There is no need to be proud of winning this case against FEER. It is a foregone
conclusion. Just trial this case in a international court of law and let us see the end results.

S’pore courts and judges are employed by PAP and fully compliant to them.
shit Times never hesitated to publish it. We can see the horizon though it is hazy.
(_*_).

Two questions automatically arise:

1. What does the respondent think about the whole affair?

2. What is the world’s perception of such kind of “justice”?

I would be very ashamed to win a case hands down in such a manner because I cannot see any honour arriving from such a ‘victory’.

As I see it, FEER was literally bullied into submission. It stood not a single iota of chance to win at all.

I would think that the more one sues others for defamation, the more one defames oneself, irrespective of whether one wins or loses.

The Shit of a US President was here to attend the Apec Meeting only to lend support to a single Nyanmar lady for her liberty.

Obama had totally overlooked the fact that the couples of million Singaporeans in this tiny city are deprived of Human/Citizens Rights. He seemed overwhelmed by the Reception laid out to him and lost all his bearings about the plights of the people of SIN. And worse, he became acutely conscious of Human Rights the moment he landed in China, typical of US Leaders.

Was he not awared that Dow Jones, FEER and Opposition Politians had always been the Losers and the Reasons???

patriot

If the Lees are truely upright and incorruptible, there is no need to sue. People have eyes to see.

This is not a moral victory. The more they use the law, the more they look guilty.

The Lee Family is getting richer…….cmon wheres the freedom of speech?

Did we expect the result to be anything else other than what it was?

This is not exactly new for PM,MM,SM,NM,BM,DM and all the other M’s that we have created and will create to make it a habit of suing the living daylights out publications that they don’t happen to like.

What can we do except read the publications that they sue, because, they have just become more credible by treading on the toes of people that most of us would only dare only to sing public praises.

The various M’s that run the show over here don’t realise that this suing sport actually makes the other side more credible – better get myself sued now…;)

Yay. Let’s write in and ask them to donate the money to Workfare, Job Credit Scheme, and the likes.

Defamation can only do so much as to silence the mainstream media. It will just pushed all the talks underground and under the carpet, that is even than board day light coffee shop talk.

Note: Title should be Dow Jones ordered to pay PM and MM $400,000 not PM and SM. GCT is not involved.

Paging for Mr Cherian George, paging for Mr Cherian George,

I wonder what your opinion is on this case, and the recent comments you made about our Freedom of Press Index.

Hi, if anyone is really bored or has really a lot of time on their hands, I’ve posted the actual case judgement on my blog.

Happy reading! :))

Is the money donated to the needful?
I heard many are jobless and many are unable to pay and pay HDB arrears. Some aunties instead of retiring are picking up thrash to survive and singapore has one of the highest if not the highest gap in income gap between the richest and the poorest?

I noted that the case was settled in Singapore Court.

My condolence to Dow Jones for the closing of FEER, a world class media.

Seems clear that there is no way out except nature to take its course.

What is the point of winning all the battles, when one loses the war?

I gathered this sardonic lesson abt life during the period of my averagely miserable childhood. Our neighbor had a fine leather tanned alsation; his name was Milo.

I frequently played with Milo after school; at times, I would sneak him snacks through the hole in the fence. Eventually Milo learnt how to open the front gate with his paws and he would come to spend many afternoons in our house, returning only for makan. This went on for a while.

One day my neighbor a pudgy man who had a head as bald as a billiard ball confronted my mother; he was clearly distressed and began the conversation by waving a document claiming that he had paid a small fortune for this animal and was most insistent that since he had the law firmly on his side; I had no right to take liberties with his property.

My mother replied coolly: “You may be the rightful owner of this dog; but do you have his heart? Why dont you show that legal document to your dog and try to reason with him. What has this got to do with my son?” And proceeded to slam the door on his face.

The moral of the story is this: battles are fought in battlefields; a war is much more complicated as its waged in the hearts and minds.

This applies to all things in life. Study and research it well.

