After six days of silence since an exposé on Kenny Leck’s alleged romantic advances towards his young female employees went viral, his ex-wife, Ms Renée Ting, has spoken up.

She took to Facebook on Thursday, 30 September, to express how she felt over the saga and explained that she felt like “people are talking around us, but no one is really talking to us”.

The Saga

If you have been following up with this saga, you would have known that Ms Ting, as well as several other young women who worked at BooksActually have complained about Leck making romantic advances towards them in the exposé published by Rice Media, even when he was married to Ms Ting.

Other than being in an unprofessional working environment, they also complained about having to work long hours without breaks and being paid very little. There were even times where their pay was delayed.

Ms Ting revealed that she started working for Leck when she was just 19 years old in 2011. She initially saw him as a mentor, but later entered a romantic relationship with him that lasted six years.

During these six years, Ms Ting devoted herself to the store and didn’t get paid because she knew that Leck was going through some financial difficulties. She also barely got any days off during the entire time she worked there.

Speaking Up About the Saga

Ms Ting wrote in her post that six days was “hardly enough time for anyone to process something as large, difficult, overwhelming, emotional and heavy as this”. She, too, found it difficult and referred to herself as “Slowpoke Antonio”, a character from the Tom and Jerry Kids cartoon.

She felt that instead of asking all the women who were affected how they felt about the situation and whether they were okay, many people were more eager to focus on other less important factors in this saga like how the situation would pan out now.

She wrote: “It feels like we finally worked up the courage to tell a friend about something traumatic that happened to us so many years ago, and the friend’s first reaction is, ‘Oh, shit. How does this affect me?

“Where do I stand in all of this? This person and place are so important and have helped me and so many other people. This person is my friend too. How can we help him? How can we help him be better? Okay, yes I know you’re hurting but let’s not focus on that. How do we move forward? How do we move forward? How do we move forward?”

Others Are Afraid to Speak Up

Ms Ting also shared that after the exposé was written, many reached out to her to tell her about similar experiences they have faced in their workplace and lives.

They revealed that they did not speak up about these instances for fear that no one would listen. To them, it felt like “the world is so loud and our voices feel so small”.

In her post, she urged the public to show more support to victims who share their experiences as it is not easy for them to do so. In fact, it can be quite traumatic especially when it feels like no one is listening.

She said: “It has taken a lot for us to trust you with our stories, we ask that you hold them kindly, gently. Be there. Be present. Hold space. Where you fit in all this is important too, yes. But if you know someone who is a survivor, someone who has been harmed, please prioritise them. They have carried enough.”

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