The word "sex" has probably been spoken or written about more this year than in any other year in Singapore and Malaysia,
From neighborhood coffee shops to office pantries to dinner parties, sex scandals involving top leaders, civil servants, teachers and other high-fliers fuelled many a conversation for an entire year and kept both nations riveted.
'I work hard for my money' - actress accused of being Minister's RM1.5mil mistress
Even as the clock ticked down on a 7-day deadline, popular Malaysian actress Zahida Rafik was unfazed. Perhaps she knew she would be 'well-protected and announced plans to take legal action against her accusers.
With an imperious toss of her head, the starlet dismissed allegations that she had received RM1.5 million from an Umno minister with whom she was said to be in an "intimate relationship" and who had splurged RM3 mil to buy her a luxury bungalow in Ampang.
They urged the minister to come clean and account to the public on how he could afford such a lifestyle on his Cabinet pay. Otherwise, they would reveal his identity. Even though the PKR leaders have not revealed any names yet, the alleged affair has been an open secret for months, especially after the actress's driver lodged a police report exposing the duo.
The driver, Noor Azman Azemi, lodged the complaint on March 13, following an accusation by the actress that he had absconded with RM200,000of her company's funds. He claimed that the Umno minister, who hired him, had an "intimate relationship" with Zahida spanning three years.
Afraid of reprisals, a relative of the driver then sought Zuraida's help and gave her a copy of the report. In the police report, the driver called himself the "trusted middleman" who helped channel the funds into the personal account of the actress.
Let Allah be my judge
Asked about the matter by her fans on Twitter (zahida_rafik), Zahida said: "I haven't been doing nothing about it. My lawyers are settling the matter right now actually! So let them, okay! Wait for the good news, okay!"
Her "relationship" with the minister has been doing the rounds of the entertainment industry for years, but Zahida has always maintained her innocence.
Responding to numerous hostile tweets, she said that "only God knows her real story and all others should not speculate".
"Excuse me, I work hard for the money. If you have no money, I can donate a bit."
"It's okay, Allah knows the truth... You are jealous... I'm just going to smile because Allah and I know the truth."
Driver ran away with money
In the police report, which was distributed to the press by Zuraida, Noor Azman claimed that the amounts received by the actress included RM58,000 last October, RM112,000 in November, RM330,000 in December, and RM510,000this January.
Weekly meetings He also claimed that the minister had told him to keep tabs on the actress and that he had weekly meetings with the actress in Kuala Lumpur hotels.
At every meeting, the minister would hand over RM100,000 to RM200,000, and Noor Azman would accompany the actress to credit it into her bank account in Menara Perkeso, Jalan Ampang, the driver alleged in the report.
But Zahida is alleging that Noor Aman had run away with RM200,000 of her company's funds and lodged a police report on the matter last month.
The police are investigating her claims, the report added. - MC
Sex blogger stripped of scholarship
IT IS a sure-fire way to achieve your 15 minutes of fame: Post sexually explicit photos and videos of yourself and your girlfriend on your blog, then spread the word.
That was what Mr Alvin Tan, a law undergraduate on a scholarship, did in October because he claimed he wanted to see how far he could push the boundaries.
So the 24-year-old Malaysian, an Asean scholar studying at the National University of Singapore, first posted his blog address on the popular HardwareZone forum.
When, within days, he got tens of thousands of page views, Mr Tan started a YouTube channel to reach out to his "fans" from Singapore, Malaysia and overseas.
Reaction to his antics ranged from astonishment to anger. Those in the latter camp wanted to know how scholarship holders are chosen and how Mr Tan, who had been on a leave of absence from NUS since August last year, could possibly be a role model.
Amid it all, the young man, who also went to Raffles Junior College, insisted he had done nothing wrong.
He even challenged his university to kick him out.
"I can't say I will be fine with it, but if it happens, I can accept it. I started my company and I have my own savings," he said, about the possibility of the school stripping him of his scholarship.
That, the university did, calling his conduct "inappropriate" and saying it was detrimental to the school's reputation and dignity.
Education Minister Heng Swee Keat had even harsher words for the young man, saying his conduct was "reprehensible and unbecoming of a scholar".
Now based in Kuala Lumpur where he has a daily deals online business, Mr Tan said yesterday he remains undecided on whether to complete his final year at the law school.
