Shanmugam and Tan See Leng to donate Bloomberg damages to charity, say defamation suit was about protecting integrity
Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said allowing Bloomberg “to get away with publishing lies and falsehoods” would set “a new norm” and discourage good people from serving the public.
Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng. (File photo: CNA/Justin Tan, Alyssa Tan)
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SINGAPORE: Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said on Tuesday (Jul 15) they will donate to charity the damages awarded to them in their defamation suit against Bloomberg.
In separate Facebook posts published on Tuesday night, hours after the High Court delivered its judgment, the ministers reiterated that the lawsuit was about protecting their integrity and reputations, as well as the standing of their ministerial offices.
Earlier on Tuesday, the High Court awarded S$230,000 (US$178,000) in damages each to the ministers after finding that Bloomberg and Mr Low De Wei had maliciously defamed them in a July 2024 article about their property transactions.
Mr Shanmugam said he would donate the damages awarded to charity, while Dr Tan said, as he had previously stated, he would also donate the damages to charity.
Dr Tan said he welcomed the court’s judgment, which had “affirmed that the allegations conveyed by the article were defamatory” and vindicated his position.
“From the outset, this case has been about protecting my integrity and reputation, and the standing of the office I hold,” he wrote.
He added that while political office holders must remain open to scrutiny and legitimate criticism, media reporting should be “fair and accurate”, particularly where it concerns allegations that can seriously damage an individual’s reputation.
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Mr Shanmugam said he had chosen to bring the defamation proceedings despite having to subject himself to public scrutiny and cross-examination because allowing “irresponsible outlets like Bloomberg” to publish “lies and falsehoods” about public officers without consequence would set “a new norm”.
“It will mean that anyone wanting to serve the public will have to face an additional obstacle – that well-funded organisations like Bloomberg will use lies to attack them, put them down and seek to destroy their reputations,” he wrote.
“This happens in many countries, and as a result, many good people do not come forward to serve the public. Public interest as a whole suffers in these countries.”
He added that organisations like Bloomberg “should not be allowed to get away with such irresponsible conduct in Singapore”.
SHANMUGAM OUTLINES KEY FINDINGS FROM JUDGMENT
Mr Shanmugam also outlined what he said were the High Court’s key findings in the case.
In his post, he said the court found that Bloomberg’s article contained falsehoods that directly impugned the ministers’ personal integrity, character and professional reputations, and that Bloomberg and Low had acted with malice.
He also pointed to the judge’s findings on Bloomberg’s editorial process, saying the court found Bloomberg’s internal discussions showed the article was intended to target the ministers, particularly himself, and that a broader narrative was the “cover” devised to carry that story.
Mr Shanmugam also cited what he said were the court’s findings on a series of falsehoods in the article relating to non-caveated property transactions, anti-money laundering checks and trust structures.
He also noted that the court granted an injunction restraining Bloomberg from further disseminating the defamatory article and awarded aggravated damages after finding that the defamatory statements had attacked not only the ministers’ personal reputations but also “the standing of the Ministerial office” and them as senior public leaders.
Source: CNA/sz(ac)
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