Doctors are one of parents’ favourite occupations to push upon their children—no surprise about that, for being one is widely regarded as a well-respected and commendable profession.
However, while doctors may be focused on saving the lives of people in their work, some may be inflicting harm upon others in their downtime.
Which actually can get you banned from your job.
Doctor Banned From Practicing In Singapore
That’s what happened to 36-year-old Clarence Teo Shun Jie, who is now serving three-and-a-half years and two weeks in jail after being sentenced last June to four strokes of the cane and a S$4,000 fine.
The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) struck the former locum, or stand-in-doctor, off the medical register earlier this year in January and released reasons for their decision last week on 4 March.
Mr Teo had assaulted his then-girlfriend Ms Rachel Lim En Hui, now 30, by inflicting violence on her at least thrice when they dated from February to August 2017 after meeting on online dating platform Coffee Meets Bagel.
Four charges against him were brought up by the SMC, including three for each incident of assault and one where he wrongfully restrained her.
Mr Teo had pleaded guilty for his crimes before a disciplinary tribunal, who agreed with SMC’s lawyers that “the standing of the medical profession has been severely impacted by [Teo’s] misconduct” and he should thus be removed from the registry.
Multiple injuries, including a brain haemorrhage, a fracture in her pinky, and multiple facial fractures, were inflicted upon Ms Lim by Mr Teo’s acts. She even had plates and screws inserted into her fractured hand while she was hospitalised for 20 days.
You might have seen it before, but a photo of her badly bruised face was circulating on social media back then, leading to wide public outrage.
Ms Lim also said that she lives in a state of panic which would come for no apparent reason, and constantly feared that Mr Teo might ambush her whenever she went out.
However, after apologising to her on social media, he continued to assault her and threatened to release her nude photos to make her an “Internet sensation”.
Blamed His Alcoholism
The tribunal took this as a lack of remorse as Mr Teo didn’t take steps to apologise to the profession for his actions at an early stage, and did not voluntarily cease practice while waiting for the outcome of his criminal case as a show that he would take responsibility.
“Clearly, there was a defect in his character. His criminal convictions have brought the medical profession into disrepute and his criminal misconduct is fundamentally incompatible with being a doctor,” they added.
Mr Teo also previously attributed the incidents to him being a severe alcoholic back then, who would blackout and do “crazy things” which he would have no recollection of later.
It led him to claim trial against his charges of assaulting and wrongfully confining her in August 2017, which the judge dismissed as there wasn’t enough evidence to show that his intoxication led to his intent to commit the crimes.
Since October 2017, however, he had completely abstained from alcohol. He was praised by the tribunal for taking steps to correct his habits and manage his psychiatric conditions, which would help if he ever decided to reapply for a restoration of his name to the medical registry.
Mr Teo also was ordered to pay for the full cost of the disciplinary proceedings.
What Did He Do?
Mr Teo’s first abuse of Ms Lim happened on 12 March 2017, in his flat. After bringing up her past relationships unprovoked, he yelled at her and punched her in the face.
She tried to break up with him two weeks later, but he aggressively approached her at the void deck where she stayed, punching her and pushing her into his car where he took her to his flat and locked them in his bedroom.
The assault continued and he even poured apple juice on her while the air conditioning was on, only allowing her to leave after several hours.
Ms Lim filed a police report the next day and claimed that earlier that afternoon, Mr Teo had once again called her and threatened to harm her.
Mr Teo’s rage grew and he beat Ms Lim up on 27 Aug, 2017 when they were both in bed but Ms Lim refused to have sex with him, locking her in his room when she tried to escape.
Upon hearing crying sounds and loud bangs occasionally coming from the room, Mr Teo’s father called the police.
Ms Lim was found sitting in the corner of the room when the police broke down the door.
S$10,000 of compensation was made by Mr Teo to Ms Lim for her medical bills after he was convicted.
It must be reiterated again: violence is never excusable, regardless of whatever status you may hold in society.
Feature Image: Doidam 10 / Shutterstock.com
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