Other TRE members had doubts about going public
by Wong Jiahui Alicia
09:55 AM Feb 25, 2012
SINGAPORE - When they first heard of Mr Richard Wan's suggestion to publicly reveal his identity, the other four members of the TR Emeritus (TRE) team had strong apprehensions, they said.
Still, the other members, in a joint email response to Today, said they were willing to go along with Mr Wan's suggestion and, as a result, Mr Wan was unveiled as a TRE editor on Feb 15 in a social media forum.
But the recent incidents, which have hogged the headlines for the past few weeks, have strengthened the others' resolve not to reveal their identities, they said.
Based in countries such as the United States and China, they described themselves as Singaporean professionals and businessmen, some already retired.
While the "old" Temasek Review website was helmed by one owner, the current one is run by five editors - working as a committee - and they seek to reach consensus on decisions. But the four overseas-based TRE members told TODAY that this is not always possible because Mr Wan, being in Singapore, sometimes has to make a decision for the team and only informs them about it later on. While they would prefer to discuss the matter beforehand, ultimately they have to stand by his decision, they said.
One example was when Mr Wan switched lawyers representing TRE regarding an allegedly defamatory comment about Fraser and Neave chairman Lee Hsien Yang that was posted on the site.
In a posting online, the other TRE members stated they were only aware of the changes after Mr Wan had "excused" lawyer M Ravi and updated them that the site was now represented by Senior Counsel Kannan Ramesh of Tan Kok Quan Partnership.
Moving ahead, one option they are considering is registering a legal entity overseas which would take ownership of TRE. One of the factors they would consider is the defamation laws in place in the country where the entity is registered.
But would this move protect the site from further lawsuits?
Mr Lionel Tan, a partner in law firm Rajah & Tann, told TODAY that a person who feels he has been defamed by a foreign entity will still have the right of action because postings can be viewed by Singapore residents.
"But because they are situated outside Singapore there will be more procedural difficulties in taking legal action against the company," Mr Tan pointed out.
And if Mr Wan remains an editor of the site with control of its content, he could still be seen as having responsibility for the site and legal action can be taken against him, Mr Tan added. Alicia Wong
