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Was woman in Michael Palmer scandal caught in love triangle?

[UPDATE Friday 14/12, 855AM: Adding details of third party in affair]

Just how and why did the Michael Palmer affair come to light? Was it because the woman involved, Laura Ong, was involved in a love triangle?

The Straits Times on Friday reported that the 33-year-old former grassroots director was in a "serious relationship" with a logistics manager, Andy Lim, for close to two years when she began dating Palmer.

Sources told the paper that Lim, who is in his early 30s, would have been one of the few people to have had access to the SMS and email exchanges between Ong and Palmer.

These exchanges exposing their intimate relationship had been sent to The New Paper by an anonymous source on Saturday -- the same day Palmer came forward and confessed to DPM Teo Chee Hean.

One SMS read, "Hello darling... I love you loads. More than I sometimes show... Sorry. Love love". 


Another exchange read, “I hope you are having a good massage. I have some mangoes for you. I love you and miss you loads.”

Other email exchanges showed the pair met up regularly on Mondays and that Palmer had given gifts to Ong, a former constituency director with the People's Association.

Not much is known about Lim except that he is a Anglo-Chinese School and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) alumni. They reportedly met when he was a grassroots volunteer at Punggol South ward and as recently as two weeks ago posted Facebook photos, which have since been deleted, of a recent trip they made to Johor Bahru's Legoland, reported The Straits Times.

On Wednesday, Palmer appeared alongside Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean to announce his resignation as both Speaker and Member of Parliament. DPM Teo said the party first found out about the matter on Saturday and that Palmer offered to resign on the same evening.

Late on Wednesday, the PA also confirmed Ong had resigned from her post.

"Ms Laura Ong, constituency director of Pasir Ris West Constituency Office tendered her resignation on 10 Dec 12, citing family commitments,"  said the PA statement sent to the media.

When contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, several of Ong's colleagues at Pasir Ris Elias Community Club were not aware she had resigned. Two said she was currently on leave but expected her to be coming back to work.

Photos of Ong, who is married but separated from her husband of six years, are also spreading online after they appeared on a mystery blog that was set up on Wednesday. They showed Ong and her colleagues during a People's Association retreat in Beijing, China.

It was not immediately clear when they were taken but when contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Teo Ser Luck, who was pictured in several of the photos, confirmed they were taken during a grassroots organisation overseas retreat.

Teo, who will take over Palmer's ward in the meantime, said he knew Ong from the time he used to be the MP/Adviser for Punggol South before the 2011 general elections. Ong was then the constituency director of Punggol South.

Local media reported that Palmer, accompanied by his wife of 15 years Diane, said his goodbyes to 30 grassroots volunteers at the PAP's Punggol East Branch Office on Wednesday evening.

Related stories:

Speaker of Parliament, PAP MP Michael Palmer resigns due to 'improper conduct'
Punggol East residents divided over MP’s resignation
PM Lee expresses 'great sadness' over Palmer's resignation
Workers' Party calls for by-election in Punggol East 'as soon as possible'