IP: Only in Singapore...

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

From: "--Todd Lappin-->" <telstar () wired com>
Subject: Only in Singapore...
Cc: farber () cis upenn edu




> From the "Only in Singapore" file...


Get this: Singapore's Prime Minister and former PM accuse an opposition
politician of being "an anti-Christian Chinese chauvinist."  The opposition
politician responds by calling the PM's "liars."  The PMs, in turn, sue for
libel, and and a judge awards them $5.6 million.


Kafka would've loved this.


--Todd-->




Thursday May 29 5:25 PM EDT


Singapore Leaders Win Record Damages From Foe




SINGAPORE (Reuter) - Singapore's prime minister and his senior
colleagues were awarded a record $5.65 million for libel Thursday after
a political foe called them liars in a judgment which could further hurt
the city-state's image.


Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and 10 colleagues, including Senior
Minister Lee Kuan Yew, sued Tang Liang Hong for calling them liars after
they accused him of being "an anti-Christian Chinese chauvinist" who
endangered Singapore's racial harmony.


Opposition leaders and other critics Singapore's libel laws restrict
freedom of speech and are used as a tool ruin opposition politicians and
force them out of the political arena.


But the government says those who have been sued, including
international publications, often make statements they are unable to
justify in court.


The suits against Tang were the latest of many against opposition
figures involving charges of libel, and like all cases in Singapore they
are tried by a judge without a jury.


Analysts said they were not surprised by the size of the award after Goh
and his colleagues demanded damages totaling $8.95 million. But they
said it could hurt Singapore's image.


"It gives Singapore's critics in the U.S. added ammunition," analyst
Bruce Gale of the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy told Reuters.
The United States is Singapore's biggest trading partner.


"Singapore will continue to be dogged with an authoritarian image in the
U.S. where there are many human rights groups," Gale said.


Goh said after winning the last election in January that voters had
"rejected Western-style liberal democracy and freedoms putting
individual rights over that of society."


Justice Chao Hick Tin said Goh and his colleagues were justified in
calling Tang "an anti-English education, anti-Christian Chinese
chauvinist" who was a danger to Singapore's racial harmony.


Tang had made "malicious" attacks against the plaintiffs which could
have affected "their moral authority to govern," including calling them
liars over the chauvinism charge, Chao said in a written judgement.


Tang, who fled to the south Malaysian state of Johor after losing a
bitterly contested general election fight in January, told Reuters he
would appeal the damages.


"Surely I am not satisfied with this because to me they are not entitled
to one cent," Tang said by telephone from Hong Kong.


Tang lost the libel cases in March by failing to turn up to defend
himself against charges which mounted almost every time he spoke to the
media from Johor, London and Hong Kong.


Goh and his People's Action Party (PAP) colleagues sought aggravated
damages, saying Tang continued to defame them in interviews after
fleeing Singapore, saying he had received death threats.


The comments for which he was sued included an interview with
Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, which reported that he claimed "the
suits were being used as a political weapon to squeeze him out of the
political area and to 'bury him politically and financially."'


"It is clear that the above quoted remarks constituted another grave
attack" on Goh, Lee and their colleagues, Justice Chao said. He made it
clear that such comments justified aggravated damages.


"This court must show its indignation at the injury inflicted on the
plaintiffs," he said. "The more enormous, outrageous, scandalous or
scurrilous the defamation, and/or aggravation, the greater the damages."




Goh, involved in three of the suits against Tang, was awarded $972,000.
Lee, involved in five, won the biggest amount -- $2,083,000.


Chao hinted that there could be further action against Tang, who was
heavily criticized by judges for his manevering during a rash of court
hearings leading up to the damages award.


"Whether Mr. Tang should be dealt with for scandalizing the courts is a
matter which may have to be taken up at some other time," Chao said.


Tang was also formally charged last Friday with 33 counts of tax
evasion. The court issued an arrest warrant for him.


He faces a fine of three times the amount of tax he is accused of
evading -- $146,520 -- plus a fine of $6,940 on each charge. He could
also be jailed for three years on each charge.


Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan said the award was a
setback for opposition parties, which won just two of the 83
parliamentary seats in the general election.


"Singapore is not moving ahead where democracy is concerned," Chee said,
"I mean being able to innovate, being able to speak our minds...a
climate where entrepreneurial spirit can thrive."


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