Blogger given till Monday to make offer of damages: PM Lee’s lawyers

SINGAPORE — Lawyers for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have given blogger Roy Ngerng until 5pm on Monday to make an offer of damages and costs, failing which, legal proceedings will be commenced.

The 33-year-old healthcare worker had earlier today apologised for a defamatory article against Mr Lee he wrote, but asked for damages sought against him to be dropped.

But Senior Counsel Davinder Singh said Mr Ngerng’s allegation that Mr Lee had misappropriated monies in the Central Provident Fund was a “very grave and malicious allegation”.

“In the circumstances, our client is fully entitled to damages,” he wrote. “The damages that are offered should reflect, among other things, the gravity of the false and malicious charge, the fact that your client knows and accepts that it is completely without foundation, its widespread circulation and the standing of our client.”

Mr Ngerng had also claimed that legal costs cannot be demanded of him at this stage of the legal process, but this was refuted by Mr Lee’s lawyers.

Mr Ngerng was served the letter of demand after his May 15 article entitled “Where your CPF money is going: Learning from the City Harvest Trial”. He was demanded to remove the offending article, publish an apology, as well as make an offer of damages.