Flute lessons are probably the least expected reason for threats of violence and verbal abuse, but an ugly encounter allegedly transpired last week at Plaza Singapura’s Yamaha Contemporary Music School.
According to writer and musician Ivan Lim, his special-needs son — who is autistic — was rudely denied a lesson by an instructor at the school, who refused to teach the 12-year-old on grounds of his autism.
What allegedly happened was that the young boy had just been enrolled at the school for flute lessons, and he was excited for his second session last Friday evening. Alas, the child had his heart broken when an instructor apparently cancelled the class at the last minute — 75 minutes before the scheduled lesson.
This, despite the child’s grandmother having already made clear to Yamaha’s staff that he is autistic and requires a teacher with the ability to manage that. Lim also noted that the teacher assigned to his son for his first lesson hadn’t faced any issues (though school officials have yet to make any statement regarding what may or may not have occurred during that lesson).
What enraged the family further was the fact that the school allegedly tried to blame the grandmother for not responding to their call about the cancellation. The instructor’s reason for refusing to teach the child was ludicrous as well: his wife, a nurse, said that it was not possible to conduct lessons for the autistic child.
The argument between Lim, his son’s grandparents and the music school’s staff escalated even further when the flute instructor’s student stepped in. Lim claimed that the man had been “spoiling for a fight” and aggressively intimidated the child’s grandmother.
“I told the man, who was shielded by several Yamaha staff members, to face me, but he didn’t, so I called him a coward and a dog,” wrote Lim on Facebook. “Which may have been a little too strident on my part. And unfair – to dogs. He continued to taunt me from behind his human shield.”
They eventually left before the tiff exploded into violence.
“Right now I’m just horribly disappointed with Yamaha and the teacher for letting this happen. Grandpa and grandma were understandably livid, but for me, it was heartbreaking to see the look of disappointment on Alex’s face when I got to the school.”
Folks were understandably furious as well, and most sided with the father.
We’ve since reached out to Yamaha Music Singapore for their side of the story and will provide updates once we hear back.
