Businessweek reported that the Singaporean blogger who is currently facing defamation charges filed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was able to raise more than enough to fund his legal fight against the politician. For his four-day campaign, Roy Ngerng said in a blog post that donations had already reached over S$70,000 ($55,700).
Ngerng was reportedly sued by Lee over a May 15 article, and that an apology and a financial offer of S$5,000 for damages were rejected by Lee's camp.
According to a copy of a letter by Davinder Singh, Lee's lawyer, the prime minister is asking for Ngerng to remove the article from the blogger's website and issue an apology for the write-up. Singh said that the letter had impugn Lee's character, credit and integrity. When Ngerng acknowledged the terms of the letter sent by Singh, another letter was sent to the blogger, this time saying that the apology was not genuine. Moreover, Singh has accused Ngerng of using the apology as a platform to raise his public profile, generate support and sympathy from the public and renew his attack against the prime minister. The second letter was also published on Ngerng's blog on May 26, Businessweek said.
The news agency said that Ngerng's case came at the time when the Singaporean government is struggling to regulate online comments. Plans are underway to introduce anti-harassment laws in order to curb cyber-bullying incited by such comments. In Ngerng's case, however, the blogger appeared to have garnered sympathy from the public, as his lawyer M Ravi told Businessweek that over a thousand people have contributed to his client's legal fund. Ravi also said that Ngerng's case is also the first of its kind by a Singaporean politician against a blogger.
"As far as I know, this is the first time a political leader in Singapore is suing a blogger," Ravi stressed.
Lee's press secretary, Chang Li Lin, has denied to provide a comment when contacted by the news agency by phone about Ngerng's legal fund.
