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SINGAPORE: The Government has written to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to rebut a letter from Reform Party secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam that misrepresented "basic facts".
The WSJ had published a letter last Wednesday from Mr Jeyaretnam which claimed, among other things, that defamation lawsuits - over an August 1995 article in the Workers' Party publication - against his father, the late Mr Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, caused him to lose his seat in Parliament and "not being able to stand again (in an election) before he died".
In a letter to the WSJ, which was published on Monday, Mr Peer M. Akbur, press secretary to Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim, wrote: "The author of the article, the editor of The Hammer and the Executive Council of the Workers' Party (of which J B Jeyaretnam was a member) acknowledged that the article was 'completely false and baseless' and accepted responsibility for it. They published an unqualified apology in The Straits Times on Nov 23, 1995 and agreed to pay costs and damages."
He added: "Contrary to Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam's claim, this episode did not cause J.B. Jeyaretnam to lose his seat in Parliament - he was not even a Member of Parliament at that time. Nor did it prevent (him) from contesting the subsequent General Election in 1997, and being selected as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament."
Mr Peer reiterated in his letter that Singapore "holds its public officials to the highest standards of probity and integrity" and that "the right of individuals to protect their reputation is as important as free speech".
The press secretary added: "In a healthy democracy, vigorous political debate does not involve defamatory attacks. In Singapore's 2011 General Election, the same Workers' Party that J.B. Jeyaretnam once led achieved its best performance since independence, with several MPs elected into Parliament. It faced no lawsuits. Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam and his party also contested the General Election, albeit less successfully.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1188857/1/.html
The WSJ had published a letter last Wednesday from Mr Jeyaretnam which claimed, among other things, that defamation lawsuits - over an August 1995 article in the Workers' Party publication - against his father, the late Mr Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, caused him to lose his seat in Parliament and "not being able to stand again (in an election) before he died".
In a letter to the WSJ, which was published on Monday, Mr Peer M. Akbur, press secretary to Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim, wrote: "The author of the article, the editor of The Hammer and the Executive Council of the Workers' Party (of which J B Jeyaretnam was a member) acknowledged that the article was 'completely false and baseless' and accepted responsibility for it. They published an unqualified apology in The Straits Times on Nov 23, 1995 and agreed to pay costs and damages."
He added: "Contrary to Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam's claim, this episode did not cause J.B. Jeyaretnam to lose his seat in Parliament - he was not even a Member of Parliament at that time. Nor did it prevent (him) from contesting the subsequent General Election in 1997, and being selected as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament."
Mr Peer reiterated in his letter that Singapore "holds its public officials to the highest standards of probity and integrity" and that "the right of individuals to protect their reputation is as important as free speech".
The press secretary added: "In a healthy democracy, vigorous political debate does not involve defamatory attacks. In Singapore's 2011 General Election, the same Workers' Party that J.B. Jeyaretnam once led achieved its best performance since independence, with several MPs elected into Parliament. It faced no lawsuits. Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam and his party also contested the General Election, albeit less successfully.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1188857/1/.html
