THESE TWO COWARDS MAY HAVE "WON" IN A COURT OF LAW, BUT THEY LOST FOR SURE IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION!!!!!

Lee Hsien Yang ordered to pay S$200,000 each to Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan for defamation

SINGAPORE: Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the brother of former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, has been ordered by the High Court to pay S$200,000 (US$147,880) each to ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan for defaming them over their rental of state properties in Ridout Road.

In a judgment released on Friday (May 24), Justice Goh Yihan explained his reasons for awarding the damages to the two ministers, who had filed separate defamation claims against Mr Lee.

The lawsuits were initiated over comments Mr Lee made on his Facebook page on Jul 23, 2023, suggesting that the ministers had acted corruptly by having the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) give them preferential treatment in the rental of the Ridout Road properties.

Mr Lee, who is not in Singapore, also charged that "trust in the PAP has been shattered", pointing to then-PM Lee Hsien Loong's "failure of leadership".

The Facebook comments came after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) released findings a month prior, stating that there had been no wrongdoing or preferential treatment given to the two ministers.

Mr Lee did not appear in court to defend himself against the allegations.

Mr Shanmugam, who is the Law and Home Affairs Minister, and Foreign Affairs Minister Balakrishnan were represented by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh and took the stand briefly in a hearing earlier this month.

JUDGE'S FINDINGS

Justice Goh said in his judgment on Friday that he was satisfied that Mr Lee had "consciously chosen not to respond" to the claims.

Because Mr Lee cannot contest his liability for defamation as he did not turn up or find a lawyer to represent him on the assessment of damages, Justice Goh said he had to decide the case on the basis of the claimants' case in the absence of any countervailing material Mr Lee could have produced.

Justice Goh said the claimants here are "long-serving Cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament".

"They are public leaders and persons of the highest integrity who undoubtedly have a high standing. Accordingly, this is a factor that points towards the award of higher damages," he added.

Mr Lee is also "well-known in Singapore" with over 89,000 followers on Facebook, a factor that points towards awarding higher damages, the judge said, agreeing with the ministers' arguments.

Justice Goh also found that Mr Lee had "acted with malice" in posting the offending words, justifying not only higher damages but aggravated damages.

"Based on the evidence before me, I find that the defendant knew that the offending words were false, that he published them recklessly, and/or without considering or caring whether they are true or not," said Justice Goh. 

He said the evidence shows that Mr Lee's post came after CPIB's investigation already found no preferential treatment given to the ministers over the Ridout Road properties.

"The CPIB's investigation also established that there was no evidence that the claimants had abused their position for personal gain. This is because trees were felled with the National Parks Board's approval, and the works that the SLA had done to 26 and 31 Ridout Road as landlord were to make them safe and habitable in accordance with conservation guidelines," said Justice Goh. 

"Thus, the works done by the SLA prior to handover were consistent with its general practices and comparable to that done for similar properties."

In determining the appropriate amount of damages, Justice Goh referred to past cases of defamation involving Cabinet or prime ministers.

The general and aggravated damages awarded to a prime minister have ranged from "$230,000 to $260,000 in the 1980s to sums in excess of $300,000 in the last 20 years", the judge noted.

On top of the damages, he ordered Mr Lee to pay costs of S$51,000 to each minister.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/lee-hsien-yang-defamation-ridout-road-200000-damages-each-shanmugam-vivian-balakrishnan-4360466

Shanmugam, Vivian seek aggravated damages from Lee Hsien Yang over post on Ridout Road rentals

SINGAPORE – Cabinet ministers K. Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan are seeking aggravated damages against Mr Lee Hsien Yang for defaming them in a public post on his Facebook page about their rental of state bungalows in Ridout Road. 

Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan appeared in court on May 2 at a hearing to assess the amount of damages they are entitled to get from Mr Lee.

They took the stand briefly to affirm the contents of the affidavits they had filed to the court.

Mr Lee was absent.

After the 20-minute hearing ended, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, who is acting for the two ministers, told reporters that they did not specify the amount of damages sought. They were leaving it to the court, he said.

Mr Singh argued in his opening statement that Mr Lee’s conduct had aggravated the injury caused by his defamatory post.

He said Mr Lee had refused to apologise for his post after receiving a legal demand to do so, and instead “proceeded to wage a public campaign to gain sympathy and support from Singaporeans” against the two ministers.

The lawyer noted that despite making numerous Facebook posts drawing attention to the defamatory post, Mr Lee “has never once said” that his statements were true.

“That is very telling. He has also not come to court to claim that they are true. The inference is compelling that he knew and knows that the offending words are false,” he said.

Mr Singh cited Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s defamation suit against blogger and financial adviser Leong Sze Hian. 

In 2021, PM Lee was awarded $100,000 in general damages and $33,000 in aggravated damages.

