TOC’s Terry Xu to pay S$420,000 for defaming ministers K Shanmugam and Tan See Leng in Good Class Bungalow article

In those letters, the lawyers stated that the two ministers would treat the matter as resolved if Mr Xu complied with their demands.

“He continued to refuse to remove the article from the TOC website and TOC’s social media platforms. Mr Xu’s conduct clearly showed that there was malice,” said Justice Lim.

Justice Lim also described Mr Xu’s defamatory allegations as “very grave”. 

“The allegations attack their character by portraying them as individuals who are part of an opaque system and circumvented transparency requirements to avoid scrutiny of their conduct, therefore suggesting that the claimants had done something improper,” she said.

“As Cabinet ministers, these allegations disparage not only the claimants’ personal but professional reputation as well.”

According to court documents, the offending words in the TOC article include paragraphs stating that Singapore’s exclusive GCB market, increasingly defined by secrecy and the use of trusts, is at the centre of a growing debate over transparency.

The article cited Bloomberg’s reporting that Dr Tan purchased a GCB in Brizay Park in 2023 for S$27.3 million.

It said that this was not Dr Tan’s first foray into the GCB market, adding that the Business Times reported that he acquired a GCB along Peirce Road for nearly S$24 million while serving as managing director and CEO of IHH Healthcare.

The offending words in the article also include paragraphs about a transaction by Mr Shanmugam, where he sold a GCB in Queen Astrid Park for S$88 million.

Mr Xu relocated to Taiwan after being sentenced separately for criminally defaming Cabinet members.