A businessman, his Miss Mermaid 2016 mistress and her lover, caught in love triangle ending in violence

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Apr 2, 2019

A married businessman took a beauty contestant as his mistress for almost two years and showered her with gifts including a luxury car, but when she found herself a younger lover, he flew into a rage.

According to court documents, Lim Hong Liang, 55, twice ordered his mistress' lover to be attacked.

Over the two attacks, Mr Joshua Koh Kian Yong suffered several injuries including fractures to his nose and lacerations to his face.

A scar on the now 35-year-old's mouth is likely to remain a permanent feature.

On Tuesday (April 2), District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt found Lim, the owner of SNL Logistics, guilty of taking part in a seven-person conspiracy to cause grievous hurt to Mr Koh by using a weapon.

The judge also found a middleman linked to the attack - mover Ong Hock Chye, 48 - guilty of the same offence. The pair were convicted after a 10-day trial.

Lim was smitten with Ms Audrey Chen Ying Fang, 27, after they met in 2014. Although he was married with three children, the pair became involved in an intimate relationship.

He gave her a job at his logistics firm. As an administrative executive, she was paid about $2,000 a month but the court heard that she did not have to turn up for work.

The car he gave her - a white Mercedes Benz - carried the plate "1991", her birth year.

She used his credit cards and paid for her needs with it.

Lim even allowed her to live rent-free in a unit he owned at The Parc condominium in West Coast Walk, renovating it to her preferred "Hello Kitty" theme.

But he set her a condition - she was his and only his.

In their submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutors Tan Wen Hsien and Stephanie Koh said: "In return, Lim expected her to be faithful to him, and not to 'fool around outside'."

But she did. In March 2016, Ms Chen started dating Mr Koh, a banquet waiter, and announced their relationship on social media.

When Lim discovered Ms Chen, who was crowned Miss Mermaid 2016, was seeing Mr Koh and taking him to the apartment, he paid $5,000 to hitmen to scar Mr Koh's face.

About a month after they started dating, Lim's older son and Lim's nephew Ron Lim De Mai, 26, turned up at The Parc condominium.

The first attack took place on April 8. The two men barged into the apartment Ms Chen and Mr Koh were in and Ron Lim attacked him relentlessly, punching and kicking him for about 15 minutes.

As he lay there injured, they took photos of Mr Koh with their phones.

At Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Mr Koh was found to have fractures to his nose.

After the attack, Lim, who was then in China for a kidney transplant, sent Ms Chen voice messages in Mandarin. He accused her of bringing a man to the apartment while he was overseas.

But the young lovers were not deterred and continued seeing each other. However, they were found out again.

On April 30 at 1am, while the two were having supper at Huay Kwang Thai Kitchen in Townshend Road near Little India, Mr Koh was ambushed.

He was punched in the head and as he tried to run, he was slashed with a penknife on his arm and face.

Ms Chen testified that she saw a gaping wound on Mr Koh's mouth. Although he was treated at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, that scar is now likely to be permanent.

The DPPs said: "The disfiguring wound would be a poignant reminder to the victim to stay away from (Lim's) mistress."

According to court documents, Lim wanted his nephew to "teach Joshua a lesson" and it was Ron Lim who roped in Ong to recruit others to carry out the task.

The DPPs stated: "At Ong's suggestion, the plan evolved into slashing Joshua's face, which Lim agreed to.

"At all stages, Lim and Ong were actively aware of the manner and extent of the eventual attack on Joshua."

The slasher - Nur Muhammad Irwan Mohd Ngat, 30 - was dealt with earlier in court along with the other attackers, which included former technician Mohammad Amin Aman, 47; Juhari Ab Karim, 34; and Ron Lim.

They were each sentenced to between 15 months and 14½ years' jail.

Of these four men, only Juhari, who had punched Mr Koh but did not slash him, was spared the cane.

Irwan, who was also found guilty of drug trafficking, received the harshest sentence which also included 16 strokes of the cane.

His then fiancee - Nur Atika Fauziana Sherhan, 22 - who was also involved in the second attack, was sentenced earlier to reformative training.

On Tuesday, the businessman was offered bail of $10,000 while Ong's bail was set at $20,000. They are slated to be sentenced on May 17.

Offenders convicted of causing grievous hurt with a weapon can be jailed for life or jailed for up to 15 years with a fine or caning.

Lim cannot be caned as he is over 50 years old.