Music producer and former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim, 61, was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on November 18 after being found guilty of molesting a 25-year-old woman during a job interview at his Hype Records office.
The incident took place on the evening of November 23, 2021, at the Hype Records office on Henderson Road, where Lim was executive director. The woman had met Lim three times in 2021 for what were described as work-related interviews, with the offence occurring on the third occasion. She testified that Lim asked her to kiss him, then asked her to do so again “with more passion,” and that as they kissed he touched her chest. She said she complied but felt disgusted afterwards, pulled away, and left after refusing his further advances. The victim, whose identity is protected by a gag order, had told the court that Lim made suggestive comments at the second and third meetings, including asking whether she would perform a sex act on a director and have sex with someone “to bring about change.”
In delivering her decision on September 26, Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng said she found the victim’s testimony to be unusually convincing, leaving no reasonable doubt of Lim’s guilt. The judge noted that Lim had jokingly sent the woman a message stating that he could tie her up, and found him to be an untruthful witness willing to make claims to serve his own interests. She said it was evident he had belatedly fabricated allegations to distance himself from his own police statement, which contradicted his court testimony but aligned with the woman’s account on various points, including touching her lower back, the “tie you up, babe” message and dimming the lights during the third interview.
Lim had faced accusations from five women in total — one for molestation and the rest for insulting the modesty of women. After the conviction, lead prosecutor James Chew asked for the remaining five charges to be withdrawn under Section 147(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which the judge approved, meaning the three slated remaining trials will not proceed. In a separate case, Lim had been acquitted in December 2024 after a trial involving a different woman who accused him of making sexual comments at the Hype Records premises on July 25, 2012, with the judge finding her evidence embellished and not credible.
Lim, who gained fame as a judge on Singapore Idol from 2004 to 2009 and earned a reputation as “Singapore’s Simon Cowell” for his biting critiques, is married to Judy Hsu, a former singer who is now CEO of Consumer, Private and Business Banking at Standard Chartered Bank. The couple have two sons. He is currently out on bail pending appeal. The defence had argued for a shorter sentence, emphasising his contributions to Singapore’s music landscape, but the court maintained that his position of authority made the offence more serious, highlighting the clear power imbalance and his lack of remorse as aggravating factors.