SINGAPORE, March 20 — Shortly after saying that he had never proposed marriage to his alleged lover, Leslie Khoo Kwee Hock backtracked and told the court he had asked her to marry him, but only in order to “know her intentions”.

The 50-year-old father-of-one, who is on trial in the Singapore High Court for murdering Cui Yajie, also confessed that he had a “bad habit” of having extramarital affairs with “a few women” at a time. This was including the time when he was with Cui.

Deputy Attorney-General Hri Kumar Nair cross-examined Khoo yesterday afternoon on his relationship with Cui.

Earlier, Khoo gave testimony on what happened on July 12, 2016, when he strangled the 31-year-old Chinese engineer to death in his car at a secluded spot in Gardens by the Bay East.

Only repaying kindness

Under cross-examination, Khoo insisted that Cui was just a “normal friend”. He said he did not know that she harboured romantic feelings for him, and was nice to her only because she gave him S$20,000 (RM60,000) for investment purposes.

He wanted to “repay her kindness”, he added.

Cui had given this sum to him for “gold investments” and he returned half of that to her in early July 2016.

He was scared of her constant scoldings, Khoo testified, and he would not tolerate it if he were her boyfriend. As he was a “outgoing guy” and she always needed someone to listen to her troubles, he would “oblige” her every time she wanted something.

He bought her a cake, flowers and a gold chain on her birthday on April 1 and took her on an overnight fishing trip once. He also accompanied her to a company movie event.

He lied to Cui that he was single, even though he is married and has a son. Later, he told her that his wife was his ex-wife when Cui got suspicious.

When Nair asked him why he did not tell her he was married if he did not have feelings for her and was a “normal friend”, Khoo said: “I told many girls the same thing because of potential problems… in the future. I’m afraid something will happen to my wife.”

He repeated that he was merely repaying Cui’s kindness, and it would “be a different thing” if he was trying to please her.

“I have other girlfriends before… I would duly spend time with them and fulfil their wishes, that’s the difference,” he said.

It emerged that Khoo had at least four extramarital affairs after serving 16 months’ jail time in 2011 for criminal of breach of trust. He had two affairs before that, too.

His affairs after prison included a woman known only as Karen, and Khoo allegedly cheated money from her. Karen was his girlfriend from 2014 to July 2016, when he was arrested for killing Cui.

Khoo also had an affair with a woman known only as Ms Lim, who testified last week that he had proposed to her out of the blue one month before killing Cui.

Mr Nair then asked if Cui knew that he had other girlfriends at the time.

“I have a bad habit, that is a fact — (having) relationships with women,” he replied.

Judicial Commissioner Audrey Lim asked: “Even though you’re married? A few girls at one time?” Khoo said yes.

Nair then questioned him about a video taken by Khoo that was played n court. It showed Cui asking him why he put up photographs on his Facebook account of who she believed was his ex-wife.

“Are you telling us it’s not clear to you that the deceased believed she was in a relationship with you, and therefore she was jealous when she saw a photo of another woman on your Facebook?” Mr Nair asked.

“It honestly didn’t cross my mind,” Khoo replied.

Nair also questioned him on being in Cui’s room alone with her several times before. Khoo said that it was to help repair items, to which Mr Nair asked why his DNA was found on a toothbrush in her room. Khoo said he did not know.

Test her intentions

When asked by Nair whether he had proposed marriage to Cui before, Khoo replied that he had thought of divorcing his wife, Toh Lee Nah, because he was “very confused”.

Nair then asked if he ever proposed to Cui, and he replied: “Never.” But when pressed further, Khoo said that he had asked Cui to get married in order to “test her”. It was not stated when this happened.

“(It was because) she told me strange things over time,” he added in Mandarin through an interpreter.

Nair responded: “The only thing strange is your answer. What were you testing her for?”

Khoo replied: “I wanted to test her because I kept thinking, 'Why did she keep coming to me when she had problems?' But she told me she didn’t want to get married.”

Nair then asked: “If she meant nothing to you and she was only a normal friend, why did you propose marriage to her?”

“Test her,” Khoo repeated. “She always asked me to buy this, buy that. I wanted to know what were her intentions… She wouldn’t share with me the good things she bought. Why did she become friends with me? I wanted to know her intentions.”

Nair then asked if Cui wanted to bear his child. Khoo said that she told him about it before, but in “a joking manner”.

The trial continues today, with Nair cross-examining Khoo again. — TODAY