Former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim appeals conviction, 13-month jail term for molesting woman

The court reserved judgment on the appeal and will deliver its decision at a later date.

Former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim arrives at the Supreme Court of Singapore on Sep 11, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)

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SINGAPORE: Former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim Chih Chiang appealed against his conviction and jail term in the High Court on Friday (Sep 11) after he was found guilty of molesting a woman in 2021 .

Lim, 62, faces 13 months' jail for molesting a 25-year-old woman at his Hype Records office.

The lower court judge had found the woman to be a truthful witness, while finding Lim "untruthful". Following a trial, the district court convicted Lim on one count of molest on Sep 26, 2025. He was sentenced on Nov 18, 2025.

During Friday's appeal, Lim's lawyer, Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng from Wong Partnership, sought to cast doubt on the victim's reliability as a witness, arguing that she was prone to fabricating evidence and had given "nonsensical" accounts.

Mr Tan said the victim's evidence was "objectively inconsistent" and deserved the "unrelenting scrutiny of the court".

Justice Hoo Sheau Peng reserved her judgment on the appeal and will give her decision at a later date.

Lim is also represented by Mr Samuel Navindran and Mr Hairul Siddeeq Mohamed Ansar from Wong Partnership, while the prosecution is represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors James Chew, Melissa Heng and Sheldon Lim.

EVIDENCE REGARDING SECOND INTERVIEW

According to evidence heard at the trial, the victim met Lim for three interviews in 2021, with the molestation occurring during their third meeting at his Hype Records office.

During the second meeting on Nov 18, 2021, Lim and the victim discussed several allegedly obscene topics, which Mr Tan argued she later gave inconsistent accounts of.

One concerned a discussion referred to as "F for change", with Mr Tan arguing that the victim had flip-flopped over what she understood it to mean.

Among the various interpretations highlighted by Mr Tan, the victim had said she understood the phrase as referring to the complexity of the characters she would have to play, while at another point portraying it as a literal proposition for sex from Lim.

He argued that her differing accounts of what the phrase meant were difficult to reconcile and that the trial judge had not adequately addressed these discrepancies.

Mr Tan also contrasted the victim's evidence with what she had told people close to her at that time. According to him, the victim had described Lim to her boyfriend as "relaxed" and "chilled out".

She separately described Lim as a "father figure", according to Mr Tan.

The senior counsel said it was impossible for the woman to have had a "father-like" impression or Lim if the conversation did span obscene topics.

"The judge failed to give due regard to this contrasting evidence in respect of communications to friends and her evidence in court which seems to paint Mr Lim as a sexual predator," argued Mr Tan.

Days later, on Nov 23, 2021, the woman met Lim for a third time, when she said the molestation occurred.

The woman testified at trial that Lim had tested her by asking her to kiss him and she complied but made a disgusted face afterwards.

Lim then said she should not make such a face and asked her to kiss him again, passionately, according to the woman.

She testified that while they were kissing, Lim reached into her clothing and groped her breast for a few seconds before removing his hand.

During the appeal, Mr Tan argued that the act described by the victim was physically difficult to carry out in the manner she described, especially within the few seconds she said it took.

"We have tried this many times in our office and we found it was impossible for the act to be done," Mr Tan said.

He said the victim had agreed that the act, as she described it, would have been awkward, but responded that someone intent on molesting another person would find a way to do so.

Mr Tan then moved on to the victim's conduct immediately after the alleged molestation, pointing to closed-circuit television footage showing Lim and the victim walking while chatting.

According to Mr Tan, they spoke for about 10 minutes and the victim initiated a hug with Lim before they parted ways.

When asked why she hugged him, the victim said she was not thinking clearly at that point and wanted to avoid confrontation, adding that she hugged people she was close to, but later added that she also gave hugs to those she regarded as friends.

"How is a molester considered a close friend or somebody close to her?" Mr Tan asked, gesturing in court with both palms facing up.

"The only explanation she could give is (that she was on) autopilot, that is totally unacceptable," Mr Tan said.

"If everything can be dismissed - and we have so much evidence to show she is not a credible witness - if everything can be dismissed ... the accused person would have very little chance of defending himself," he said.

PROSECUTION RESPONDS

In contrast, the prosecution argued that the victim had been a "highly consistent" witness.

