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SINGAPORE: Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said on Tuesday (Jul 15) they will donate to charity the damages awarded to them in their defamation suit against Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
In separate Facebook posts published on Tuesday night, hours after the High Court delivered its judgment, the ministers reiterated that the lawsuit was about protecting their integrity and reputations, as well as the standing of their ministerial offices.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Tuesday, the High Court awarded S$230,000 (US$178,000)\u00a0<\/strong>in damages each to the ministers after finding that Bloomberg and Mr Low De Wei had maliciously defamed them in a July 2024 article about their property transactions.<\/p>\n Mr Shanmugam said he would donate the damages awarded to charity, while Dr Tan said, as he had previously stated, he would also donate the damages to charity.<\/p>\n Dr Tan said he welcomed the court’s judgment, which had “affirmed that the allegations conveyed by the article were defamatory” and vindicated his position.<\/p>\n “From the outset, this case has been about protecting my integrity and reputation, and the standing of the office I hold,” he wrote.<\/p>\n He added that while political office holders must remain open to scrutiny and legitimate criticism, media reporting should be “fair and accurate”, particularly where it concerns allegations that can seriously damage an individual’s reputation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n