SINGAPORE — As a self-taught massage therapist, Willet Ong Tat Wee developed his own “Willet Zone Point Therapy”, which he claimed to be a more advanced form of tuina, or Chinese acupressure massage.

But when a woman sought treatment from him for her persistent back pain, on the recommendation of her temple master, Ong molested her.

This took place over four massage sessions in his home in 2016, with Ong telling her that he had to touch her breasts and pubic bone area to prevent breast and cervical cancer respectively.

However, when she felt him rubbing her private parts during the final session, she realised what he was doing. She then told her husband and decided to make a police report.

Ong, 67, was found guilty in a district court of four molestation charges on Thursday (March 19). He had denied molesting the victim, saying he could have accidentally touched her in sensitive areas during the massages.

This cut no ice with District Judge Kessler Soh, who found his testimony to be “lacking in truthfulness and credibility”.

While Ong claimed that his techniques were different from tuina, the judge found both methods “strikingly similar”, because the “zone points” that Ong targeted were like the meridian points employed by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners during tuina sessions.

The judge added: “I found his testimony that the so-called therapy required him to massage her entire body, including the breast and pubic bone areas, in order to treat her back pain, to be inexplicable and highly incredible.”

It was also telling that Ong did not arrange for a female chaperone to be present, which goes against the TCM practitioners’ ethical guidelines, District Judge Soh said. Ong’s wife and domestic worker were at home during all four sessions.

“It was clear that the lack of a chaperone provided him with an opportunity to touch the victim inappropriately,” the judge added.

Ong — represented by lawyer TM Sinnadurai — will return to court on April 23 to be sentenced. He remains out on bail, which was increased by S$5,000 to S$10,000.

PULLED DOWN HER SHORTS AND TOP

Ong was convicted of molesting the victim on four separate occasions from July to Nov 30, 2016.

He was involved in tuina practice for about 40 years and developed his own techniques based on his years of research, he told the court during the trial. 

He had attended TCM courses in the hopes of being recognised as a TCM practitioner and his therapy was largely influenced by TCM concepts, he said.

His victim, who cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity, testified that she had been suffering from intense back pain for a decade and unsuccessfully sought treatment from various tuina practitioners.

When her master at the temple she frequented said that Ong “could save her”, she decided to visit him.

During all the massage sessions, he gave her a tube top and shorts to wear, and told her to remove her underwear.

After the first session, she was confused by his actions — Ong pulled her top down and touched her breasts, before pulling her shorts down and pressing her pubic bone area. She testified that he told her this would help to prevent cancer from developing.

However, she went back for more sessions as her back pain persisted.

During the third session, he told her “not to go to the toilet and wash up immediately” after she had sex with her husband, because it would “cause the wind to enter”. 

This puzzled her and she told her husband about it.

She testified that during the fourth session on Nov 30, 2016, the massage was largely similar with one exception. Ong not only touched her pubic bone area, but also rubbed “the part where females urinate”, she added.

She reported him to the police two days later.

Dr Lau Kah Yong, a veteran TCM practitioner, gave evidence that back pain treatment did not require touching female patients in sensitive areas. 

In his defence, Ong said that he had massaged the victim’s groin and pubic bone area for about 10 seconds because it was linked to her back pain.

Two of his patients also testified as defence witnesses, saying that it was an effective and legitimate treatment. One of them said that Ong always asked for permission before massaging her sensitive areas.