Teck resigns as VP of Law Society of S'pore

Senior lawyer Chia Boon Teck has resigned as the vice president of the Law Society of Singapore.

In a statement on LinkedIn on Mar. 25, the society announced that Chia had resigned from the Law Society of Singapore's council and that its president, Lisa Sam, had accepted his resignation.

The resignation will take effect immediately.

"We thank Mr Chia for his service and contributions during his tenure on Council and wish him well in his future endeavours."

The Law Society did not elaborate on why Chia handed in his resignation.

This comes after Sam called for Chia's resignation in the early morning of Mar. 25.

Sam emphasised that the comments and views in Chai's LinkedIn post were "unacceptable" and the victim's morality should not have been questioned in such a way.

"Such comments and views are also inimical for a person in a position of leadership to espouse," she said.

Comments made

Chia made a LinkedIn post about the conviction of former Wah!Banana actor Lev Panfilov who was found guilty on Mar. 21 on all four charges of molesting, sexually assaulting and raping a woman he met on the dating app Tinder.

Chia questioned the victim's testimony of the rape and made several jabs at the victim.

The post has since been taken down, but screenshots have already been circulated online.

Chia's LinkedIn profile also appears to have been deactivated.

The law society website also does not have Chia's photo up in the executive committee section.

Chia's remarks also drew criticism from Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam.

Shanmugam shared that he was surprised to have read Chia's comments and noted that "shaming and blaming victims step over the line. And misogyny should have no place in our society".

Several other lawyers in Singapore have also urged Chia to explain and apologise for his remarks.

One lawyer who criticised Chia's post was Stefanie Yuen Thio, the joint managing partner of TSMP Law Corporation, who invited Chia "to explain himself to the legal fraternity".

"Absent an acceptable explanation, he should step down from Council of the Law Society," said Yuen Thio in a LinkedIn post.

Lawyer Subramaniam Thirumeni also expressed shock at Chia's comments, adding that they were "not what [he] expect from any lawyer let alone an office bearer in the Law Society" and urged for an explanation.

The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) pointed out that when a senior lawyer mocks a rape victim, it is not just offensive, it's "dangerous".

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Top photo via Chia Wong Chambers/website