SD

the INC is too important an investor to the Obama’s USA.

patriot calls the US president “shit”. Why? Why is it Obama’s job to help Singaporeans? Singaporeans are fully capable of voting for themselves and protesting for themselves online and in the speaker’s corner. If Obama actually said something, he would be lambasted in Singapore for “interfering” like a western colonizer. He is acting in the best interests of his people, the americans. Why should he give any “shit” about Singaporeans? If Singaporeans are unhappy, they should take action for themselves.

dear patriot, i opine that we, singaporeans are too naive to believe that the usa will stand up for ‘human rights, freedom of speech, free flow of information, freedom of political participation, etc,’–those core values/principles that it held strongly through its years of endeavors as the world’s biggest-brother-nation. obama’s hasty visit to singapore is just to appease/pacify the pap government supported strongly by the japanese. as he cut-short one day of his trip in japan to arrive in singapore just in time for the group photo taking tells all of the japs hidden agendas. it is obvious that all the above universal rights proclaimed/promulgated by the president are the tool used to ‘hammer’ china for something else in return. if you believe the world’s ‘biggest brother’ is like believing a pig that make-up with a lip-stick can fly and fly!

Did Dr Chee’s youtube plea to Obama resulted in nothing?

Yes U’re right Daniel ! Singaporean are naive type of people. They’re always very dependable , May be they have drink to much “New Water” their brain can’t work properly. Even in Bible said “God help whose who help themself”. Singaporean have very High Education compare to much of Asian country. It a Big laugh if our neighbour people know the type of people we have here. They can conquer us easily.

Hi Fellow Netizens:

although why i called Obama Shit is self explanatory in my earlier comment, me does not mind repeating it here.

Obama was much supported by the international community when he was vying for the Presidency of US of A. Somehow he was treated as an underdog and a minority which was a fact. This is a man who talked about ideals, not just for the Americans but for all mankind. MM Lee was more infavour of other candidates to win the President Post and he expressed it straight forwardly. Many Singaporeans then were supportive of Obama and thought and hope that if he(Obama) won the Election, Obama will help to make SIN more respectful of Human Rights.

But, he came and i suspect he(Obama) was mesmerized, enjoyed so much and sang praises for this tiny city and extended his invitation to the Local Leadership. Maybe, just maybe, he was too tired and forgot how freedom of expressions which was championed by almost all American Presidents, is extensively curtailed in SIN.

However, the very moment he left SIN and went into China, the first thing he emphasized was Human Rights, hence Obama is a man of double(or multiple) standards. If this is not shit, what is?

patriot

Don’t belivered in this paying damages. This is just a wayang, not only this time, Far East Econmic has been the famiLEE acting partner, I pay U for defaming me . In America Society there are plenty of paying to misison the job.

16) smally on November 18th, 2009 3.22 pm
17) sanjay bermuda on November 18th, 2009 3.27 pm

I think at the end of the day, politics is all about power, money, influence and control on a vast world stage that is beyond the understanding of us mere mortals.

I agree with Sanjay that Dr Chee’s plea to Obama resulted in nothing BECAUSE in all honesty, I agree with Smally that Obama (and the rest of the Western world) only believe in democracy, freedom of speech, fairness and justice etc etc SO LONG AS THEIR INTERESTS ARE SERVED.

A friend once asked me what I felt would be the best and fastest way by the Opposition to establish a liberal democracy in Singapore.

My reply to him was “discover oil in Singapore!”

——————————————————————————————————

I respectfully disagree with Dr Chee’s idealism on this aspect. He naively thinks that Obama (and other Western leaders) “truly” cares about democracy, that’s why he came up with the youtube video. In reality, it’s good that our existing leadership formulates our foreign policy based on pragmatism and “what really works”.

Its disappointing that Obama did not even utter a word on Chee’s plight or on human rights of singapore.

YES WE CAN.

ya sure. way to go Obama.

{FEER} EDITOR-HUGO,

should have been very careful in dealing with chee soon juan,
this chee is full of nonsense and unreliable source of information.

i hope this is a learning lesson for all reporters get your facts right and do a
proper home-work before reporting.

