WHEN Ng Boon Gay was charged with corruption in June, his wife said in an e-mail statement: “I have never doubted his professional integrity and will continue to stand by him.”
Madam Yap Yen Yen, 44, has kept true to her word in the 14 days that her husband has been on trial, despite having to listen to sordid details about his relationship with Ms Cecilia Sue.
Every day without fail, she has showed up in court by her husband’s side.
She took her usual spot in the front row in Court 5, several metres behind him, and sat stoically through testimony that painted two different versions of the former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) head, neither of them flattering.
In one, told by Ng himself, he had a three-year affair with Ms Sue, who he called his “part-time lover”.
He gave details about how Ms Sue routinely gave him oral sex at different carparks and how they once had sexual intercourse at a Great World City apartment.
In the other version, told by Ms Sue, Ng forced himself repeatedly on her. She was then an IT sales executive who did business with CNB.
Ms Sue said she did not fight off his advances out of fear of his powerful connections.
Throughout, Madam Yap’s expressions never gave much away.
During breaks, she would offer Ng bottles of mineral water, put her hand on his shoulder or just stand silently in front of him to remind him that she was there for him.
The two stories she heard about her husband pretty much summarise the case so far.
The prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Ken Hwee, maintains that Ng, who faces four charges of receiving oral sex from Ms Sue, is corrupt.
Ms Sue was a sales manager at Hitachi Data Systems before becoming senior sales manager at Oracle Corporation Singapore.
Ng is accused of obtaining sexual gratification from her to further the business interests of the companies.
The prosecution argued that Ng believed the four occasions he received oral sex from Ms Sue were offered to him as inducement.
The defence, led by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, attempted to show that Ng and Ms Sue’s relationship was of a sexual nature and went on for three years without a break.
Mr Tan argued that while Ng was an unfaithful husband, he was not corrupt.
There were discrepancies in the testimonies by MsSue and Ng
Much of the cross-examination of the duo focused on this and also brought into question the role of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
When Ms Sue first took the stand on Sept 26, she was accompanied by a posse of seven bodyguards who turned out to be CPIB officers.
They were with her each time she arrived at and left the Subordinate Courts building. Their presence caused members of the public to question why public resources were being spent on one woman.
CPIB’s deputy director of investigations, Mr Teng Khee Fatt, was photographed on Oct 2 in a car with MsSue as she left the building.
The defence later asked if the CPIB had shown preferential treatment to her. Both sides tried to show that the witnesses lied, either on the stand or when they gave statements to the CPIB.
The defence tried to impeach Ms Sue’s credibility and the prosecution did likewise with Ng.
The defence, for example, accused Ms Sue of lying that their relationship was not a sexual one.
Mr Tan rubbished her testimony that Ng was just a business contact, pointing to one of her CPIB statements where she said she was so in love with him that she was willing to divorce her husband.
Mr Tan also focused on the many messages they had sent each other, some of a sexual nature, late in the night.
The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that Ng had made 10 discrepancies between his CPIB statements and court testimony.
DPP Tan argued that Ng, as a high-ranking civil servant, must have known that he was in a position to throw a spanner in the works regarding Ms Sue’s deals if she had offended him.
Ng said he would have done no such thing.
Yesterday, both sides wrapped up their cases.
Final submissions are scheduled for Jan 28 before District Judge Siva Shanmugam gives his verdict.
Before that, another top officer from the Home Team, former Singapore Civil Defence Force chief Peter Lim, will appear in court earlier that month in a similar sex-for-contracts case.
Whatever the verdict, the 14 days of m&d-raking testimony in Ng’s trial have already seen reputations tarnished and marriages tested.
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