<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Ex-hotel GM molested job-seeker</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt_89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Nov-11 7:24 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 6) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>41108.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Nov 11, 2010
Ex-hotel GM molested job-seeker
Court also finds him guilty of doping victim with sleeping pill
<!-- by line -->By Khushwant Singh
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Tan faces additional charges, including abetting the illegal employment of three foreigners.
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HE SAID it was consensual but the Malaysian woman insisted that he had drugged her before making sexual advances.
District Judge Ch'ng Lye Beng ruled yesterday that the 24-year-old woman from Sarawak was a credible witness, after a three-week trial that started in March.
He found Tan Hwa Kok, former general manager of Hotel Grand Central, guilty of doping her with a powerful sleeping pill and of molesting her on Feb 5 last year.
'She was a truthful witness and her testimony was corroborated by a friend,' said the judge.
Tan, 45, resigned from his job in March last year.
The court will hear the mitigation plea from Tan's lawyer Edmond Pereira on Nov 22 before passing sentence.
In his testimony, Tan, who is estranged from his wife, said he was attracted to her and had wanted to start 'a long and lasting relationship' with her.
The woman, who was then 23, had flown in for a job interview at the Cavenagh Road hotel on Feb 3 last year.
She appeared to like him and was quite prepared to get close to him as long as she could get a job and live in Singapore, he added.
He also claimed that she had complained of not sleeping well so he handed her the sleeping pill.
Denying this, the woman said that he had slipped the sleeping pill Zolpidem, which is available only through prescription, into her drink before kissing and molesting her.
She cannot be named as this is a molestation case.
The Malaysian also denied that she had opened the door of her hotel room for Tan and the prosecution presented evidence to show that he had used his key card to gain entry.
But perhaps the most damaging evidence against Tan's protestations of innocence was his insistence that he planned for the woman to stay at the hotel for only two days while he interviewed her.
He told the court that he had gone to her room on Feb 5 last year to help her pack. But Deputy Public Prosecutor Benjamin Yim said this was clearly a lie as her key card indicated that she could have stayed on for another week.
For molesting the woman, Tan, who is now a business consultant, could be jailed for up to two years and fined or caned.
For causing the woman to take poison to facilitate an offence, he could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.
He is also facing additional charges of abetting the illegal employment of three foreigners and for forgery and corruption offences.
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Ex-hotel GM molested job-seeker
Court also finds him guilty of doping victim with sleeping pill
<!-- by line -->By Khushwant Singh
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar -->
<!-- story content : start -->
HE SAID it was consensual but the Malaysian woman insisted that he had drugged her before making sexual advances.
District Judge Ch'ng Lye Beng ruled yesterday that the 24-year-old woman from Sarawak was a credible witness, after a three-week trial that started in March.
He found Tan Hwa Kok, former general manager of Hotel Grand Central, guilty of doping her with a powerful sleeping pill and of molesting her on Feb 5 last year.
'She was a truthful witness and her testimony was corroborated by a friend,' said the judge.
Tan, 45, resigned from his job in March last year.
The court will hear the mitigation plea from Tan's lawyer Edmond Pereira on Nov 22 before passing sentence.
In his testimony, Tan, who is estranged from his wife, said he was attracted to her and had wanted to start 'a long and lasting relationship' with her.
The woman, who was then 23, had flown in for a job interview at the Cavenagh Road hotel on Feb 3 last year.
She appeared to like him and was quite prepared to get close to him as long as she could get a job and live in Singapore, he added.
He also claimed that she had complained of not sleeping well so he handed her the sleeping pill.
Denying this, the woman said that he had slipped the sleeping pill Zolpidem, which is available only through prescription, into her drink before kissing and molesting her.
She cannot be named as this is a molestation case.
The Malaysian also denied that she had opened the door of her hotel room for Tan and the prosecution presented evidence to show that he had used his key card to gain entry.
But perhaps the most damaging evidence against Tan's protestations of innocence was his insistence that he planned for the woman to stay at the hotel for only two days while he interviewed her.
He told the court that he had gone to her room on Feb 5 last year to help her pack. But Deputy Public Prosecutor Benjamin Yim said this was clearly a lie as her key card indicated that she could have stayed on for another week.
For molesting the woman, Tan, who is now a business consultant, could be jailed for up to two years and fined or caned.
For causing the woman to take poison to facilitate an offence, he could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.
He is also facing additional charges of abetting the illegal employment of three foreigners and for forgery and corruption offences.
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