Mr. Lee Hsien Yang’s post earlier makes two claims:
(a) He did not assert that Ministers Shanmugam and Balakrishnan were acting corruptly or for personal gain in his 23 July post.
(b) His post was made in the United Kingdom and the Ministers should sue him there.
It appears that he has had time to consult lawyers and is already hinting at some of the possible defences – justification/fair comment (in response to defamation) and a jurisdictional challenge.
Surely Mr. Lee would be aware that Court will not look at statements in isolation but consider them in the context of his 23 July post, which includes statements such as “[t]rust in the PAP has been shattered”, “[t]hese latest facts speak volumes” and that PM Lee’s “regime does not deserve Singaporeans’ trust”.
Well, it is not up to me to advise Mr. Lee. I am sure his lawyers will do that. What I do know is that defamation lawsuits do not materialise spontaneously and commence without cause.
Given Mr. Lee’s response and the fact that his 23 July post remains accessible to all, it appears that he will neither apologise, withdraw his allegations nor pay damages.
If Mr. Lee is confident that he will prevail by raising defences and challenging the jurisdiction of the local courts, he can simply let nature take its course and confront any lawsuits that may be forthcoming. There is really no need to respond to the Ministers’ letters via a Facebook post.
Finally, it is interesting to note that in response to the POFMA correction notice which Mr. Lee was required to put up in relation to his assertions on the Ridout Road properties, he claimed that “[t]he POFMA notice is misleading” and continued to ask rhetorically if the “government lost your trust”. Having seemingly laid the groundwork for challenging the POFMA correction notice, it appears that no formal challenge was in fact made through the established process. Perhaps Mr. Lee ought to consider initiating a formal challenge since he “stand[s] by what [he] said”. This would surely dovetail with his stance on the impending defamation lawsuits.