I was working for Samuel Seow Law Corporation when its founder and managing director assaulted female staff members in his office last year. When videos of the incident surfaced a few days ago, my phone was on fire. A few sensationalists were fishing for gossip (wrong number, guys), but the majority had an actual desire to talk. For the first time, I couldn’t answer everyone who contacted me in time. That’s why I wrote this post.
Working at Samuel Seow Law Corporation has made for a tumultuous year of public drama, workplace abuse and promises of reform. If this were a screenplay, it would be rejected as too hyphy. But life writes the most hysterical stories.
The abuse of Samuel Seow, the founder and managing director, was first reported just over a year ago, albeit without video footage at the time. The many on social media had a field day. The abuse victims less so, but after a while the media attention died down. But it has flared up again now that we can see what happened back then.
The Workplace
I started working for Samuel Seow Law Corporation as a consultant in early 2017. To say I loved it would be an exaggeration, but the consultancy constellation was a good deal for me, and the colleagues were nice. Some of them have become friends. The staff (not me) called Samuel boss. It was a 老板 thing that didn’t resonate with me, but it wasn’t a problem. Indeed Samuel and I got on well. On a good day he could be a hoot.
But as it turned out, his temper often made it unpleasant to be in his presence. Tantrums were common and some days were worse than others. However, there were people he would not shout at, such as his senior secretary, the COO, or myself. We made several attempts to talk some sense into him, but to no avail.
When I saw no change for the better in the medium term, I decided to put distance between me and Samuel and work from home. Fortunately, my independent position allowed me to do this, except when I had to meet a client or collect my monthly cheque. Most of my less privileged colleagues left when their personal tolerance reserves were exhausted. There were successors who also came, saw and left. And so on. In fact, at Samuel Seow Law Corporation, personal assistants, accountants and lawyers were transitory items.
The Abuse
I wasn’t in the office on that fateful day in April 2018, when Samuel not only threw a tantrum, but became physically abusive towards female colleagues. One of them filed a police report and complained to the Law Society. An audio tape of the incident was leaked to the public and a veritable shitstorm descended on Samuel. If you were in Singapore at the time, there’s no way you didn’t at least hear about it, if not more. I chose not to listen to the tape at the time. Instead I listened to my colleagues who were there.
I also listened to Samuel when I confronted him about the incident.
Why I Stayed
Samuel was devastated and shell-shocked by the media frenzy, social media to be precise. He seemed wrecked by the experience and remorseful. More importantly for me, he seemed to understand that he had to make a drastic change, the hardest change for most of us to make: a real, lasting change in behaviour.
I’m not saying that Samuel is a narcissist or anything like that. It’s not for me to diagnose anyone. All I saw last year was a man who had hurt people around him. Now he seemed to want to make amends. When I saw that repentance, I decided to stay and help if I could.
It also appeared that Samuel had succeeded, albeit in his own name. The police report and the Law Society complaint were withdrawn, and some of those involved issued a joint press release. Restoration of peace, if you like.
I’m not naïve enough to think that there were no benefits. I also saw that Samuel was actively working to repair his reputation, for example by getting friendly coverage in 8 Days magazine. But all in all, I hoped that Samuel was on the right track.
Now I know that was a mistake.
Why I Left
Full disclosure: I have more than one reason for severing my ties with Samuel.
To begin with, it didn’t help that Samuel Seow Law Corporation, under Samuel’s management, botched the renewal of my foreign practitioner registration. This registration is my equivalent of a local lawyer’s practising certificate. I need it because I practise law for a living. It has to be renewed every year, but unfortunately I can’t apply for it myself. A foreign lawyer must apply for the renewal of his registration together with the law firm for which he works.
Nor did it help that Samuel had stopped paying my salary. By the end of April this year, he hadn’t paid my salary for March and a substantial part of my salary for February. Livelihood, as I said, so on a Friday afternoon I filed a small lawsuit against Samuel Seow Law Corporation. Coincidentally, it was the day after the video leak. By the following Monday, the cheques were ready. After they cleared, I withdrew my lawsuit. I got my money, but I was not happy that it had come to this.
But yes, the last straw was the videos.
The Video Footage
Again, if you’re in Singapore these days, there’s no way you haven’t heard about or even seen the two office CCTV videos showing Samuel in full attack mode. Like the audio tape a year ago, they were released by an unknown person. The first and shorter video, running for about a minute, shows Samuel slapping a female colleague in the face and shoving and verbally abusing her. The second, longer video, running for over six minutes, shows Samuel chasing, pushing and punching another colleague. In this video, he also pushes a third colleague so hard that she falls to the floor.
I have watched these videos. The shorter one has no sound, but the longer one is exactly the same as last year’s tape. Now I’ve listened to the relevant parts. All that shouting.
The videos are not for the faint of heart, especially if you know the people in them. They clearly show criminality and breaches of the rules of professional conduct for lawyers. They also show intolerable cowardice and misogyny. A burly man bullies three petite women – but doesn’t do anything about the male colleague who keeps grabbing him and trying to pull him aside until he pushes him again.
The Admission of Fault in Small Slices
To be honest, I hadn’t imagined Samuel’s assaults to be so vehement. I had imagined him sitting or standing behind his desk most of the time. But despite the disturbing footage, I told myself not to get carried away. As ugly as the videos are, they show something over which the parties involved are no longer in dispute. The incident happened a year ago, and Samuel and the ladies are said to have settled the matter. No disciplinary action for professional misconduct has yet been taken [update 1, update 2]. Nor has the police investigation led to Samuel being brought before the courts [update 1, update 2].
That’s when I realised that Samuel was lying.
A year ago he admitted only part of what happened in the second video. What’s there to deny anyway – the tape was out there and it spoke volumes. But he denied pushing the colleague to the floor when she told him off, a moment that wasn’t on the tape. He also denied assaulting the other colleague, which wasn’t on the tape either. There was no evidence of these assaults at the time. Such evidence has only now emerged.
In short, Samuel only admitted what couldn’t be denied. The rest he denied.
That was it for me. I could no longer believe in the sincerity of his desire to change, if there ever was one. The first step would have been to admit the wrong he had done. Everything, without exception.
All the activities of the past year, aimed at restoring Samuel’s reputation, now seem to shine in a different light, in the light of selfishness. In retrospect, it’s so clear.
The media attention has died down, at least the big wave. My phone has cooled down a bit.
I work elsewhere now.
To a Quick Recovery and Return to Good Health
I’ve come to know Samuel as an emotionally disturbed man. I hope he’ll get the help he needs to get better.
Above all, I hope that victims of workplace abuse everywhere will find peace, tranquillity and happiness. May they have the strength and patience to overcome. Time is a bitch, but it is a healer.
sisy tan
do u know what happened to him now?
Patorikku
As far as I’ve read in the news Samuel was charged in court for certain criminal offences and referred to a disciplinary tribunal and then to the Court of Three Judges (the highest disciplinary body for lawyers in Singapore) for improper professional conduct.
I don’t know for sure, but I believe each of these proceedings is pending.
Robin Tang
What’s the latest outcome the 3 judges?
Patorikku
I believe the matter is still pending.