Rising political star's ascent cut short
ELOQUENT and earnest - and with a mischievous sense of humour - former Speaker of Parliament and school rugby player Michael Palmer has never lacked female attention.
But it was his inability to resist crossing the line with one of them - former People's Association staff Laura Ong - that brought down the rising political star.
Two weeks ago, Singapore's second-youngest Speaker of Parliament and MP of Punggol East, looking nervous and tired, confessed to a room full of journalists at a hastily called press conference that he had cheated on his wife, and announced his resignation.
The New Paper then revealed mushy SMS messages and e-mail exchanges between Mr Palmer, 44, and Ms Ong, which it received from an anonymous source four days before the press conference.
Netizens also swiftly went into overdrive, digging up and posting pictures of Ms Ong online while taking digs at the gifts he had supposedly given her - mangoes and a Dior bag.
Then came revelations that Ms Ong was in a serious relationship with logistics manager Andy Lim while at the same time keeping to her Monday rendezvous with Mr Palmer; and strong speculation that Mr Lim was the one who sent compelling evidence of the affair to the media.
Still, some questioned if a public figure's private indiscretions should be counted against him.
Others drew comparisons to another former rising political star, opposition MP Yaw Shin Leong, who fled the country earlier this year amid swirling speculation of an extra-marital affair.
Mr Palmer was lauded for making history in his political career: as the first minority People's Action Party (PAP) candidate to go solo in 23 years in the 2011 General Election, and as Singapore's first Eurasian Speaker of Parliament. According to state protocol, he sat at the same level as the Chief Justice.
But the lawyer, married for 16 years and the father of a young boy, will now be remembered for making history of a less admirable kind: the first known MP from the PAP to quit because of an extra- marital affair.
A major figure undone by a minor
HIS family is synonymous with Chinese movies and cinema chains in Asia, and he, with the green movement in Singapore.
But Mr Howard Shaw, 41, a grandson of the late cinema mogul Runme Shaw, became the unfortunate leading man in a saga that he would undoubtedly prefer to be the stuff of celluloid tales.
It all started when, a year before his wedding to a former beauty pageant contestant in 2011, Mr Shaw, the former executive director of the Singapore Environment Council, slept with an underage prostitute in a budget hotel.
In April, he became the most publicly recognisable face among 51 men charged with having sex with this same young woman, "Chantelle", in a high-profile online vice ring case.
But while the rest hid their faces and fled the press, Mr Shaw would walk into the courthouse - with his wife Jessie Xue on his arm - braving the cameras.
The couple had only just appeared on the February cover of high-society rag Singapore Tatler for a feature on "Great Romances".
Despite claiming he was deceived about the girl's age, he was handed a 12-week jail term by the judge - a sentence he originally wanted to appeal against but decided not to eventually.
He was released early last month after eight weeks.
Another 15 men have since gone to jail in the biggest vice ring case Singapore courts have ever seen.
Many more are still waiting for their day with the judge.
They include the man at the heart of this salacious scandal - Chantelle's pimp, Tang Boon Thiew.
He faces more than 100 charges and will have his case heard in court on Jan 10.
Ex-SCDF chief the butt of jokes
SINCE former Singapore Civil Defence Force chief Peter Lim Sin Pang, 52, made the news in January in a similar sex-for-contracts case as former anti-drug agency chief Ng Boon Gay, the fireman jokes have come hot and heavy.
Most famous was a doctored image of the top public servant, who started his career as a fire safety engineer, in a fireman suit and "rescuing" a woman whose legs were clad in sexy black fishnet stockings.
Public carparks at Singapore Indoor Stadium and Big Splash East Coast were the preferred choice for his supposed trysts with three women in 2010 and last year.
The women: Ms Esther Goh, Ms Pang Chor Mui and Ms Lee Wei Hoon, all senior executives in NCS, Nimrod Engineering and the Singapore Radiation Centre, were said to have given him sex or oral sex in exchange for help to advance their companies' business interests with the force.
The alleged romps took place in the married Lim's upscale Tanjong Rhu condominium unit on at least two occasions too.
Those hungry for more steamy details beyond Ng Boon Gay's soon-to-end trial will surely be getting in line for a seat in the courtroom when Lim's corruption trial starts on Jan 14.
Ms Pang will be one of 11 prosecution witnesses to take the stand, and many will be watching to see how her testimony unfolds.
