Singer Corrinne May and ex-NMP Gerard Ee testify in defence of ex-Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim

SINGAPORE: Singer-songwriter Corrinne May and former nominated member of parliament (NMP) Dr Gerard Ee Hock Kim testified in court on Wednesday (Sep 4) as defence witnesses for music industry veteran Ken Lim Chih Chiang, who is on trial for making sexual comments to a woman in 2012.
Lim, known for being a judge on singing competition Singapore Idol, is accused of insulting the modesty of the complainant, an aspiring singer-songwriter then aged 26 in July 2012, by asking her if she was a virgin and “what if I have sex with you right now”.
The woman lodged a police report after reading news reports about Lim being charged in court in 2023 – he faces other charges with four more potential trials lined up over more sexual comments allegedly made to other women and one count of molestation for a 2021 incident.
The complainant’s identity is protected by gag order.
Ms May, whose real name is Corrinne Foo May Ying, took the stand on Wednesday morning and described how she got to know Lim.
The 51-year-old described herself as a musician and a singer-songwriter who began her career in 1999.
She said she first met Lim after she finished junior college in 1992 and was going into her first year at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where she studied mass communications and English literature.
She said she was interested in being an artiste and musician and researched which companies were doing well in terms of local artistes in the Singapore market, and sent demo tapes of her music to them.
This included a company predating Lim’s Hype Records, where he was the boss.
“I had a response from Mr Lim, he said there was potential in the music. He wanted to meet me, so we met, and I do believe that he said the music was good, but he believed that … he wanted to sort of do the production and arrangement first to show and teach that music background,” said Ms May.
“Perhaps he saw that I was not ready to be an artiste at that time, which I do agree on hindsight – it was sort of a reality check which was good.”
Lim had stated in his testimony previously that he felt the complainant was unhappy at the blunt comments he had made about her music.
Ms May continued: “(Lim) realised I was interested in pursuing music and he said that the best way to learn would be to have an overall picture of the production arrangement, because in Singapore, especially … it is very difficult to be a singer-songwriter musician.”
She said Lim told her it would be more profitable to be a “production person” and learn all the behind-the-scenes production in terms of how an album is made from start to finish, including the technical aspects of arrangement and production.
Ms May then took up an internship of sorts for three to four years with Lim’s company while concurrently studying for her NUS degree. She said Lim “affirmed my talent in melody writing” by allowing her to put music to the lyrics written by a local artiste.
After this, Ms May wanted to enter the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and requested a testimonial from Lim to facilitate her acceptance.
Defence lawyer Mr Paul Loy from WongPartnership tendered the testimonial to the court, with the prosecutor remarking that she was wondering what the relevance of it was but not objecting.
District Judge Wong Peck interjected while Ms May was talking about her music journey: “Can I just stop her there – I noticed a very detailed rendition of (Ms May’s) career, but we need to move on to what are we precisely even calling her to court for?”
Mr Loy then finished up by getting Ms May to say she had released five albums so far, all of which were “pretty successful”, and that she had sung for Lim at his wedding in 1994.
He then showed Ms May a conversation between Lim and the complainant, where the complainant alleged that Lim had said certain things about Ms May.
The complainant said she told Lim that “I love Corrinne May, she is an artist I look up to”. The complainant claimed that Lim replied: “But she’s not successful, she’s just a kindergarten teacher” and “only the church people listen to her”.
Mr Loy asked Ms May for her views on these alleged comments by Lim.
“I think it’s preposterous,” answered Ms May. “Ken would not say something like that. In my understanding, Ken is a businessman musician, so he would’ve known about all the music success I’ve had throughout the years, and he would not have said this in a factual sense.”
She said the alleged comments Lim made were factually incorrect – she is successful, and she is “not a kindergarten teacher”. She also maintained that “not only church people” listened to her.
Listing examples to back up what she was saying, Ms May talked about having sellout crowds in the Esplanade, singing the national day song Song For Singapore at the request of the government in 2010 at an event where only top musicians like JJ Lin and Stefanie Sun were invited to, and being the first local artiste to open the Gardens by the Bay with a concert attended by 7,000 people in 2012.
Ms May talked about how she was invited by the government to perform for delegates in a form of “soft diplomacy” and concluded that “this is much beyond just a church audience”.
In cross-examination, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana got Ms May to confirm that she was not at the meeting between Lim and the complainant where he allegedly made those comments about Ms May.
Ms May also agreed that she would have “no knowledge” of the context in which those statements came up.
Ms Boppana then asked Ms May if she had sung at coffee houses and taught children music in the initial stages of her career, to which Ms May agreed but said it was probably at the beginning.
She also agreed with Ms Boppana that she was playing music in church at that time, around 1999, but said she did not sing at church masses then.
Ms Boppana tried to get Ms May to say a large part of her audience would include “church people”, but Ms May said she “wouldn’t actually say that”.
Before Ms May took the stand, former NMP Dr Ee testified for Lim. He shared how he was a close friend of Lim and his bailor since day one, and how he first got to know Lim about 30 years ago when Lim was looking for auditors.
Dr Ee said they got closer in 2001. This was after he had to chase Lim for help to compose a volunteer song sometime when Dr Ee was chairman of the National Volunteer Centre.
Because Dr Ee chased Lim to meet a deadline, Lim cancelled a trip he had booked to fly from Taiwan to Canada to meet his wife on SQ006.
The Singapore Airlines flight turned out to be a “fateful” flight that crashed and resulted in casualties, and Lim “would not be here today”, “had I not chased him”, said Dr Ee.
He described how he was the one to persuade Lim to speak to the complainant, who was the daughter of their mutual friend’s close friend, about her music ambitions.
However, he said it went by like a “flash” and he heard nothing more of it until Lim was charged.
Dr Ee said he was “surprised in the first place” when the allegations came to light, and concerned over “how could this charge possibly surface”.
On how he is standing bail for Lim, Dr Ee said: “I think, your honour, that’s what close friends should do for each other.”
The defence, led by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng from WongPartnership, closed its case with Ms May as their last witness.
After the prosecution does a brief recall of the investigating officer on Wednesday afternoon to rebut some assertions Lim had made about the way his statement was taken, both sides will file closing submissions and a verdict will be given at a later date.
If convicted of insulting a woman’s modesty, he faces up to a year’s jail, a fine or both.