Singapore Blogger Tops Funding Goal to Defend Against Lee"s Suit

A Singapore blogger who faces a

defamation lawsuit by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he

raised more than S$70,000 ($55,700) in four days through

crowdfunding to pay for his legal costs.

Donations climbed to S$72,043.91 as of yesterday, exceeding

his target of S$70,000, Roy Ngerng said in a blog post. Lee sued

Ngerng over a May 15 article, and the blogger said his apology

and offer of S$5,000 for damages were declined. Chang Li Lin,

Lee’s press secretary, declined to comment about Ngerng’s

funding efforts when contacted by phone.

Ngerng’s case comes as the government grapples with how to

regulate comments made online, with plans including the

introduction of anti-harassment laws to curb cyber-bullying.

More than a thousand people contributed to Ngerng’s appeal for

funds for the first lawsuit of its kind by a Singapore

politician against a blogger, according to his lawyer M. Ravi.

“As far as I know, this is the first time a political

leader in Singapore is suing a blogger,” Ravi said when

contacted by phone today.

Ngerng was asked to apologize to the prime minister and

remove the article which “impugns his character, credit and

integrity,” according to a copy of a letter by Davinder Singh,

Lee’s lawyer, which was posted on Ngerng’s website on May 19.

Ngerng’s apology wasn’t genuine and was instead used “to

raise his public profile, garner support and sympathy and renew

his attack” against Lee, according to a copy of another letter

from Lee’s lawyer posted on Ngerng’s blog on May 26.

To contact the reporters on this story:

Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in Singapore at

cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net;

Andrea Tan in Singapore at

atan17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

Linus Chua at

lchua@bloomberg.net

Chua Baizhen

Singapore Blogger Tops Funding Goal to Defend Against Lee"s Suit