> CPIB officer asked about penis size and its distinguishing marks

THE woman, who alleged that a senior anti-graft officer had hit her during questioning, testified on Friday that he asked her about the size of her husband’s penis.

Ms Lin Yanmei, 41, a Chinese national, was then being investigated for entering into a marriage of convenience with Mr Chan Hon Kwan, a 59-year-old Singaporean

Speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, she said that principal senior investigator Neo Siong Leng of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) accused her of being a prostitute – and an ugly one at that.

She said she felt very humiliated.

Neo is on trial for throwing a plastic file at Ms Lin and causing a cut on her lower lip and a chipped tooth.

The 33-year-old has also been charged with hurting Ms Lin’s knee that same day when he kicked a table, which hit her leg.

Ms Lin had gone to the CPIB building in Lengkok Bahru at about 11am on Jan 14 last year.

She was initially questioned by another officer.

After lunch, Neo took over and told her that she was ‘unlucky’ to have him assigned to her case.

She added that he was very loud and started off by banging a book on the table in the interview room.

He kept insisting that she admit that her marriage was a sham and she did not have sex with her husband.

When she denied his accusations, he demanded she tell him the size of her husband’s penis and its distinguishing marks, she said.

She did so but that did not stop Neo from saying hat she had only married Mr Chan to become a prostitute here.

But since she was so ugly she brought along her 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage for the same purpose..

She had then pleaded with him: ‘You humiliated me and that’s enough. Please don’t humiliate my daughter.’

She said that after she had her dinner in the small interview room, Neo had taken her to his office to record a statement.

There, he had kicked a table that hit her knee and she had cried out.

Later, he had hit her with the black plastic file containing her marriage certificate and other documents causing her lower lip to bleed.

But she said that she was unsure whether it was intentional or accidental.

She also said that the investigation into her marriage had ended.

The court had earlier been told that she and her husband had been issued with a stern warning by CPIB.

Neo’s lawyer Subhas Anandan will be cross-examining her next.

> King of Pop Michael Jackson is dead

LOS ANGELES – MICHAEL Jackson, the child star turned King of Pop who set the world dancing to exuberant rhythms for decades, died on Thursday, a Los Angeles County Coroner’s office spokesman confirmed Thursday. He was 50.

‘Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Los Angeles Times,’ the newspaper reported on its website late on Thursday.

Jackson had been taken ill at his home and found not breathing by paramedics who rushed him to a hospital, the paper said.

The paper’s report followed news of Jackson’s death first reported by the TMZ entertainment website, which said that the singer suffered a cardiac arrest. There was no immediate comment from spokespersons for Jackson.

Known as the ‘King of Pop,’ for hit albums that included ‘Thriller’ and ‘Billie Jean,’ Jackson’s dramatic stage presence and innovative dance moves were imitated by legions of fans around the world.

His one-gloved eccentric style also earned him plenty of critics and another nickname, ‘Wacko Jacko.’

Jackson, who had lived as a virtual recluse since his acquittal in 2005 on charges of child molestation, had been scheduled to launch a comeback tour from London next month.

TMZ said on its website that Jackson suffered a cardiac arrest on Thursday afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. ‘We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back,’ the site said.

Earlier, the Los Angeles Times said the singer had been rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital by fire department paramedics.

The newspaper said paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the singer’s home before taking him to the UCLA Medical Centre hospital.

Jackson had been due to start a series of concerts in London on July 13 running until March 2010. The singer had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the past two months.

The shows for the 50 London concerts sold out within minutes of going on sale in March.

His lifetime record sales tally is believed to be around 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, makes him one of the most successful entertainers of all time.

There were concerns about Jackson’s health in recent years but the promoters of the London shows, AEG Live, said in March that Jackson had passed a 4-1/2 hour physical examination with independent doctors. — REUTERS

> MACC nabs lecturer who demanded sex and money to pass students

KUALA LUMPUR: A lecturer at a private international university who allegedly demanded sex and money from his students in return for better grades has been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The man, a foreigner in his 40s who lectures in Cyberjaya, was arrested at about 5pm after a victim lodged a report with the MACC.

