Alex Josey - The Murder of a Beauty Queen

Jean was an enigmatic female who existed in both spiritual and physical worlds. Though she wanted the most perfect kind of love, at the same time she desired the pleasures of the flesh. And this second best world which she pursued dominated after all. But like most best things in life there was a price to be paid. Jean died, in her prime, in the midst of love and lust. This was the case which stirred the emotions of millions of people in Singapore and Malaysia. Jeans beauty, style, and seduction were moving, but yet more moving was the relationship between her and her brother-in-law, and the sexual world which she inhabited rapturously with her secret lover, the triangular affair which led eventually to her cold-blooded murder.

The Jean Sinnappa case can be said to have been the most exciting and torrid romance in the history of Malaysia.

Jean has been compared with Lady Chatterley in Lawrences novel, but Jean was more passionate, more colourful than the British noblewoman.

Jean Sinnappa was not only endowed with natural beauty, her wealth and her flirtatious nature, made her very desirable to men. Her own brother admitted that she was a woman of tremendous passion. When she was chosen as beauty queen her voluptuous figure was displayed in front of many men. She was truly unforgettable. She was uninhibited.

She married Sinnappa the civil servant. Their marriage seemed to have been normally happy. But apparently, after they were wed, Sinnappa soon discovered her overwhelming sexuality. Night after night, when Sinnappa was unable to satisfy her sexual urge, he took to drink. Jean started to wander, and the number of men interested in her multiplied. Among them were her brother-in-law, Karthigesu (later to be accused of murdering her) and the mysterious Sri Lankan doctor.

Unable to satisfy her, Sinnappa drove himself further to the bottle. Shortly before he died he drank too much at a dinner engagement and he died in a car crash. Thus Jeans amorous nature can be said to have resulted in a mans death. This is the substance of tragedy. Overnight Jean became a wealthy widow. With a fortune of half a million she became even more notorious. Enamoured with her was the man who had stood in the wings all along, quietly watching, Karthigesu.

To many, Karthigesu was a gentle, mild and warm person. He would not hesitate to help any friend in trouble. He was someone who wouldnt harm a fly. How could he murder a woman? Thus, when he was accused of being Jeans murderer, the person who had plunged the knife with such force into her breast, his friends refused to believe him possible of such violence.

As for Jean, she was living with Karthigesu. Yet simultaneously she was carrying on surreptitiously with the Sri Lankan Doctor W. This enjoyment of the favours of both men aroused Karthigesus rage.

At this stage the writer broke off to give a Chinese traditional reaction to the relationship between brother-in-law and sister-in-law. He wrote:

The Chinese observe much decorum in all their relationships: the elder brother is looked upon as a father, and an elder brothers wife as a mother. Jean was Karthigesus sister-in-law, and although they were not Chinese, there still ought to have been decorous distance between a brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

The writer doesnt hesitate to blame Jean for this. He wrote that Jean didnt even spare her own brother-in-law from her lustful clutches. What a sensual creature!, the writer exclaimed, making no comment at all on the behaviour of Karthigesu. Wasnt he equally to blame? Oddly enough, the writer had decided that in this entire affair the villain of the tale is the Sri Lankan, Dr W. He wrote: