Shanmugam & Tan See Leng say the case was about protecting integrity & reputation
Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng will donate the damages awarded to them in the Bloomberg trial to charity — a total of S$230,000 each.
In separate Facebook posts on Tuesday (14 July) night, the ministers explained why they sued, saying it was about protecting their integrity and reputation.
Source: Cyber Security Agency on Facebook and Tan See Leng on Facebook
Bloomberg & reporter attacked integrity & reputation: Shanmugam
In his post, Mr Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, said the court found that Bloomberg and reporter Dexter Low had “directly impugned” the personal integrity, character and professional reputation of himself and Dr Tan.
Apart from their personal reputations, the “malicious statements” also attacked the standing of their ministerial offices and the ministers as senior public leaders.
Organisations like Bloomberg “should not be allowed to get away” with publishing lies and falsehoods about public officers in Singapore, he noted.
If left unchecked, a new norm could be set, he warned, adding:
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.
Public interest as a whole will suffer, as many good people will not come forward to serve the public, he maintained.
Source: K Shanmugam Sc on Facebook
That is why he decided to sue them for defamation despite having to subject myself to public scrutiny and cross-examination in court, he added.
Case was about protecting integrity & reputation: Tan
Similarly, Dr Tan said the case was about protecting his integrity and reputation, as well as the standing of his ministerial office.
While political office holders must carry out duties with integrity and be open to scrutiny and legitimate criticism, media reporting should equally be “fair and accurate”, he noted.
This is especially so if it concerns allegations that can “seriously damage” an individual’s reputation.
“I remain focused on the work of serving Singapore and Singaporeans,” he added.
Source: Tan See Leng on Facebook
Bloomberg article carried various falsehoods
Elaborating further about the case, Mr Shanmugam said Bloomberg’s July 2024 article about the ministers’ property transactions had carried various falsehoods, the court found.
Source: Bloomberg
These included an assertion that non-caveated transactions such as the ministers’ were kept secret from the public and there was no public record of such transactions.
This is false, Mr Shanmugam said, as Bloomberg and Mr Low knew that all such transactions were registered with the Singapore Land Authority.
The article also asserted that the Government did not know about the transaction, which is also false, the minister said.
The court also found that the article “deliberately targeted” the ministers, especially Mr Shanmugam.
This was revealed by internal discussions between Mr Low and Bloomberg’s senior editors.
They then came up with a “cover” to publish the story, he said.
Source: James Cook University (Singapore Campus) on Facebook
Also, the court found that Bloomberg had failed standards of responsible journalism by, among other things, not giving the ministers adequate opportunity to comment — going against the principle of “simple fairness”.
To increase the article’s reach, Bloomberg lifted its paywall after a Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) order was issued against it, Mr Shanmugam said.
While it claimed that this was to comply with the POFMA order, the court rejected this and granted an injunction to restrain Bloomberg from further disseminating the article.
Mr Shanmugam described these actions as “serious misconduct” on Bloomberg’s part.
Also read: Shanmugam & Tan See Leng awarded S$230K each over defamatory Bloomberg GCB story
Shanmugam & Tan See Leng awarded S$230K each over defamatory Bloomberg GCB story
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Cyber Security Agency on Facebook and Tan See Leng on Facebook.
