Lawyer M Ravi seeks second opinion
(24 July at 1pm: CORRECTION: M Ravi went to hospital to seek a second opinion on his condition. At this time, we are unable to confirm whether or not he was warded.
On Monday, Ravi's colleague Louis Joseph served a letter of demand on the Law Society of Singapore and lawyer Wong Siew Hong, seeking compensation for defamation and a public apology.
This after Wong appeared in court last week with a letter that stated Ravi was medically unfit to practise. The Law Society and Wong have been given seven days to respond.)
Human rights lawyer M Ravi danced, prayed, and made numerous accusations peppered with expletives during a two-hour “party” at Hong Lim Park on Sunday afternoon.
Heavily made-up, barefoot and wearing jeans with a black t-shirt as well as an ornate gold belt, scarves, and flower garlands, Mr Ravi danced three Indian traditional dances that involved him kneeling on the ground, lying prostrate on a small stage, and embracing a nearby tree.
At one point, the 43-year-old flung an orange flower garland into the air and attempted to slice it with a fake silver sword in front of an audience of about 30 people, made up mostly of several supporters, Bangladeshi workers and journalists.
Ravi, who suffers from bipolar disorder, a condition of severe mood swings, had invited the media to his Speakers’ Corner “party” to, amongst other things, demonstrate against the Law Society of Singapore, with whom he had a highly publicized run-in last week.
Last week in court, Law Society representative Wong Siew Hong had attempted to prevent Ravi from acting for his client, Mdm Vellama Marie Muthu, on the grounds that Ravi had suffered a “manic relapse” from bipolar disorder and was therefore professionally unfit to practice.
Wong’s request was thrown out by presiding judge Justice Philip Pillai, who called his intrusion “unprecedented” and said that if Ravi had a valid certificate, he was free to act in Court.
Ravi then said he would also be filing a complaint with the Singapore Medical Council against his doctor Dr Calvin Fones, who had submitted his medical records to the Law Society, and said that his behaviour had been “slightly ignorant”.
In an interview with Singapore blog publichouse.sg after the complaint, Ravi assured the public that he was feeling “a little stressed” but fine.
On Sunday, Ravi said that he would be suing Wong and the Society on Monday for an apology and for damages against his reputation that will “exceed hundreds thousands of dollars, or millions” because he had a “huge reputation internationally”.
Calling Wong a “cow dung lawyer from Law Society” who had “sh*t in his pants”, he said that he would “forgive but will never forget”.
Ravi also launched into several other bizarre rants, reserving choice words for several prominent politicians and the Law Society.
“I come from a generation of samurais, 369,” said Ravi, before challenging former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to meet him “one-on-one”, “go fly kite” and telling the 30-member crowd to “stand up for Singapore.”
He also expressed his anger with opposition politicians, calling Workers Party’s Low Thia Kiang, Sylvia Lim, and Chen Show Mao “cow dungs” for what he said was their “lack of support” for his client, Mdm Vellama Marie Muthu.
Ravi is representing Muthu in her campaign for the Court to declare that the Prime Minister does not have unfettered discretion in deciding when to call by-elections.
Ravi's talk at the Speakers Corner started at about 3pm and finished shortly after 5pm, despite an earlier media invite stating it would go on until 8pm. Most of his time was spent talking about his history and childhood.
Claiming to be from a secret society called “Jalan Kayu 369”, Ravi told the audience he had a Taiwanese father who looked like notorious Hong Kong pop star Edison Chen before ranting about abusive Indian fathers and the suffering of his late mother, whom he credits as his inspiration.
He also peppered his speeches with strange statements, announcing at one point that “Hot is cold, cold is hot, Yin is Yang, and I look young – that is why Hallelujah and Praise the Lord”, eliciting strange looks from curious passers-by.
Ravi also spoke of his intention to “return to New York” where there are “vampires in the Empire State Building”.
When reporters asked about his mental condition at the end of his talk, Ravi asserted that he was “fine”, calling the media “stupid” for raising the issue and refused to take any more questions.
It is not the first time the prominent lawyer has lashed out at the media. In 2010, Ravi called a press conference to defend his comments over a criminal case, but ended up smashing a glass, spewing vulgarities and yelling at journalists to leave his office.
