PM Lee rejects blogger's offer of $5,000 as damages

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has rejected blogger Roy Ngerng's offer of $5,000 as damages, his lawyer Davinder Singh said in a letter to Mr Ngerng's lawyer on Tuesday.

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Mr Singh said that the offer is "derisory and "completely disregards" the gravity of Mr Ngerng's conduct, the undisputed fact that the libel against Mr Lee is false and malicious, and Mr Ngerng's "calculated and systematic aggravation of the injury and distress" to Mr Lee.

"It is clear that your client has always known that the allegation of criminal misappropriation against our client is false, but chose nonetheless to publish it in a sensational manner, so as to raise his public profile and to gain support."

In a letter from Mr Ngerng's lawyer, Mr M. Ravi, on May 23, Mr Ngerng said he would apologise and not make any further allegations to the same effect. But Mr Singh said that apology was "completely insincere" and "designed to mislead our client and the public".

"He always intended to and did opportunistically use the occassion of our client's lawful and legitimate demand to raise his public profile, garner support and sympathy and renew his attack against our client."

Mr Singh said Mr Ngerng "pursued a course which was designed to aggrevate the injury and distress to our client by publishing or republishing various posts and a YouTube video". He also repeated the libel, went back on his apology and broke his undertaking, said Mr Singh. As a result, Mr Lee became "entitled to recover aggravated damages".

Despite that, Mr Lee had offered to waive aggravated damages that he was entitled to, provided Mr Ngerng removed the 4 blog posts and YouTube video. Mr Ngerng said he would.

But Mr Ngerng did not do so. Instead, he made YouTube video private and also sent out two emails notifying addressees of where they could continue to read the posts.

"He therefore has only himself to blame for losing the opportunity of not having to pay for aggravated damages," said Mr Singh.

When asked to explain Mr Ngerng's actions, Mr M Ravi wrote a letter to Mr Singh saying it was a "momentary lapse of judgment", to which Mr Singh said the explanation is "disingenuous and incredible".

Mr Lee had been prepared to forego a substantial amount of the damages that he was entitled to if Mr Ngerng had "behaved honourably", said Mr Singh. Instead, Mr Ngerng had used the opportunity to "promote himself".

Mr Singh also said Mr Ngerng has not only misled the public and Mr Lee, but has also not come clean with Mr Ravi about his intention to send those two emails.

Mr Ravi is to let Mr Singh know by 5 pm on Friday if he has instructions to and will accept service of process on Mr Ngerng's behalf, the letter concluded.

maryanns@sph.com.sg

Singapore blogger offers PM compensation for defamatory post

AFP - A Singaporean blogger accused by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of defamation on Tuesday offered compensation after initially refusing to do so, as the premier's lawyer accused him of lacking contrition.

"Our client proposes to offer $5,000 as damages to the Prime Minister," Roy Ngerng Yi Ling's legal counsel M. Ravi said in a letter to Lee's lawyer.

"The sum of $5,000 is based on our client's modest living and income that he derives from working as a healthcare worker," Ravi wrote in the letter, released to the media.

Lee's lawyer Davinder Singh last week demanded an apology and compensation from 33-year-old Ngerng for a May 15 article seen as accusing the premier of corruption.

Singh had said the commentary, penned by Ngerng and posted on his blog The Heart Truths, implied that "Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore and the chairman of GIC, is guilty of criminal misappropriation of the monies paid by Singaporeans to the CPF (Central Provident Fund)".

GIC is a sovereign wealth fund that manages more than $100 billion of the city-state's foreign reserves. CPF is the state pension fund.

Ngerng has said the article was meant to call for greater transparency on how the pension fund is invested by the government through its two sovereign wealth firms.

He took down the articles and links to it, and on Friday apologised unreservedly, while urging Lee not to seek damages.

However, Singh rebutted Monday that his apology "was not and never meant to be genuine" after Ngerng circulated a YouTube video over the weekend where he spoke about his legal predicament.

Singh said the blogger was "opportunistically" using the case to gain sympathy and renew his attacks against Lee, and that the the prime minister was entitled to "aggravated damages".