Singapore’s PM Lee ‘will testify in court’ if defamation suit against The Online Citizen editor goes to trial

A defamation suit by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong against the chief editor of an independent news site has caused a stir in the Lion City amid talk of looming elections and the leader indicating he is prepared to testify in court if the case goes to trial.

PM Lee is suing Terry Xu of The Online Citizen over an article that allegedly contained “false and baseless” statements surrounding a family house previously owned by his late father and Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew.

The article repeated several allegations in 2017 made by Lee’s siblings, Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling, who have been embroiled in a feud with their brother over the status of the family home.

Lee’s press secretary Chang Li Lin had earlier said PM Lee’s restraint in suing his siblings should not be misinterpreted by others as “free licence” to repeat and spread false and defamatory allegations against him.

On Tuesday, she said that the prime minister was prepared to testify in court if the case went to trial and his siblings “can decide, together with (Xu), whether they too will testify, and repeat the allegations in court”.

Her comments came after Xu said on Facebook that he would represent himself in court, so he could “have the opportunity to ask my Prime Minister – straight in his face – why he chooses to sue me for repeating allegations made by his two siblings and not them, for making the same allegations back in 2017”.

Hours after Xu’s announcement, Lee Wei Ling repeated on her Facebook page the supposed libel that Xu was being sued for, including the allegation that PM Lee misled Lee Kuan Yew into thinking the family property at 38 Oxley Road had been gazetted by the government.

Xu said the pre-trial conference was slated for October 15.

Singapore’s PM Lee to sue news website for publishing ‘false’ statements

Analysts such as Eugene Tan, a law professor at Singapore Management University, said the defamation case should not be seen as a “proxy battle”.

“This is a matter of political defamation simpliciter; PM Lee is arguing that the TOC article in question has defamed him. While it involves 38 Oxley Road, PM Lee does not need to engage in a proxy battle in his dispute with his siblings. Neither would PM Lee’s siblings need to engage proxies,” he said.

“It has to be noted that PM Lee is suing in his personal capacity. Like any other citizen, he is entitled to seek legal redress to protect his reputation,” he noted.

Eugene Tan added that PM Lee’s reputation and standing would probably hurt more if he did not confront Xu, and that it might open the door to further libel and slander.

Though it would elicit comparisons of a David-Goliath battle, “there is never a good time for a government leader, not least the prime minister, to sue”, he said.

“For PM Lee, more is at stake: He will have to win in the court of law and in the court of public opinion,” Tan said.

Singapore’s PM Lee asks website to remove ‘defamatory article’ or face legal action

Bilveer Singh, who lectures on political science at the National University of Singapore, said the defamation suit and family feud has cast a negative light on the Lee family and the country.

“They should have settled the conflict away from public view and not politicise it,” Singh said. “Our image as a successful nation has taken a knock.”

Singh said the 38 Oxley Road conflict was a “personal issue, though with political interest nationally”, and external parties weighing in on the matter only worsened the tension.

“Any social media [users] that take sides will … simply be fuelling the fire,” he said.

Noting that a general election was around the corner, Singh said: “I think [PM Lee’s] act of countering Terry will have immense support and sympathy as Terry is exploiting a sensitive family dispute.”

Felix Tan, an associate lecturer at SIM Global Education, said members of the public who took sides in the conflict would be perpetuating “hearsay and rumours”. 

“There is a difference when sibling rivalries are aired publicly by those directly involved, and by those perpetuated by the public. If a sibling explicitly expressed certain opinions about each other, they are privy to the context and content behind closed doors,” he said.

“However, when a member of the public or a citizen reposts these same comments, it’s merely hearsay and rumours, which could also lead to ‘outsiders’ taking one side against another while not understanding the context of the sibling rivalry.”

By reposting such comments, it would then prejudice one side against another and could be seen as defamatory or even slanderous, Felix Tan said.

Even though Singapore’s government has rarely lost a defamation suit, he said both sides stood to lose in such an instance.

“On the one hand, the government will be seen to be draconian and heavy-handed. On the other hand, alternative voices will be silenced and limited,” he said.

Singapore election on the cards as PM Lee sets up review panel

Chang had sent a letter to TOC on September 1 demanding that it remove an article titled PM Lee’s wife Ho Ching weirdly shares article on cutting ties with family members, and then publish a “full and unconditional apology”, or face legal action.

“[PM Lee] has to rebut and deal publicly with such scurrilous attacks on his integrity and character, if necessary through legal action. This is especially as such attacks are also directed at his fitness to hold office as prime minister and to lead the Government,” she wrote.

On Tuesday, Xu said: “While I will be fighting an up-mountain battle, since I do not have near-infinite resources like what the world’s highest-paid politician would have, I am willing to take that chance so as to stand my ground against such uncalled-for intimidation, especially when it is from a public servant.”