The resignation of Singapore Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer yesterday over an extramarital affair came two days after readers of the island’s largest Chinese newspaper called 2012 a year of lust.
The former heads of the anti-drug agency and the Civil Defence Force were prosecuted earlier this year for obtaining sexual favors in exchange for contracts. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose government has cultivated an image of being clean, ethical and efficient, said yesterday that lawmakers in the ruling People’s Action Party must maintain the “highest standards of personal conduct.”
Earlier this year, more than 50 men, including a former bank executive and a school principal, were charged for having sex with an underage prostitute. The former Central Narcotics Bureau chief faces four counts of obtaining oral sex last year from a 36-year-old executive in exchange for assisting her companies Hitachi Data Systems Pte and later Oracle Corp. to win contracts with the agency. Full story
