Just how and why did the Michael Palmer affair come to light?
The Thursday edition of local tabloid The New Paper suggests the affair that led to Palmer's resignation as Speaker and Member of Parliament came to light because he had been discovered and on the verge of being exposed.
SMS and email exchanges sent to the paper by an anonymous source on Saturday -- the same day Palmer came forward and confessed to DPM Teo Chee Hean -- showed he and his lover, Laura Ong, were in an intimate relationship.
One SMS read, "Hello darling... I love you loads. More than I sometimes show... Sorry. Love love".
Other email exchanges showed the pair met up regularly on Mondays and that Palmer had given gifts to Ong, a former constituency director with the People's Association.
On Wednesday, Palmer appeared alongside Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean to announce his resignation as both Speaker and Member of Parliament. DPM Teo said the party first found out about the matter on Saturday and that Palmer offered to resign on the same evening.
Late on Wednesday, the PA also confirmed Ong had resigned from her post.
"Ms Laura Ong, constituency director of Pasir Ris West Constituency Office tendered her resignation on 10 Dec 12, citing family commitments," said the PA statement sent to the media.
When contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, several of Ong's colleagues at Pasir Ris Elias Community Club were not aware she had resigned. Two said she was currently on leave but expected her to be coming back to work.
Meanwhile, The Straits Times reported that the married 33-year-old Ong had been separated from her husband before her affair with Palmer. It quoted her colleagues as saying she was lively, mature and capable and that was she was an avid golfer.
Photos of Ong are also spreading online after they appeared on a mystery blog that was set up on Wednesday. They showed Ong and her colleagues during a People's Association retreat in Beijing, China.
It was not immediately clear when they were taken but when contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Teo Ser Luck, who was pictured in several of the photos, confirmed they were taken during a grassroots organisation overseas retreat.
Teo, who will take over Palmer's ward in the meantime, said he knew Ong from the time he used to be the MP/Adviser for Punggol South before the 2011 general elections. Ong was then the constituency director of Punggol South.
Local media reported that Palmer, accompanied by his wife of 15 years Diane, said his goodbyes to 30 grassroots volunteers at the PAP's Punggol East Branch Office on Wednesday evening.