Mr Chew said Mr Tan appeared to be trying to raise as many "seeming inconsistencies as possible".

Addressing why the woman had proceeded with the third meeting despite her discomfort during the second, Mr Chew said there was nothing "so alarming" about what had happened that would have caused her to pull out of the subsequent meeting.

He pointed out that the woman had been seeking an opportunity to break into the entertainment industry and was excited about the prospect. It was "completely understandable" that the woman saw Lim as a mentor who gave her career advice and tips, Mr Chew said.

Turning to the molestation, Mr Chew rejected the defence's contention that the act as described was impossible to carry out.

He argued that the prosecution did not have to prove that the act was physically possible unless there was evidence suggesting that it was impossible.

"In this case there was no such evidence raised," Mr Chew said, adding that an act being awkward did not necessarily make it impossible.

Addressing the woman's apparently normal behaviour immediately after the molest, Mr Chew said she had given clear and reasonable explanations for her actions and state of mind.

"It was not just autopilot as my learned friend tried to frame it. It was clear and textured. She explained she was in a state of shock after being groped by the appellant. This was of course completely understandable. She was not thinking clearly and was operating on autopilot mode," said Mr Chew.

Mr Chew also disputed Mr Tan's characterisation of the physical interaction between the pair as a hug, describing it instead as the woman putting an arm around Lim's back.

"This was her normal behaviour ... It's consistent with her explanation that she was acting normally," Mr Chew said.

He argued that the woman's behaviour after she parted ways with Lim was more significant.

When she arrived at the venue where her boyfriend was, she did not join him but instead sat alone in a back alley. Her boyfriend testified that she remained quiet, kept to herself and appeared bothered. The next day, she recounted to him what had happened in an emotional manner.

The prosecution also maintained that the accounts given by other witnesses were generally consistent with the woman's testimony and with text messages produced in court.

"At the end of the day we say the district judge was completely correct. (The victim) had simply no reason to make up false allegations against the accused if the molest had not taken place at all. She stood to gain nothing from it," Mr Chew said.

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法院保留对上诉的判决，并将于日后作出裁决。

前新加坡偶像评委林建国于2026年9月11日抵达新加坡最高法院。（图片：CNA/Wallace Woon）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

