…at the police while being investigated for contempt of court was sentenced. Who is the woman with the unusual (re)name?

Warning: The following contains language readers may find offensive

She now calls herself Tarchandi Tan, after a name change last year. The press noted that she was previously known as Lee Hui Yin (Chinese transliteration: 李慧茵). It is not understood why she changed both her given name and surname or, as it’s said in Chinese, 改名换姓 (gaiming huanxing)—change name and surname, literally. Online speculations suggest that assuming another moniker meant she could ignore or turn away documents delivered to her from the State Courts. But these were not the only names that she goes by. Ms Tan (we’ll just use the current moniker) is a “new age life consultant”, as she calls herself. Professionally, she also identifies as Chanel Lee (and, inexplicably, also Tchachandra). It is not known which of the three (or four) was present in court to speak for Ms Tan in response to the charges that were brought against her. According to CNA, she “defied police instructions when she was being investigated for contempt of court”. She reportedly would not present herself at police investigations or in court, even, apparently, spitting at the police, a charge she vehemently denied, sharing on Facebook a week ago: “say I spit saliva… no evidence”, adding “my saliva blessings, u so easy get argh”.

Yesterday, the 53-year-old was handed a jail term of eight weeks and a fine of S$4,200 (an additional 21 days will be required if she is unable to pay). Ms Tan had returned to court to hear what punishment was meted out to her, after an earlier trial when the judge “convicted her of three counts of failing to present herself at places including the State Courts and two counts of using criminal force on public servants”, as The Straits Times reported. Throughout the court proceedings, she chose to press on without a lawyer, preferring to represent herself, a “sovereign”. She wrote on FB early this month what would captivate POFMA: “when the rot is so deep, u have to OWNSELF DEFEND OWNSELF”. She also wrote, “ownself lawyer ownself.” It is easy to come to the conclusion that given her defiance, online and offline, and in court, Ms Tan has not been touched by even a whisper of remorse. She said in court: “How can I have remorse when I am innocent?” She then insisted that ”they [the police] bruised me. I was molested, kidnapped.”

No one had heard of Tarchandi Tan until she was accused of making ill-advised and unwarranted comments while in court during the trial of the anti-masker Benjamin Glynn last August. She was then still known as Lee Hui Yin. Her relationship with Mr Glynn is unknown, nor the reason for her attending the trial. According to the prosecutor, she knew the convicted Mr Glynn as a member of the community she identified with. The Briton had called himself a “sovereign”, like Ms Tan, and ”a living man” (she, too, considers herself to be “a living breathing woman”). Minutes into the session, a security officer asked Ms Tan, who was seated in the public gallery, to wear her mask properly (mask wearing was still required by law then), but she was not cooperative and reportedly shouted—“this is ridiculous kangaroo court (a phrase she continued to use in her FB page)” and ”I do not respect the judge”. She did not give reasons for saying what she did. Or, why she was in a court she thought so poorly of or willing to be in the presence of a judge she held no regard or esteem for.

No one had heard of Tarchandi Tan until she was accused of making those ill-advised and unwarranted comments in court during the trial of the anti-masker Benjamin Glyn last August

It is not clear if being the “sovereign” that she claims she is meant Ms Tan considers herself free from the constraints of decorous behaviour or is out of reach of the arms of the law. “We are born Sovereigns,” she wrote in a Facebook post last May. “Take back your power. Do your research; make this world a better place; do not comply that which does not serve the highest good of our future generations.” In another entry, she was adamant: “I ownself checked ownself; I did no wrong.” In court, the judge did not accept her stand that being a “sovereign” means she is not compelled to go to the police station or to court, saying, it is “misconceived”, adding “this cannot be right. Such an argument is contrary to the rule of law and is a recipe for anarchy.” She wrote on FB four days ago: “Very angry with CNA article; Judge call me what Anarchy. Anarchy better than your rotten koo koo jiao. Your koo koo jiao so rotten, its gonna fall into pieces soon.” The post was accompanied by an image of a badly blackened banana.

