SINGAPORE: Earlier this week, Ken Lim, once known as the “Simon Cowell of Singapore,” was sentenced to 13 months of jail for having molested a 25-year-old woman. The incident occurred on November 23, 2021, at the Hype Records office on Henderson Road.
This was just one among several charges of improper behaviour brought against Lim, now 61. Aside from the molestation charge, the others were for outrage of modesty.
Last December, however, Lim was acquitted of insulting a woman’s modesty for an incident that occurred on July 25, 2012, also at the Hype Records office.
This time around, however, the judge accepted Lim’s accuser’s story that he had groped her during an interview at his office four years ago. Meanwhile, according to a CNA report, Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng found Lim to be “untruthful.”
Judge Lee ultimately granted the 12-month jail sentence the prosecution had sought, plus an additional month instead of three strokes of the cane. With Lim being over 50, he cannot be caned.
The lead prosecutor on the case asked for the other charges against Lim to be withdrawn, as he had already been convicted. This means that the three other trials that Lim was scheduled for will no longer take place.
He is now out on bail, and his lawyer said he will appeal against the conviction.
Fall from grace
Lim’s fall from grace has perhaps been a long time coming, since he was accused of offences that occurred between 1998 and 2013.
As the man behind Hype Records, he was one of the most important people in Singapore’s music scene, as his label handles artists such as Chen Liping and Phyllis Quek and singer Taufik Batisah, the first winner of Singapore Idol.
For over 40 years, he has been a composer, music producer, publisher, artist manager, concert promoter, and has represented Singapore in numerous song festivals and competitions since he was 16 years old.
However, until Singapore Idol debuted in 2004, he was mostly behind the scenes. His behaviour on the show drew parallels with the UK’s Simon Cowell, and Singapore Idol became one of the most popular television shows in Singapore’s history.
Lessons learned?
As Judge Lee pointed out, perhaps the biggest lesson to be learned can be gleaned from the circumstances of the incident and the dynamic between Lim and his victim. It was her third interview with Lim, who had told her about the other celebrities he had trained.
“He positioned himself as the complainant’s mentor by offering career advice and requesting complete openness from her to better develop her character and telling her he wanted a very close (mentor-mentee) relationship with her,” CNA quoted the judge as saying.
During a role-playing exercise that the victim believed was part of the interview process, Lim took advantage of the situation to kiss and later, grope her.
According to the judge, he exploited her vulnerability as an interviewee and mentioned the “inherent power imbalance” in the situation, which made reporting the molestation difficult for the woman.
While mentor-type relationships are not unusual in Lim’s industry, after his conviction, it can be hoped that in the future, safeguards will be established to protect vulnerable young artists from being exploited. /TISG
Read also: Singapore Idol Judge Ken Lim charged in court after molesting woman in his office
