This is really getting exciting... The judge will be wondering why his luck was so bad.
Haha! Bro Scro, this is a good one! ;-)
I think he is wondering what tea leaves to read .... this case I reckoned was brought to the attention by some squealer 'unhappy' by the incident ...your guess is as good as mine ... you did mention Cecilia's husband or could be somebody in the government not happy with Ng. So the government has to investigate and this was spilled out to the press on the ongoing investigations. Once that happened, it was bad for Ng as the government has to be seen acting. So I guess the key witness lies in this lady Cecilia Sue ... I think the prosecution were well aware of what will turn out and tried to pre-emp her from standing as a witness and since this was denied, they might as well get the "shit" out early and plan a more vigorous attack later on the gratification part which is the key, never mind if Cecilia is a slut.
For the judge, I think he must be wondering how to act ...He can base a judgement on the strict interpretation on the Corruption Act ... however, if the defense manage to thoroughly discredit the key witness, the lay public will be left wondering how come Ng can get convicted if the witness is NOT reliable, then the issue for the government is 'credibility' on whether they are "behind the scenes" manipulating the verdict. Poor judge .... his whole career could be seemingly "jeopardised' ....:-p
The government in this case, I reckon, simply was unable to close the case quietly once the details are leaked out. I think they have to be seen as letting the judiciary to act "on its own".
But things as they are in Singapore, you should know how to read tea leaves and read them well to survive here. Poor judge and I think he probably hopes things are more clear cut for him to act definitely .... not if it is in a grey area ..