Mr Singh compared Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s conduct to that of Mr Leong, who was sued for sharing, on his Facebook page, an article from a Malaysian news site falsely linking PM Lee to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption scandal in Malaysia.

He noted that Mr Leong removed his post after three days, but Mr Lee’s post was available for more than 3½ months.

Mr Singh said Mr Lee had “continued to double down” on the false allegations, although it was widely known that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau’s investigations found no evidence that the ministers received preferential treatment or had abused their position for personal gain.

Mr Shanmugam, who is Law and Home Affairs Minister, and Dr Balakrishnan, who is Foreign Minister, had filed separate defamation suits in the High Court against Mr Lee in August 2023.

The legal action arose over the post on Mr Lee’s Facebook page made on July 23.

Mr Lee is the younger son of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and brother of PM Lee.

A lot more at https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/shanmugam-vivian-in-court-for-defamation-suit-damages-hearing-lee-hsien-yang-absent

Lee Hsien Yang ordered to pay damages to Shanmugam, Vivian for defaming them over Ridout Road rentals

SINGAPORE – Mr Lee Hsien Yang will have to pay damages to ministers K. Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan for defaming them in Facebook comments about their rental of state bungalows in Ridout Road.

The High Court has granted default judgment in favour of the two ministers, after Mr Lee failed to respond to their defamation suits against him. The amount of damages to be paid will be assessed at a subsequent hearing.

Justice Goh Yi Han also granted an injunction restraining Mr Lee from further publishing or disseminating the false and defamatory allegations, which stated, among other things, that the ministers had acted corruptly and for personal gain by receiving preferential treatment for the rentals from the Singapore Land Authority.

In a written judgment on Nov 27 that followed his decision in court on Nov 2, Justice Goh said he granted the injunction as there were “strong reasons” for him to conclude that Mr Lee will repeat his defamatory statements.

The judge noted that Mr Lee had refused to take down his July 23 Facebook post despite having been issued a letter of demand by the ministers on July 27.

The post stated, among other things, that “two ministers have leased state-owned mansions from the agency that one of them controls, felling trees and getting state-sponsored renovations”.

Mr Lee had continued to refer and draw the attention of readers in Singapore to that Facebook post, noted the judge. He also repeatedly posted about the lawsuits that were under way, which again drew attention to his remarks that were the subject of the court proceedings.

In his ruling, Justice Goh said the two ministers had met the requirements for a default judgment against Mr Lee.

Mr Shanmugam, who is Law and Home Affairs Minister, and Dr Balakrishnan, who is Foreign Minister, had filed separate defamation suits in the High Court against Mr Lee on Aug 2.

Mr Lee is the younger son of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

As Mr Lee was outside Singapore, the ministers applied to the court and were given leave to serve him court papers by Facebook messenger, which they did on Sept 15.

While there is no need for the ministers to prove that Mr Lee saw the documents served on him, Justice Goh noted that Mr Lee had put up a post on Sept 16 which confirmed that he had seen the papers.

Mr Lee then had 21 days to respond to the claims, but did not do so.

Justice Goh said the ministers’ suits raised a novel issue of the extent of the court’s power to grant an injunction during an application for a default judgment.

Updated court rules which took effect in April 2022 meant that claimants could seek an injunction when applying for a default judgment, he said. Prior to the change, claimants could only seek an injunction at a later stage, after a defendant persisted in not filing a defence. Even so, the ministers still had to show why the injunction should be granted, the judge said, noting they were not entitled to such an order just because they had applied for it and Mr Lee did not respond to their claims.

“In my view, given the potentially draconian effects that an injunction can have on a defendant, a court needs to be independently satisfied that it was appropriate to grant injunctive relief,” he said.

The judge said he was satisfied in the present case given the facts, and thus granted the injunction. This included that the Facebook post in question “remains published, accessible, and available”.

Following the judge’s decision on Nov 2, Mr Lee said in a Nov 10 Facebook post that he was made aware of the court order, and that he has “now been compelled to remove the statements from my Facebook page”. His prior posts were edited on Nov 10 to remove those statements.

In his Nov 27 judgment, Justice Goh added that there was good reason to gather that Mr Lee would “repeat the defamatory allegations by continuing to draw attention to them and/or publish further defamatory allegations against the claimants”.

He said he would have found an enforceable claim under defamation law if Mr Lee had decided to challenge the ministers’ claims.

This is as a reasonable reader would have understood Mr Lee’s Facebook post to mean that trust in the People’s Action Party had been squandered because of the ministers’ allegedly corrupt conduct, from which they gained personally, he said.

It was also clear that the post referred to Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan, though they were not expressly named, and the posts continue to be accessible to the public, he added.