It is learnt the woman, 24, sat for a qualifying exam to enable her to continue her Masters’ degree.

After sitting for her papers, she was allegedly approached by her lecturer who told her she did not do well in her exam.

He then allegedly told her that he could help her provided she agreed to give in to his demands.

He was said to have initially asked her for sexual favours but when she refused, he demanded money as well if she wanted to pass the exam.

The lecturer was also said to have uttered words that caused the woman to be fearful.

MACC director of investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull confirmed the arrest but declined to elaborate.

> 36 years’ jail for raping 15yo stepdaughter

KLANG: A 46-year-old cobbler was sentenced to 36 years’ jail and 18 strokes of the rotan by the Sessions Court 24 June 2009 on three counts of raping his stepdaughter five years ago.

Judge Awang Krisnada Awang Mahmud sentenced the accused after he pleaded guilty to committing the offences against the then 15-year-old at their home in Dengkil.

He admitted to committing the offences between 2am and 3am on Oct 3, Oct 6 and Oct 11, 2004.

He initially claimed trial and his case went to trial with seven prosecution witnesses taking the stand.

On April 24 this year, he was ordered to enter his defence.
The trial was supposed to continue yesterday but the accused decided to plead guilty to all the charges.

In sentencing him, Awang Krisnada said the accused had committed a serious crime.

He then ordered him to serve 12 years’ jail and six strokes of the rotan for each charge.

The jail terms were to run consecutively from the date of his arrest on Feb 28, 2005.

In mitigation, the accused pleaded for leniency saying he had five children to support and his wife was unemployed.

Deputy public prosecutor Siti Syuhada Alwi pressed for a deterrent sentence based on the gravity of the offence.

The victim is the eldest among five children.

The incident came to light after she reported the rapes to a teacher.

> Cambodian youth gets 3 mths for outraging the modesty of two women

CAMBODIAN CHHUON Ratana was sent here by his father to study management in 2006 but he ended up outraging the modesty of two women last May.

The 20-year-old was jailed for three months on Thursday.

District Judge Jill Tan said that granting a conditional discharge to the 20-year-old would not be appropriate as Chhuon had been belligerent and had committed the second and more serious offence in spite of being confronted by his first victim.

Noting that each woman had received $8,000 in compensation, Judge Tan said a short spell in jail would teach Chhuon not to break the law again.

His lawyer Chia Boon Teck had told the court that whatever punishment Chhuon received here, his elders in Cambodia would mete out punishment according to traditional Cambodian practices, which in this case, would include Ratana having to become a monk for six months to a year.

As such, it would be inexpedient to jail Chhuon, he said.

But Judge Tan felt that a Singapore court should punish Chhuon for his loutish behaviour.

He had pleaded guilty last month to squeezing the breasts of two women at the Arena club in Clarke Quay at 3.30am on May 11 last year.

On his way to the toilet, he approached his first victim and asked for her name while holding her shoulders. When she struggled, he grabbed her breasts. The victim sought help from her friends at the club who confronted Ratana.

He initially denied it before saying: ‘I did it. So what?‘. He then slipped his hand under the brassiere of a second woman and squeezed her breast.

The club bouncers soon appeared but Ratana was not cowed, telling them: ‘So what? I am a foreigner.‘

He was arrested.

He pleaded guilty last month.

He and his father wrote letters of apology to the victims, who have each received $8,000 in compensation.

The youth’s lawyer told the court that Chhuon’s father was a great fan of all things Singapore and had sent his three sons here.

Chhuon was the eldest, and the two younger ones were in schools here.

The court heard that Chhuon’s father was counting on his first-born to take over the family’s construction business.

The young man will now be unable to complete his course at the Marketing Institute of Singapore.

The court also received an appeal for leniency from Dr Heng Vong Bunchhat, an adviser to the Cambodian government and vice-chairman of the justice council there.

In a letter, he asked Judge Tan to spare Chhuon a jail term because of his youth, and also assured the judge that the young man would have to serve a long stint in a monastery for his misdeeds.

But the saffron robes will now have to wait.