Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category
The Far Eastern Economic Review reports on how Chee Soon Juan has managed to put some pressure on the Lees. Under crossexamination by Mr. Chee during his defamation case in June, Minister Mentor Lee depicted the SDP leader as a political failure, contrasting him unfavorably with Singapore’s two elected opposition members of parliament, Singapore People’s […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | Closed
Tags: chee soon juan, feer, lee kuan yew, lee vs chee, sdp
The predictably vitriolic official reply to the Wall Street Journal’s editorial on losing its contempt of court case. The lady doth protest too much? The fundamental disagreement between Singapore and the Journal (and its sister publications) has been that you want to force Singapore to change its rules to comply with U.S. norms, so that […]
Filed under: Commentary, Editorial, Newspaper | Closed
Tags: conspiracy, contempt of court, wall street journal, wsj
Two scathing commentaries on the Wall Street Journal’s conviction for contempt of court, both pointing the finger squarely at the Lees. Reporters Without Borders: “Even if the fine is not colossal, the ruling very clearly shows that Singapore’s judges have no intention of letting the foreign media express themselves freely about the country’s judicial system, […]
Filed under: Commentary | 1 Comment
Tags: asia sentinel, contempt of court, reporters without borders, rsf, wall street journal, wsj
Human Rights Watch criticizes the recent defamation damages awarded to the Lees: “Using defamation laws to silence peaceful political speech makes a mockery of Singapore’s claim to be a model democracy,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Opposition criticism of the government is an essential ingredient of a democratic political system.” […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | Closed
Tags: chee soon juan, defamation, human rights watch, lee kuan yew
Yet another utterly unsurprising conclusion from yet another defamation suit. Asia Sentinel: Singapore’s dynastic Lee family has again put an opposition party out of business, this time with an order from the Singapore High Court to the leaders of the Singapore Democratic Party to pay S$610,000 in damages for defaming Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | 1 Comment
Tags: asia sentinel, chee soon juan, defamation, sdp, singapore democratic party
Dow Jones to appeal the FEER defamation ruling. But are the Lees foolhardy enough to attempt to collect in Hong Kong? FT: Dow Jones is expected to appeal a defamation ruling by a Singapore supreme court judge against the Far Eastern Economic Review that was brought by two of the city-state’s top officials, potentially setting […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | 1 Comment
Tags: defamation, dow jones, feer, ft
LEEWATCH described this Wall Street Journal Asia editorial as “tiptoeing around defamation”, so the Attorney-General has decided to prosecute the WSJ for contempt of court instead. This is similar to the Gopalan Nair case, where a blogger was arrested for “insulting a public servant”, not defamation. The Asia Sentinel has one of the few articles […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | 1 Comment
Tags: asia sentinel, contempt of court, gopalan nair, wall street journal
The day MM Lee censored himself
Rather odd article in Today about Lee Kuan Yew’s first televised National Day Rally speech in 1971. Dr Goh must have been horrified when he heard from his seat at the National Theatre that the PM’s speech was going on air live. For Mr Lee was and is not known as one who minces his […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | Closed
Tags: 1971, national day rally, self-censorship, today
Chee Soon Juan’s new book A Nation Cheated touches on the official history of Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP. CSJ’s speech, as quoted on the SDP website: The picture that emerged was one not quite the story that I heard and read growing up. In a nutshell, the Professor’s [Tim Harper] account was that […]
Filed under: Commentary | Closed
Tags: a nation cheated, chee soon juan, history, lim chin siong, sdp, tim harper
Lee Kuan Yew Watch 
Singapore will most likely be part of China
Alex Au opines on Singapore’s increasing sinification, and why Lee Kuan Yew has made this topic a taboo. Yawning Bread: People look at me in disbelief each time I say that in two generations’ time, Singapore will most likely be part of China. Of course, it’s actually more complicated than that: The process will be […]
Filed under: Commentary | 1 Comment
Tags: china, singapore, sinification, yawningbread