“Lee Hsien Yang’s Defamation Allegations Against Ministers “of the Gravest Kind,” Say Lawyers “

SINGAPORE: Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan attended a court hearing on May 2 regarding a defamation case involving allegations made by Lee Hsien Yang. Mr. Lee, who left Singapore in 2022, accused the ministers of improper conduct in renting two Ridout Road bungalows, alleging they used their influence for personal gain. The ministers filed the defamation suit against Mr. Lee in 2023 after he made these claims on Facebook.

The ministers allege that Mr. Lee’s statements wrongly implied they had manipulated the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) for preferential treatment, including unauthorized tree removal and covering renovation costs. In a July Facebook post, Mr. Shanmugam refuted these allegations, calling them “false.”

After Mr. Lee refused to apologize or retract his statements, he received a correction notice under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) but maintained his position in a subsequent post. Justice Goh Yihan ruled in favor of the ministers in November 2023, and Mr. Lee was ordered to pay damages. At the recent 20-minute damages hearing, Davinder Singh represented the ministers and confirmed that Mr. Lee, unrepresented, had been notified of the hearing.

In a statement to the court, the ministers’ legal team emphasized the severity of the allegations, describing them as “of the gravest kind” due to their impact on the ministers’ “personal integrity, professional reputation, and honor.” The Ridout Road rental issue had been thoroughly reviewed in Parliament following a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) inquiry in 2023, which found no misconduct by the ministers.