Bloomberg’s lawyer challenges Shanmugam to specify falsehoods in article, he says it’s ‘completely false’

He recalled Mr Low sending an email to his press secretary in October 2023, saying he planned to report “a broader story” on the “off the radar” GCB transactions, and said Dr Tan was involved in non-caveated purchase in Brizay Park.

Dr Tan said his press secretary asked him if he wanted to comment.

“I didn’t think too much about what is there to comment,” he said, adding that the reporter already had all the facts about his purchase including the price, location and date of purchase.

Dr Tan also said he did not understand why the transaction was described as “off the radar” by the Bloomberg reporter, since it would appear in public records eventually. The difference between a caveated and a non-caveated deal was that it took some weeks before it showed up in public records, he said.

When asked by Mr Sreenivasan if it was a “sensitive issue” for locals that Singapore had granted citizenship to wealthy migrants who are paying large sums for private properties – a point raised in the article, Dr Tan said it had to be taken “in context”.

Dr Tan said: “Well, I think that when you talk about sensitive issues for locals, it’s really too all-encompassing a word … for instance, if I may refer to myself – I grew up in a HDB setting, I would say, for the first half of my life. 

“I really wasn’t bothered about wealthy migrants paying large sums for private properties such as GCBs because they were out of my reach to begin with. I was more concerned with getting the next BTO (Build-To-Order) flat.”

However, he agreed that the issue of Singapore granting citizenship to wealthy migrants who pay large sums for private properties is a sensitive one for locals.

At one point, lawyers sparred over a line of questioning from Mr Sreenivasan, who said the claimants were “putting sinister twists to innocently published articles”.

Mr Singh also tried to object when Mr Sreenivasan asked for the hearing to continue the next day, saying he thought the latter would have come prepared.

“Let’s just be reasonable,” said Justice Audrey Lim in response. “The same rules apply to you, when you are cross-examining the two witnesses for the defendants.”

The trial continues on Friday.