Woman upset after Ken Lim allegedly asked her sex-related question, ‘dissed’ her songwriting

One of the women who accused former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim of insulting her modesty had testified that they met on July 25, 2012, during which he “dissed” her songwriting and allegedly asked her a sex-related question.

Even though she had given her testimony earlier this week in proceedings that were not open to the public, excerpts of what she had told the court emerged when defence lawyer Paul Loy grilled her husband, who took the stand on May 10.

The husband told the court that the woman, who is identified in court documents as V5, was upset when she later told him during a phone call about a sex-related question Lim had allegedly asked her during the meeting.

Lim, 60 is now on trial after he allegedly insulted her modesty.

Earlier this week, V5 testified Lim had also said that she did not have what it took to be a singer. He was the executive director of record label Hype Records at the time.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gail Wong said that the woman, who is now a singer-songwriter based overseas, had gone to Lim for advice on a musical career.

V5 had testified that she found the criticisms upsetting and later spoke to her boyfriend on the evening of July 25, 2012, after the meeting.

The man, who is now her husband, told the court on May 10 that she was upset during the phone call.

He also testified that according to V5, Lim had asked her: “What if I have sex with you right now.”

The husband said: “She was upset after what happened and the question she was asked. The experience was distressing to her.”

V5, who was 26 at the time of the alleged offence, cannot be named due to a gag order. Details about her husband also cannot be disclosed to protect her identity.

A team from Wong Partnership led by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng is representing Lim during the trial.

On May 10, Mr Loy, one of the defence lawyers, asked the husband of V5 if he knew through the phone call on July 25, 2012, that Lim had told V5 that she did not have what it took to be a singer.

The husband replied that he could not recall. Among other things, he also could not recall if V5 told him that Lim had criticised her music.

Mr Loy also asked him: “Did she tell you during this call that she was in a blur and did not know what was happening?”

Again, the husband said that he could not remember.

When Mr Loy asked if his recollection was “hazy”, the husband replied: “I wouldn’t use ‘hazy’. It’s what I remember.”

However, the husband recalled that V5 had told him during the phone call about Lim’s alleged sex-related query.

According to the man, he went to sleep after the phone call.

The court heard that V5 sent him a text message at around 9.30am the next day, and he replied: “Got meeting now, talk later.”

The husband also told the court that there was no suggestion she was upset at the time.

When DPP Wong re-examined the husband later in the day on May 10, the latter told the court: “She was not looking to be signed (to Lim’s record label)... She realised she didn’t enjoy performing on a big stage.”

Lim faces seven charges involving five women and is expected to undergo five different trials, each involving one alleged victim.

He is accused of molesting a 25-year-old woman at the Hype Records office in Henderson Road on Nov 23, 2021.

He allegedly insulted the modesty of four other women, including V5.

Between 1998 and 1999, Lim allegedly showed a pornographic video to a female artiste identified as V4, who was between 19 and 21 years old then and was under his management.

Lim allegedly made lewd remarks to V2, another female artiste under his management, between 1999 and 2002. She was then between 18 and 20 years old.

In 2013, he allegedly made sexually charged remarks to V3, a 24-year-old woman who was an artiste working with him.

The trial continues.

Offenders convicted of insulting a woman’s modesty can be jailed for up to a year and fined.