The former wife and employee of bookstore founder Kenny Leck spoke out yesterday for the first time since the latter was accused of not paying salaries and making romantic advances on his staff.
Many in the literary scene were quick to react to the scandal by denouncing either Leck or the 16-year-old BooksActually store. Renee Ting took to social media to lament the rush in trying to “fix, explain, resolve, and restore” and move forward from the saga after finally working up the courage to go public with her story.
“It feels like people are talking around us, but no one is really talking to us. Everyone has taken to the internet to talk and discuss and make statements after statements after statements,” she wrote, noting that no one had stopped to even ask “Hey, you doing okay? How are you feeling today? What do you need? What would be helpful for you right now?”
“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 prioritize them,” she said.
Leck was accused of preying on his young employees, almost all of whom were women in their early 20s, including Ting, who was hired in 2011 when she was 19. There was also a time when she was not paid for months and slept on a thin mattress at the back of the Yong Siak Street store while Leck its sole bed. Within three months of marrying him in 2016, Leck allegedly began an affair with another employee who left the store shortly after.
Ting opened her Thursday statement by describing herself as the wearisome, droopy-eyed character and cousin of the mouse in Tom and Jerry.
“Please accept my small words. It has only been six days, and that’s hardly enough time for anyone to process something as large, difficult, overwhelming, emotional, and heavy as this. Much less me, Slowpoke Antonio,” she wrote.
Other stories:
BooksActually owner accused of preying on young staff to step down
BooksActually to shelve operations a week ‘for sake of mental wellbeing’
