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- Dec 30, 2010
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On Friday, 4 January 2013, lawyers for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong advised blogger Alex Au that comments on his post ("PAP mis-AIMed, faces blowback") defamed Lee by various allegations of corruption on his part in relation to the transaction between the PAP Town Councils and Action Information Management Pte Ltd (AIM) and "will abuse his powers to cover up the matter or prevent any investigation into his corruption". Because Au moderated the comments, the lawyers argued, it meant that he “subscribe to and endorse” the views expressed by those comments". Au has since removed the post and undertook "not to make any further allegations to the same or similar effect".
On following Saturday morning, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) treasurer Dr Wijeysingha put up a post on the Facebook social networking site to "apologise unreservedly" to Acting Minister of Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin for supposedly defamatory allegations that are "wholly untrue and false". It referred to the December 2 note on the illegal SMRT Chinese bus drivers strike where, it was alleged, he insinuated Tan had been either dishonest or deceptive in his handling of the issue.
It looks like that 2013 might be a replay of 2012, same old, same old:
circa February 2012 -
Law Minister Shanmugam wanted removed a post allegedly containing defamatory comments about the minister's personal conduct;
circa February 2012 -
PM Lee wanted retracted a post that had, amongst other things, questioned wife Ho Ching's position in Temasek Holdings;
circa July 2012 -
A post alleging that plastic surgeon Woffles Wu received special treatment over a speeding offence was deemed to be in contempt of court, and the article was removed;
circa November 2012 -
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen asked for an apology over a allegedly defamatory post concerning a National Service disruption list that Ng promised to make public. Ng's lawyers rejected the first apology which was deemed "not sincere or unqualified".
For the latest salvo, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu, in a post on her Facebook page, has written that that "taking aim at AIM misses a fundamental point - the management of AHTC". By implication, fair or foul, she is alleging Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) Chairman Sylvia Lim erred by explaining the fault (getting a "red band" for its collection of Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) in the report card on town councils) is not theirs, but the PAP's, which terminated the financial systems provided by AIM. Gentlemen (or ladies), prime your (legal) engines....
Surely there are better ways to get one's 5 minutes of fame - or infamy, if you prefer - than trading allegations. Whatever happened to good old fashioned debate?
- http://singaporedesk.blogspot.sg/2013/01/a-season-of-apologies.html
On following Saturday morning, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) treasurer Dr Wijeysingha put up a post on the Facebook social networking site to "apologise unreservedly" to Acting Minister of Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin for supposedly defamatory allegations that are "wholly untrue and false". It referred to the December 2 note on the illegal SMRT Chinese bus drivers strike where, it was alleged, he insinuated Tan had been either dishonest or deceptive in his handling of the issue.
It looks like that 2013 might be a replay of 2012, same old, same old:
circa February 2012 -
Law Minister Shanmugam wanted removed a post allegedly containing defamatory comments about the minister's personal conduct;
circa February 2012 -
PM Lee wanted retracted a post that had, amongst other things, questioned wife Ho Ching's position in Temasek Holdings;
circa July 2012 -
A post alleging that plastic surgeon Woffles Wu received special treatment over a speeding offence was deemed to be in contempt of court, and the article was removed;
circa November 2012 -
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen asked for an apology over a allegedly defamatory post concerning a National Service disruption list that Ng promised to make public. Ng's lawyers rejected the first apology which was deemed "not sincere or unqualified".
For the latest salvo, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu, in a post on her Facebook page, has written that that "taking aim at AIM misses a fundamental point - the management of AHTC". By implication, fair or foul, she is alleging Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) Chairman Sylvia Lim erred by explaining the fault (getting a "red band" for its collection of Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) in the report card on town councils) is not theirs, but the PAP's, which terminated the financial systems provided by AIM. Gentlemen (or ladies), prime your (legal) engines....
Surely there are better ways to get one's 5 minutes of fame - or infamy, if you prefer - than trading allegations. Whatever happened to good old fashioned debate?
- http://singaporedesk.blogspot.sg/2013/01/a-season-of-apologies.html
