More cut & paste
Singapore. Friends and associates of the woman at the center of the probe involving two top civil servants were shocked to learn that she allegedly slept with both men.
It was all the harder for them to accept as the married woman, 36, had just had a baby about a year ago.
“I was taken aback when I found out it was her, she really didn’t seem like the sort,” said a source, who has had business dealings with her. “It seems she has been leading this double life.”
Sources told The Straits Times that the two senior public servants were not aware that the woman had been intimate with both of them. Both men are married.
Those who know the woman described her as friendly, but did not think she was the flirty sort. But they said she stood out from her women colleagues because of her striking appearance. Associates described her as being tall, slim and with long, wavy hair.
She is believed to have been educated at a local polytechnic and an Australian university, and lives in a condominium in the central part of Singapore.
She is said to be working in an American multinational software company which she joined about six months ago.
She was previously a sales director at a Japanese multinational company, and it is understood that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) probe is related to her time at this firm, which provides IT storage solutions for businesses and organisations.
The woman, whose husband is a businessman, is believed to have left her previous job at about the time the CPIB investigations began.
A local IT company boss familiar with how sales are done at the woman’s previous firm said that sales executives there had to meet clients often, as they were required to provide a lot of after-sales support.
“She would have had a lot of opportunities to meet her clients all the time,” he said.
Ample opportunities for interaction through her job — at dinner parties and other social events — were other ways she could make many acquaintances.
“There’s also a lot of travel involved in the position, and it’s normal to entertain on the job,” said an IT sales director with 15 years of experience in the industry.
Also, people in such positions are sometimes awarded special bonuses if they hit a certain annual sales target, industry sources said.
The probe involving Peter Lim Sin Pang and Ng Boon Gay, the former chiefs of the Singapore Civil Defence Force and Central Narcotics Bureau respectively, revolves around the tender processes of IT-related products.
It is believed that six other officials from SCDF have also been questioned.
A source told The Straits Times that the woman had been spotted socializing with several of these officials.
The woman’s husband, the director of a few companies, declined comment when The Straits Times contacted him yesterday.
There has been little trace of the woman online so far, with Web searches of her name throwing up a blank.
Profiles on social networking site Facebook and LinkedIn are understood to have been removed recently.
Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.