新加坡：前新加坡偶像评委林志强于周五（9月11日）向高等法院提出上诉，反对其在2021年猥亵一名女性的定罪和监禁判决。

62岁的林某因在其Hype Records办公室猥亵一名25岁女子，面临13个月的监禁。

下级法院法官认定该女子为诚实证人，而认定林某“不诚实”。经审判，地方法院于2025年9月26日裁定林某犯有一项猥亵罪。他于2025年11月18日被判刑。

在周五的上诉听证会上，林某的律师，来自黄氏律师事务所的高级律师陈志明，试图质疑受害者作为证人的可靠性，辩称她有捏造证据的倾向，并给出了“荒谬的”证词。

谭先生表示，受害者的证词“客观上前后矛盾”，理应受到“法庭的严格审查”。

胡秀萍法官保留对上诉的判决，并将于日后作出裁决。

林某的代理律师是黄氏律师事务所的塞缪尔·纳文德兰先生和海鲁尔·西迪克·穆罕默德·安萨尔先生，而控方则由副检察官詹姆斯·周、梅丽莎·亨和谢尔顿·林代表。

关于第二次面谈的证据

根据庭审中听到的证据，受害者在 2021 年与林进行了三次面谈，性骚扰事件发生在第三次面谈期间，地点是林的 Hype Records 办公室。

在 2021 年 11 月 18 日的第二次会面中，林和受害者讨论了几个据称淫秽的话题，陈先生认为她后来对此给出了前后矛盾的说法。

其中一起案件涉及一场被称为“F代表改变”的讨论，陈先生认为受害者对“F代表改变”的含义理解反复无常。

在谭先生强调的各种解释中，受害者曾表示她理解这句话指的是她将要扮演的角色的复杂性，而在另一个时候，她又将其描述为林向她提出的性要求。

他认为，她对该短语含义的不同解释难以调和，而且审判法官没有充分处理这些矛盾之处。

谭先生还将受害人的证词与她当时告诉身边亲近的人的话进行了对比。据他所说，受害人曾向男友形容林某“放松”、“冷静”。

据谭先生称，她还单独将林描述为“父亲般的人物”。

资深律师表示，如果谈话内容涉及淫秽话题，那么这名女子不可能对林先生产生“父亲般的”印象。

“法官没有充分考虑这一相互矛盾的证据，即她与朋友的通信和她在法庭上的证词，后者似乎将林先生描绘成一个性侵犯者，”谭先生辩称。

几天后，2021 年 11 月 23 日，该女子第三次见到林某，她说性骚扰事件就是在那时发生的。

该女子在庭审中作证说，林某曾试探她，要求她亲吻他，她照做了，但事后却露出了厌恶的表情。

据该女子称，林随后表示她不应该露出那种表情，并要求她再次热情地亲吻他。

她作证说，在他们接吻时，林某把手伸进她的衣服里，摸了她的胸部几秒钟，然后才把手拿开。

在上诉期间，谭先生辩称，受害者描述的行为在生理上很难以她描述的方式完成，尤其是在她所说的短短几秒钟内。

“我们在办公室多次尝试过，发现这种行为根本不可能实现，”谭先生说。

他说，受害者承认，正如她所描述的那样，这种行为会让人感到尴尬，但他回应说，任何意图猥亵他人的人总会找到办法。

随后，谭先生转而谈及受害者在被指控性骚扰后的行为，并指出闭路电视录像显示林某和受害者边走边聊。

据谭先生称，他们交谈了大约 10 分钟，受害者在分开前主动拥抱了林先生。

当被问及为何拥抱他时，受害者表示，当时她神志不清，想要避免冲突，并补充说她会拥抱亲近的人，但后来又补充说，她也会拥抱她视为朋友的人。

“一个性骚扰者怎么能算是她的密友或亲近之人呢？”谭先生问道，同时在法庭上双手掌心向上比划着。

“她唯一能给出的解释是她当时处于‘自动驾驶’状态，这完全不可接受，”谭先生说。

“如果所有证据都被驳回——我们有大量证据表明她不是一个可信的证人——如果所有证据都被驳回……被告几乎没有机会为自己辩护，”他说。

检方回应

与之相反，检方辩称受害者是一位“高度一致的”证人。

周先生表示，陈先生似乎想尽可能多地提出“看似矛盾之处”。

针对该女子在第二次会面中感到不适却仍然继续进行第三次会面的原因，周先生表示，发生的事情并没有什么“令人担忧”之处，不至于让她退出随后的会面。

他指出，这名女子一直渴望进入演艺圈，并对前景充满热情。周先生表示，这名女子将林先生视为导师，并向他提供职业建议和技巧，这是“完全可以理解的”。

关于性骚扰指控，周先生驳斥了辩方关于所描述的行为不可能实施的说法。

他认为，除非有证据表明该行为不可能发生，否则控方无需证明该行为在物理上是可能的。

周先生表示：“本案中没有提出此类证据。”他还补充说，一个行为举止笨拙并不一定意味着它不可能发生。

周先生在谈到该女子在遭到性骚扰后看似正常的行为时表示，她对自己的行为和心理状态给出了清晰合理的解释。

“这并非像我那位博学的朋友试图描述的那样只是自动驾驶模式。事实清晰而复杂。她解释说，在被上诉人猥亵后，她处于震惊状态。这当然完全可以理解。她当时思维混乱，完全处于自动驾驶模式，”周先生说道。

周先生还对陈先生将两人之间的身体互动描述为拥抱的说法提出异议，他将其描述为该女子将手臂搭在林先生的背上。

周先生说：“这是她正常的行为……这与她自己所说的行为正常的说法一致。”

他认为，这名女子与林分手后的行为更为重要。

她到达男友所在的地方后，并没有和他待在一起，而是独自一人坐在后巷里。她的男友作证说，她一直沉默不语，独来独往，看起来很心事重重。第二天，她情绪激动地向他讲述了事情经过。

检方还坚持认为，其他证人的证词与该女子的证词以及法庭上出示的短信基本一致。

“归根结底，我们认为地方法官的判决完全正确。如果根本没有发生性骚扰事件，（受害者）根本没有理由捏造对被告的虚假指控。她从中得不到任何好处，”周先生说。

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