The implication of Mr Lee’s decision not to respond to the suits was that the court was unable to take into account any countervailing materials regarding the claims, said the judge.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/lee-hsien-yang-ordered-to-pay-damages-to-shanmugam-vivian-for-defaming-them-over-ridout-road-rentals

FANCY THE TWO COWARDLY RAJAHS SENDING AH GONG'S SON THIS RIGHT ON HIS 100TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY!😡

Shanmugam and Vivian seek to serve defamation papers on Lee Hsien Yang via Facebook

SINGAPORE – Cabinet ministers K. Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan, who are suing Mr Lee Hsien Yang for defamation over his comments relating to their rental of two bungalows in Ridout Road, have applied to serve court papers on him by Facebook Messenger.

In court documents obtained by The Straits Times, lawyers acting for the two ministers made the application on the grounds that it was impractical to serve the court papers on Mr Lee personally in Britain.

The lawyers, from Davinder Singh Chambers, also stated that "substituted service by Facebook Messenger will probably be effective in bringing the court papers to the notice of the defendant".

Substituted service refers to methods of serving court papers when attempts to serve them in person have been unsuccessful.

Methods of substituted service include the posting of court documents on the front door of the defendant's premises, sending the documents by registered post or by e-mail, or placing an advertisement in the newspapers.

The ministers are seeking a court order that the papers are deemed to have been served by sending the documents in Portable Document Format, or PDF, by Facebook Messenger to Mr Lee's profile page on the social networking platform.

The High Court had ruled in 2016 that court papers can be served through Facebook, Skype or Internet message boards on defendants who cannot be reached in person.

Mr Shanmugam, who is Law and Home Affairs Minister, and Dr Balakrishnan, who is Foreign Minister, had filed separate defamation suits in the High Court against Mr Lee on Aug 2.

Mr Lee is the younger son of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The legal action arose over a public post on Mr Lee Hsien Yang's Facebook page made on July 23. The post stated, among other things, that "two ministers have leased state-owned mansions from the agency that one of them controls, felling trees and getting state-sponsored renovations".

Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan are seeking damages and an injunction to restrain Mr Lee Hsien Yang from publishing or disseminating the allegations, which they assert are false and defamatory.

They contend that the offending words – which meant that they had been given preferential treatment – are "false and baseless" and "were calculated to disparage and impugn" them.

According to the court documents, their lawyers had sent a letter to Mr Lee on July 27, demanding that he remove the post and all related comments. The letter also demanded that Mr Lee post a public apology prominently on his Facebook page for four weeks.

In the letter, each minister also sought $25,000, which they said they would donate to charity.

The letter stated that the sum was a fraction of the substantial damages each minister was entitled in law to recover if they were to start legal proceedings.

More at https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/ministers-shanmugam-vivian-seek-to-serve-defamation-suit-papers-on-lee-hsien-yang-via-facebook

LHY: I INVITED BOTH OF YOU TO COME SUE ME IN THE UK, WHY DID YOU GUYS TURN DOWN MY KIND GESTURE? :(

Ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan initiates defamation suit against Lee Hsien Yang

SINGAPORE: Mr Shanmugam, the Law and Home Affairs Minister, and Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, have formally filed a defamation suit in the Singapore High Court against Lee Hsien Yang, the son of Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew.

The case is scheduled for an in-chamber hearing on the coming Tuesday (5 Sept) at 9 am morning.

According to notices on the Singapore court website, the two ministers are represented by three lawyers from Davinder Singh Chambers, including the prominent senior lawyer Davinder Singh, who previously represented Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in previous high-profile defamation cases.

With the two ministers officially filing the lawsuit, the next step, following the court procedure, would be to serve the summons on Lee Hsien Yang, who is also the younger brother of PM Lee.

If Lee Hsien Yang’s address is unknown, the plaintiffs can apply to the court to serve the summons through methods such as email, social media, newspaper advertisements, and more.

Subsequently, if Lee Hsien Yang fails to submit a defence within the stipulated timeframe, the plaintiffs can apply for a default judgment, securing a victory in the case and seeking compensation from Lee Hsien Yang.

Typically, the claim amount in High Court civil litigation starts at S$ 250,000.

On 27 July, Ministers Shanmugam and Balakrishnan announced plans to sue LHY over defamation allegations, unless an apology is issued and the statements are retracted.

LHY is accused of suggesting that the ministers acted corruptly, receiving preferential treatment by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) through unauthorized tree felling and state-funded renovations of 26 and 31 Ridout Road. Both ministers have categorically refuted these allegations.

More at https://gutzy.asia/2023/09/01/ministers-k-shanmugam-and-vivian-balakrishnan-initiates-defamation-suit-against-lee-hsien-yang/

LHY: WANT ME TO LIE IN A PUBLIC APOLOGY TO SUIT YOUR NARRATIVES? DREAM ON!!!!!

LHY: COME SUE ME IN UK IF YOU TWO DARE!!!!!

This happens only in Stinkapore.....

SUE AH GONG'S SON.....YOU TWO BLACKIES NEVER DIE BEFORE IS IT?????

Will Shan Ge dump another lawsuit on him for this FB post too? 🤪