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SINGAPORE: Music producer Ken Lim has denied molesting a woman in 2021, saying that after building up his cachet in the entertainment industry over decades, "the last thing you want to do is smear your reputation".

Lim, 60, also said that he tried to reenact the woman's description of how he allegedly groped her chest during a kiss in his office, and found it "awkward to impossible".

Asked about lewd remarks the woman claimed he had made, he said on Wednesday (Feb 5) that she had "twisted" his words to support her fabrication in court.

"I've been doing this business for four decades. If I was so ridiculous, I won't be where I am today. I won't have the success I am actually having," Lim said.

He added that if he behaved the way she claimed, he would not have artistes signing contracts of up to 20 years with his agency.

Lim, best known as a judge on Singapore Idol, runs Hype Records, which is a concert promoter, record label and artiste management agency.

He was testifying in his defence in the second of his five trials for alleged sex-related offences against women.

Lim was previously acquitted of making sexual comments to an aspiring singer-songwriter in 2012.

He faces six remaining charges involving four different women. Most of them are for allegedly making sexual remarks.

All of the women involved in the charges cannot be identified due to gag orders.

In the present trial, Lim is fighting a charge of molesting a 25-year-old woman during their third meeting at the Hype Records office on the night of Nov 23, 2021.

The prosecution earlier closed its case after calling the alleged victim, her then-boyfriend and close friends, and the investigating officer as witnesses.

DID NOT DISCUSS SEX AND SACRIFICE WITH HER: LIM

The defence, led by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, on Wednesday questioned Lim about his recollection of his meetings with the woman.

Lim said that all three meetings on Nov 16, Nov 18 and Nov 23, 2021 were about work, and that in the woman's evidence, she "coloured" the meetings as though they were social events.

However, he did not discuss any potential projects or any contract to represent her, as he said he needed more time to assess her personality and what she could do in the industry.

He was responding to Mr Tan's questions about the woman's evidence that at their second meeting, Lim asked her if she would perform a sex act on a director and have sex with someone to bring about change.

Lim said that such "inappropriate" and "unprofessional" remarks would not be made at a work meeting, and that if he had said this, the woman would not have met him a third time.

He said "no female talent" would be willing to work with someone who asks such questions, and that it was "out of character" for him to do so as the purpose of the meeting was to work with her, "not scare her off".

Lim said he was responding to the woman after she asked why men seemed to change around her after she became intimate with them, and that she "twisted" his remark about "how intimacy will change the situation for two individuals".

He also disagreed with the woman's testimony that they had talked about the "five traits" needed to be successful in the entertainment industry, including sacrifice.

According to the woman, having sex to bring about change and making sacrifices to be successful were brought up again at their third meeting, when the alleged molestation happened.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THIRD MEETING

The third meeting lasted two hours from about 9.40pm to 11.45pm on Nov 23, 2021. Lim said the date and time was set based on the woman's availability.

Mr Tan retraced the woman's account of this meeting, which she gave during her testimony in a closed court, and asked Lim for his response.

The woman said that during the meeting, Lim repeatedly went over the five traits and stressed the part about sacrifice as she did not give a definite answer on that.

She testified that she understood this to be a "figure of speech", and that he was repeating the same point because she would say no or keep quiet until she said yes out of frustration.

Lim responded that there was no such discussion, and that if the woman did not like what she was hearing, she should have stopped and left the meeting immediately.

He also dismissed as "ridiculous" her friends' testimony that she told them Lim had asked her to perform a sex act on him.

The woman testified that Lim moved from his chair to the sofa and asked her to kiss him, as he wanted to test her willingness to sacrifice and her ability to put on a performance.

Lim vehemently denied this happened, saying he had never in his decades of managing artistes heard of them having to kiss in a screen test.

"She might be thinking we're producing movies like Basic Instinct, Game of Thrones, or Sex and the City. But the fact of the matter is in Singapore, we're talking about shows like Under One Roof, Phua Chu Kang, Ah Boys to Men.

"Being able to kiss on screen is so irrelevant. It's just a convenient excuse she's providing to support her allegation," he said.

The woman testified that she felt disgusted after kissing Lim once and that he asked her to try again more passionately.

According to the woman, the second kiss happened while Lim was seated on her left on the sofa. She said her left hand was on his right cheek, and Lim's right arm was over her shoulder.

The woman's allegation is that in this position, Lim reached his right arm over her neck and into her top to grope her chest.

Lim denied kissing or touching the woman inappropriately, and questioned why he would attempt something so "unrealistic" that would hurt his reputation.

He also said he had tried to reenact this position and found that it did not make sense from an execution perspective.

"In the unlikely event that anybody is interested to grope her breast, he would be using the left hand, which is free, instead of trying to execute a manoeuvre to such degree of difficulty."

He also said that he had small palms and his hands were not very long, making it difficult to perform such a move.

During her cross-examination by the defence, the woman agreed the position was awkward but that someone who wanted to molest another person would find any way they could to do it.

"FELT BETTER" AFTER FINDING CCTV FOOTAGE: LIM

Giving his account of the meeting, Lim said that after the woman arrived, they talked about various matters including her being "hit on" at work and the way she smiles, which she had asked Lim about before.

Lim said they also spent a lot of time discussing the woman's artwork, which he described as explicit and depicting blood, pain and being tied up with ropes.

The woman was defiant about her art but Lim told her it was "degrading to women". He said that he showed her another artist's artwork of two men kissing, as an example of how her art could be "controversial" without hurting her image.

The woman then said she needed to go home and he drove her a short way out of the building to wait for her ride, Lim said.

In his car, Lim said he told the woman she needed to learn how to take criticism.

After parking outside the building, Lim said they exited the car and he waited with her for her ride while they made small talk.

Mr Tan asked Lim if the woman showed signs of distress or disgust then, and Lim said no.

The defence then played closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of Lim and the woman waiting for her ride outside his car, parked outside the building.

When the woman's car arrived, the CCTV footage showed her giving Lim a side hug before each got into their respective cars.

According to the woman, Lim hugged her back. But Lim said he was surprised by her hug as he was not familiar with her, and that he merely acknowledged her hug.

Lim told the court that he located this CCTV footage himself after his police interrogation on Dec 6, 2021.

"I looked at it, I felt a lot better because it clearly shows that nothing has happened," he said.

He said he would have reacted differently to the woman's hug if "something (had) happened", and that from the CCTV footage, the woman did not appear afraid or traumatised.

The trial continues.