On her third day on the witness stand, Ms Pang Chor Mui, 49, was further cross-examined by defence lawyer Hamidul Haq. Mr Haq sought to show that the key witness' earlier statements to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) may not necessarily be right.

Ms Pang, the former general manager of Nimrod Engineering, is the prosecution's key witness in the sex-for-contracts corruption trial involving civil defence chief Peter Lim Sin Pang, 52.

Mr Haq pointed out to Ms Pang that in her earlier statement to CPIB, she had suggested that Lim was at Raffles Hotel, instead of Fullerton Hotel, which she had acknowledged in court.

In another example on the inaccuracy of her statement to CPIB, Mr Haq asked Ms Pang to explain why she had said to CPIB that she was afraid to antagonise Lim, even though he did not ask her to perform oral sex on him.

To this, Ms Pang replied: "Because when I used the word "antagonise", I don't really mean it. I guess at that time I wanted to get out of the place and I just gave an answer." Ms Pang will be questioned again by Deputy Public Prosecutor Ms Sherlyn Neo later on Wednesday.