Monday, October 1, 2012

Ng Boon Gay Trial


For a more up to date entry see Ng Boon Gay rejects sex for favours charges.

Ng Boon Gay Trial, the most talked about event in Singapore, is giving a new surprise to the public everyday. Just a day after defense openly called her a "liar", prosecution turned against its own star witness, Cecilia Sue Siew Nang:
"For the first time in the ongoing sex-for-contracts trial, both the defence as well as the prosecution cast doubt on the credibility of former IT sales manager Cecilia Sue Siew Nang. While the defence had sought to impeach Ms Sue, 36, for the inconsistencies in her statements, the prosecution yesterday made the surprise move of applying to cross-examine its own star witness. This means that the prosecution could ask leading questions of its witness, which is not normally the case."
Source : Both sides now question Cecilia Sue's credibility
Cecilia Sue was called a liar by Ng Boon Gay's lawyer Tan Chee Meng on Day 5 of the court proceedings:
Citing instances of contradictions between her statements to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and her testimony in court, Ng's lawyer Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng put it to Ms Sue that she was "fabricating evidence as you go along". 
In response, Ms Sue asked why Mr Tan was using a "very strong word"and "causing damage to my reputation". The defence lawyer, however, retorted: "I will do what I have to do and call you a liar if I have to, time and again."  
Source :  Defence applies to impeach credibility of Cecilia Sue
 It is quite common that defense applies to impeach credibility of a key witness but it is very unusual that prosecutor  cross-examine its own star witness as a hostile witness.

According to the prosecution there are 3 possible alternatives of versions of the relationship between Ng Boon Gay and Cecilia Sue:
1 - They had been in a sexual relationship between 2009 and end 2011.

2 - They had been in a consensual sexual relationship between 2009 and September/October 2010.
3. The pair had never been in any intimate or sexual relationship.

The prosecution is trying to prove that number (2) was the truth while defense claims that number (1) is the truth.

Cecilia Sue Siew Nang Ng Boon Gay Trial
Cecilia Sue Siew Nang entering the court as witness in Ng Boon Gay Trial
Ng Boon Gay Trial have drawn Singaporeans to the Subordinate Court with some 30 to 40 people queuing since morning to enter the courtroom:
Most of the attendees are middle-aged to senior men with only a handful of women. 50-year-old businessman Wong said that this is his first time attending a court hearing and he attended because he is interested in the legal aspect of the case.  
Words such as “Ng Boon Gay” and “Cecilia Sue” have taken the third and fourth spot of the most searched keywords on Yahoo! Search. Searches for Ng in variations including 'picture of Ng Boon Gay', 'Peter Lim and Ng Boon Gay' spiked to 126,400 per cent for January this year, a month after the announcement of his arrest broke.
Source :  Public interest in Ng Boon Gay’s trial rising

About The Case
Some sales managers in Singapore allegedly took "sex sells" motto to new levels by offering oral sex to officials to secure IT contracts (next time you hear "your competitor sucks from your prospect, do not think you have an advantage!).

ex-CNB chief Ng Boon Gay is on trial with the allegations that he had awarded contracts to  Cecilia Sue Siew Nang's company in exchange of sex. Defense is trying to prove that the sexual exchanges were a part of ongoing Ng Boon Gay's extramarital relationship with Cecilia Sue Siew Nang and are not bribes.

The trial drew more attention after Cecilia Sue Siew Nang gave inconsistent statements during her questioning by defense.

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