Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the son and brother of former prime ministers, says he has paid more than S$619,000 to two Singapore ministers who sued him for defamation.
The High Court had previously ordered him to pay Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan S$200,000 each after ruling against him.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (29 Sep), Mr Lee alleged that he had paid a total of S$619,335.53 to the two ministers.
He didn’t provide a breakdown of the amount. According to a written judgement released on 24 May, the High Court awarded general damages and aggravated damages totalling S$200,000 each to Mr Shanmugam and Dr Vivian.
On top of that, the judge awarded costs of S$51,000 to each minister.
The ministers have said in lawyers’ letters to Mr Lee that they will donate the damages to charity.
Mr Lee, the younger son of Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew and brother of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said he made this payment “in order to try to honour my father’s wishes in connection” with 38 Oxley Road.
He described the house as his “significant asset in Singapore”.
Source: Property Asia Direct site
He claimed he also did this so that his sister Lee Wei Ling, who is ill, could continue to stay in the house.
However, he didn’t elaborate on the details of these claims.
The case stems from a Facebook post that Mr Lee made in July 2023 in relation to the Ridout Road saga.
He received a Correction Direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) over the post, and Mr Shanmugam and Dr Vivian subsequently said they would sue him if he didn’t apologise for the claims.
The ministers had been cleared by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau over the Ridout Road saga after an investigation.
However, Mr Lee didn’t apologise. The ministers thus commenced defamation proceedings against him.
Mr Lee, who is not in Singapore, didn’t appear in court after saying the ministers should sue him in the United Kingdom instead as the post was made there.
In his Facebook post on Sunday, he brought this up again, saying:
It is unfortunate that the ministers chose not to pursue the case in the English courts.
Mr Lee ostensibly remains overseas with his wife Lee Suet Fern.
Also read: Lee Hsien Yang ordered to pay S$400K in damages to Shanmugam & Vivian for defamation
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Featured image adapted from K Shanmugam Sc on Facebook, Lee Hsien Yang on Facebook & Vivian Balakrishnan on Facebook.
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