Growing up in Singapore, many of us have had private tutors hired by our parents during our school days. Back then, our greatest fears involving them were likely that the tuition wouldn’t help us improve our grades, but local actress Ya Hui had a very different concern when a male tutor she had in secondary school touched her inappropriately, masking it as encouragement.
“Whenever I answered a question correctly, he would touch me here,” the 36-year-old revealed in an interview with 8world, gesturing to the side of her breast.
Ya Hui added that it had happened “quite a few times” and she told her mum then: “Why does he have to touch me there? Because I feel extremely uncomfortable.”
Her mother then replaced the tutor.
She also discussed how, early on in her career, she did not “dare to do anything” when male clients got too touchy with her.
“At big events, the men used to place their hands on my shoulders or on my waist during photo-taking sessions, which was extremely uncomfortable for me,” Ya Hui explained. “If a man respects a woman, he wouldn’t do that unless they were already close friends or colleagues.