From busting criminals to battling to stay out of jail
IT HAD all the right ingredients for a juicy courtroom drama: an alluring IT executive facing off an impassioned legal eagle defending a tough-as-nails drug buster against sex-for-contracts charges.
Details spilled were enough to make any straight-laced Singaporean blush: The sex took place in quiet carparks and a rented serviced apartment.
It was an affair, he said. It was not, she said.
Then, there were the erotic SMS messages: "Do you DIY?"; "My SP has a chip, it's in your body now."
As if that was not enough, a few twists were thrown into the mix too, including one about whether her daughter could possibly be his.
Former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay, 46, is good at putting drug offenders and hardened criminals behind bars.
But he now battles to keep himself out of jail for allegedly helping to further the business interests of Ms Cecilia Sue's firms.
The hotshot lawyer he hired, Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, has systematically torn her testimony to bits.
Indeed, the contradictions between what she first told the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) - that they were having an affair that began in 2009 - and what she insisted in court - vehement denial of any relationship - were too stark.
So stark was it that the prosecution turned its star witness into a hostile witness, accusing her of lying in court, and applying to replace parts of what she said with her CPIB statements.
When the trial resumes on Jan 28 - when both defence and prosecution will give their oral submissions - Ng will know his fate.
Teachers in the news for wrong reasons
The phrase "hands-on training" took on new meaning this year, with no fewer than five educators in court for allegedly having sex with their young charges.
Students at Singapore's premier law school were shocked when they heard news that a well-liked professor had allegedly given top grades to a female undergraduate in return for sex.
In the first known local sex-for-grades case, National University of Singapore professor Tey Tsun Hang, 41, is accused of receiving expensive gifts like a Mont Blanc pen, an iPod touch and tailor-made shirts from student Darinne Ko, 23, in exchange for good grades.
His corruption trial starts on Jan 10.
But it was not just the male teachers who were hauled to court. Two female teachers were in the fray too.
One, from a top school, wooed her young charge with gifts such as a copy of the book Eat, Pray, Love. The affair started after the student, 15, was traumatised following a boating mishap during an overseas school trip in October last year.
He started to confide in the 32-year-old teacher and the two began dating. They took pains to avoid being seen in public together. Eventually, they progressed to having sex and oral sex at the teacher's home. The boy's parents, sensing something was wrong, confronted him in February. The school was alerted, and the teacher was eventually jailed for a year.
The case against the other female teacher, also 32, who allegedly committed sexual acts with her 13-year-old student in staircase landings and a park, will be heard in court next month.
Regular teachers were not the only ones who supposedly got too close to their students.
Two male relief teachers were recently charged over similar indiscretions with their female students and their cases are still before the courts.
One, aged 26, allegedly touched his 13-year-old student inappropriately at a staircase landing and had sex with her at his flat and other public places. The other teacher, Ross Ryan Kristiaensen, 30, is accused of having sex several times with a minor, then 13.
And while his relations were not with a student, former Pei Chun Public School principal Lee Lip Hong, 39, made news in April for being the first school principal to be jailed for having paid sex with an underage prostitute.
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry is introducing a new code of conduct for educators next year which will also cover relief teachers.
Salacious SMSes
IN THE end, it was the text messages that people remembered best:
Between former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) chief Ng Boon Gay and IT executive Cecilia Sue
Ms Sue: (Text came in when she was in CNB) Why are you stalking me?
Ng: My SP has a chip, it's in your body now. (SP stood for sperm)
From Ms Sue to Ng:
Ng: My SP has a chip, it's in your body now. (SP stood for sperm)
From Ms Sue to Ng:
"You ignore me."
"How? How? How?"
"Do you DIY?" (which meant do-it-yourself, or masturbation)
"MU" (which meant miss you)
"How? How? How?"
"Do you DIY?" (which meant do-it-yourself, or masturbation)
"MU" (which meant miss you)
"Hello darling... I love you loads. More than I sometimes show... Sorry. Love love."
"I hope you are having a good massage. I have some mangoes for you." - ST
From Zahida Rafik to her Twitter critics
"Excuse me, I work hard for the money. If you have no money, I can donate a bit."
"It's okay, Allah knows the truth... You are jealous... I'm just going to smile because Allah and I know the truth."
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