SINGAPORE: Music producer Ken Lim Chih Chiang, best known as a judge on reality singing competition Singapore Idol, was on Thursday (Mar 30) charged with molestation.
Lim, 58, is accused of using criminal force to touch the breast of a 25-year-old woman in his office at Hype Records at Henderson Road in the evening of Nov 23, 2021.
The victim’s identity is protected by a gag order.
Lim runs Hype Records, a concert promoter, record label and artiste management agency.
His lawyer, Mr Navin Naidu of Dentons Rodyk, said that Lim maintains his innocence and “strenuously and unequivocally” denies the charge.
He said that Lim would not be pleading guilty, and requested urgent trial dates to be fixed.
In response, Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Kee En said there were no special reasons for the case to be expedited.
Mr Naidu rebutted that Lim had been under investigation for more than 15 months, and reiterated that he wished for urgent trial dates to be fixed.
He added that Lim also had an application to leave Singapore. Lim will return to court later on Thursday morning for this application to be heard and decided on.
Lim was offered bail of S$10,000.
After being a judge on Singapore Idol in the 2000s, Lim also went on to judge reality singing competition The Final 1 in 2013.
If found guilty, he faces a jail term of up to two years, a fine, or both. The punishment also includes caning, but offenders above 50 are not caned in Singapore.