To the SSDC Management,
I refer to my recent driving lesson on Friday, 14 of May 2009.
I was in SSDC for my revision lesson as my Traffic Police Test is scheduled for on 21st May, Thursday. I was assigned to car 38 as I did not specify for a fixed instructor. Instructor Tan JC, ID 5901 (as according to his instructor stamp) was my instructor for the day.
I am a student enrolled with Singapore Safety Driving School for the Class 3 lesson course since October 2008 and I have had a great experience with your driving instructors up to now. SSDC has been the best learning ground for me to learn my Class 3 driving lessons and I have even persuaded 3 of my female friends to join me at SSDC. However, with the bad experience I have had with Instructor Tan on Friday, I must say that I was forced to reconsider my decision to join SSDC and to even ask my female friends to enrol.
The lesson started off rather smoothly with regular small talk such as "If I was schooling still" and "Where would I usually hang out" etc to break the ice. But as the lesson progressed, I realized that Instructor Tan's language had became increasingly flowery, peppered with compliments for me. His language was very flirtatious which led me to ask him "Do you usually talk this way?" and he told me that he speaks this way to females only. And his compliments were about how nice my eyes were, my guy friends must treat me like a gem as I am very special, and he even went to the extent of asking me "Has anyone ever told you that you were very adorable?". The conversation I had with him made me feel as if he had harrassed me verbally and left me very emotionally disturbed.
In addition to this, he even went to the extent of turning his body to lean against the passenger seat window and started staring at me. This prompted me to ask him, "Are you looking at me?". He replied in a disregarding manner, "Yes. But at least I am honest, unlike other instructors who look and don't tell you." I was extremely furious and disgusted which led me to reply "You are very shameless. Stop it.", which Instructor Tan replied "Some girls like to be admired, I didn't know you didn't. I said I did not like it and asked for him to stop. I felt very vulnerable and suffocated while in the car with him and this was the final straw for me. Is it even acceptable for an instructor in your school to behave this way towards female trainees with unwarranted comments and staring? Would you allow your spouse or daughter to be "admired" this way in such a close proximity by a stranger?
Within the duration of the lesson, Instructor Tan had made me feel very uncomfortable, unhappy and even disgusted, a first that I have ever experienced in my driving lessons. I have conveyed this experience to my boyfriend and family who are too very unhappy with the experience that I have been put through.
I must refer this matter to you, as I am extremely sure that this is not how you train your instructors to be. If this is the amount of leeway that you give to them to talk to their students, I must feedback that it has been a horrifying, if not, disturbing lesson for me.?I must emphasize that I was covered up that day, donning a oversized round neck button down top and long pants, therefore I do not think that any part of my dressing had attracted unneeded attention.
I did not manage to drive to my usual abilities as I felt very traumatized by Instructor Tan. With the $72-$80 that we students pay for each lesson, would this be the quality of learning that we receive? With all personal grievances aside, an instructor should never leave his attention from the road as we are still under learning. With his behaviour, I highly doubt that he is performing his duty as an instructor.
However, with all due respect, I must comment on instructors who have been the best teachers for me, especially Instructor Larry Lee W M - ID 5488, Tan C K, - ID 5494, and Suffian - ID 5917. Three of them especially have been the greatest help to me, being extremely patient towards me even to the extent of letting me try courses in the circuit after the bell has rang which concludes the end of each lesson. They are the perfect examples of how to be friendly without stepping over the boundries which Instructor Tan needs to learn from, and they are the instructors who make SSDC a premium choice for aspiring drivers like me.
The lesson on 14th May left me feeling disturbed, traumatized and emotionally sexually-harrassed even though he did not have any physical contact with me. But his words and staring have left a deep impact on me. I seek for SSDC Management to handle this in the best way you deem fit as I would hate to imagine the other female learners to be put through what I have gone through.
I hope that you will take appropriate action towards this matter and treat my identity with the utmost confidentiality without revealing my identity while you speak to Instructor Tan. However, I need to save a copy of this email for my personal record in case of any police action required.
I await your reply, thank you for your utmost attention.
Wong Kai Ling
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