Tarchandi Tan is a fascinating character, but not much has been revealed about her. On her FB (she has two accounts) ‘About’ page, she claims to be from “California City, California” (in fact, she lives in Bukit Batok), ascribes the profile of “content creator” to herself, and states that she works at Divine Readers—a business that appeared to be co-founded by Ms Tan and a Jonny Ma. Both are the eponymous ”divine readers”; they ”bring a divine touch to your fortune reading”. On FB, Ms Tan touts (we quote verbatim)—under ‘Bio’—“West & Vedic Astrology, Number freq, Oracles, etc.. & Metaphysics” as, presumably, her skills. In the ‘About Us’ page of the website of Divine Readers, she goes by “Chanel Lee (also, as we mentioned earlier, “Tchachandra”)”. She writes that she “has been offering consultation services since 2014”. Chanel Lee also claims she was “born as an intuitive”. It is possible that she is saying she is a mind-reader. But, she says—writing in the third person—that “her specialty is in tarot card readings. Usually her patrons are more amazed by her intuitive sensibilities. Her straight-to-the-point and no-holds-barred approach has won loyal and avid fans alike”. But, not, as it appears, the court of law.

Mr Ma and she apparently ”started collaborating… in 2014 to provide analysis services for clients. Before their journey began, they received initiation in both Mahavatar Babaji’s Kriya Yoga as well as Tai Shang Men Xiao Yao Pai Taoist Lineage. Chanel also learned FengShui under Yi Yao Pai Lineage”. If that does not sound impressively supernaturalistic enough, she, “as an addition, integrated Human Design, Destiny Cards, Pythagorean and Yijing Numerology, as well as Vedic Astrology into her readings”. Of her work as a “new age life consultant”, Ms Tan said breathily and somewhat seductively in a YouTube video that she can “use a combination of techniques, such as astrology, destiny cards, human designs, bazi (八字), number frequencies, and other techniques to give advice”. Based on her FB page, she is not only partial to divination and alternative wellness, she is a promoter of alternative treatments to health issues. In one FB post from last week, she wrote that ”urine therapy can heal vaxxed issues. Ownself drink ownself urine. other people urine cannot work; because it doesn’t have your own unique stem cells. not disgusting; it’s your own medicine.” Like Iris Koh, whom she “salutes”, Ms Tan appears to be an anti-vaxxer.

Tarchandi Tan as Chanel Lee in the an image from the webpage of her business Divine Readers. Photo: Divine Readers

In an earlier appearance in court, prosecutors revealed that Ms Tan was diagnosed with schizophrenia. But, according to ST, psychiatric evaluation at the Institute of Mental Health showed that, at the time of the outburst last August, her condition was “not operative and was in relapse”. In court, she told the judge she suffers from panic and anxiety attacks. The judge told her to inform him if she felt unwell. Ms Tan mentioned these particular conditions on FB last month, and two days ago, she left “a suicide note in the event I commit suicide”. She even said she is “fighting a terminal illness.” What that malady is, she did not reveal, nor if it is a recent diagnosis. In an earlier FB post, she shared an image of a small bottle of Fireball cinnamon whiskey, saying, “this good. Help me to relax”.

In the images of herself shared on social media and in the videos, Ms Tan, a cat lover, appeared well and cheerful (although it is hard to say, when she has admitted that she digitally enhances her photos), and appears to enjoy looking fashionable and is partial to dramatic shoulder-dusting earrings, with a predilection for the wacky. Oftentimes, she posts rather goofy poses of herself, too. The profile photo of her on FB shows a close-up of her with a thin, free-hand-drawn, Dali-esque moustache. In another, shared last month, she wore a busily-patterned top that looked straight out of Desigual. On her nose perched a pair of red-tinted sunglasses in the shape of a pair of dragons that she proudly declared was from Shein. It is not known if Ms Tan has aspirations to be an influencer other than being a divine reader.

She seems observant of fashion too, sharing video jokes of the Viktor & Rolf couture collections, accompanied by laughing emojis. When she attended the Benjamin Glynn trial, she turned out rather stylishly, in a tummy-baring floral-and-lace top with bell sleeves that Andrew Gn, as seen in the current museum exhibition, would approve. She appears to enjoy dressing for her posts—videos and stills—and to effect a look—a sort of gypsy-jovial. In one photo that accompanied the FB announcement that she’d “ONSELF DEFEND ONSELF”, she wore a white shirt with a ruffled placket under a jacket that, in sum, made her come across as one who could take on the legal challenges laid before her. Despite the stress she has said she has to deal with, Tarchandi Tan, who believes that her “path is to bring light to the world”, has been concerned about what she sees in the mirror. Three weeks ago, she shared a photo of herself sans makeup and digital tweaks, and wrote, “stupid court case, give me so many wrinkles n white hair .” Pitiful. But who’s buying it?

Update (18 Aug 2023, 19:50): Tarchandi Tan was convicted to an additional five weeks of jail time for shouting “kangaroo court” and insulting the judge presiding at the time. Ms Tan has kept mum about her sentences so far.

Illustration: Just So