Ex-S'pore Idol judge Ken Lim allegedly said to woman: 'Are you a virgin... What if I have sex with you right now?'

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
September 20, 2023

Former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim Chih Chiang was on Wednesday handed one more charge of insulting a woman’s modesty, involving a fifth alleged victim.

Lim, 59, is now accused of six counts of insulting a woman’s modesty and one count of molestation.

He was the executive director of record label Hype Records when he allegedly committed the offences.

His latest charge relates to an incident at around 7pm, on or around July 25, 2012, when he was at the company’s business address in Henderson Road. On this occasion, he allegedly uttered the words to a woman: “Are you a virgin... What if I have sex with you right now?”

He was said to be speaking to her about a career in music at the time.

Lim’s pre-trial conference will be on Friday.

Separately, between 1998 and 1999, while at his home, he purportedly played his first alleged victim a porn video which showed a woman engaging in sex with multiple men.

During the same period, at the Hype Records office, he allegedly said to the same woman that she was sexually inexperienced and he could help her with this.

Between 1999 and 2002 at Hype Records, he purportedly asked a second alleged victim whether she was a virgin, how she could write deeper songs if she was sexually inexperienced, whether he could be her first sex partner, and how she pleasured herself sexually.

During that period, he also allegedly asked her to write out her sexual fantasies as homework and offered himself as a sexual partner to fulfil her sexual fantasies.

In 2013, at Hype Records, he allegedly told a third person that if she could have sex for nothing, why not have sex for something. He also allegedly made the gesture of unbuckling his belt and removing his belt strap.

Lim was first charged on March 20 with one count of molestation.

He is accused of molesting a 25-year-old woman by touching her breast on Nov 23, 2021, at the Hype Records office.

For each count of insulting a woman’s modesty, an offender can be jailed for up to a year and fined.

And for molestation, an offender can be jailed for up to two years, fined or caned, or receive any combination of such punishments.

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