“I agree with Smally that Obama (and the rest of the Western world) only believe in democracy, freedom of speech, fairness and justice etc etc SO LONG AS THEIR INTERESTS ARE SERVED.”

So does it mean that OUR OWN (depending on whom you are talking about) INTEREST IS BEING SERVED with or without Obama.

“I respectfully disagree with Dr Chee’s idealism on this aspect.”

At least, he has tried and he has not given up trying.

“it’s good that our existing leadership formulates our foreign policy based on pragmatism and “what really works”.”

oh yeah, it definitely works for …………………………………………………….

By winning, they have lost…

TD #4,

It’s interesting to see that you have the most “thumbs up” when your sole argument is “why you sue, people can see”– Kopitiam politicking. Obviously, people can’t. Defamation laws are necessary, and the Lees are right to sue if they think they are defamed (I wonder how many thumbs down I will get at this point.)

Of course, we will never find out if they were.

Leesjuanpat #1’s observation is more to the point. The Lees can’t lose, not with the courts in their backpocket. Remember the rationale behind not letting the public film the police? How law enforcers are fundamentally upright? I suspect the same ir-rationale would be used to prop up the local judiciary: The court system is upright, that they appear relentlessly partisan, is wholly incidental.

seems like he never lost a case??!!!!
I only mean in singapore.

I wonder what happens to the IBA thingie?

I wonder why its not sued?
If sued, will it be in Singapore or in International Courts?
And IF Sued, what happens if IBA loses?

A lot of if’s.

sincerely
hum is humful if uncooked

I think the questions of “can we trust the judiciary? can we trust the police? can we trust the politicians?” is pretty much a neverending chain argument.

In order for society to function, a balance must be struck somewhere. There must be a reasonable (but not excessive) amount of regulation on every aspect of our life. At some point of time, to some degree, some form of trust must exist, lest we be swamped with excessive red tape and nothing gets done.

—————————————————————————————————

To illustrate this point:
When we buy groceries from the supermarket, we immediately assume that there is a basic level of freshness in the food, and we assume that the food is not excessively overpriced.

When we buy a house from a property agent, we assume that the valuators have done their due dilligence and quoted us a reasonably high (but not excessively high) price.

When we go to the doctor, we assume that the doctor has our best interest at heart. We assume that the doctor will not prescribe bad medicine or recommend a certain form of treatment purely for the sake of profit.
———————————————————————————————————

Just some pitfalls to beware of when we call for more regulation. :)

26) sllim on November 18th, 2009 8.27 pm

oh and the case judgement is on my blog. All judicial decisions are published as soon as they’re decided, so you can never complain that the courts arent transparent.

My blog has the Court of Appeal case, which decides questions of law. Finding of facts are done in the High Court or District courts, so if you want to dispute the facts of the case, you have to look to the High Court decision for a more detailed explanation of the facts.

it’s a bloody long case, so happy reading! :)

Wow, $400,000.00 !!!

I can retire happily and rich with this amount alone!

and that’s how the empire maintains its financial reserves way after retirement. what a SUITable method!

XiiAoGeNgEnX,

“…you can never complain that the courts aren’t transparent.”

I didn’t.

“In order for society to function, a balance must be struck somewhere… some form of trust must exist, lest we be swamped with excessive red tape and nothing gets done.”

Sure, I agree. It’s just funny your illustrations that follow talk about “immediately” “assuming” institutions having our best interests at heart.

They are not out to get us either, if you are thinking of another dichotomy :) They just have to be evaluated case-by-case. It isn’t all black; it isn’t all white; it isn’t even all gray.

“I think the questions of ‘can we trust the judiciary? Can we trust the police? Can we trust the politicians?’ is pretty much a neverending chain argument.”

You know what would help? ——Wait for it—— A free media.

32) sllim on November 18th, 2009 9.38 pm
You know what would help? ——Wait for it—— A free media.

Hahah yeah man, i know what you mean. ;) Here’s today’s situation (quite funny if u ask me):

Is our mainstream media trustworthy?
No, says the Reporters sans Frontiers ranking

Is RsF trustworthy?
No, says the Law Minister.

Is the Law Minister trustworthy?
No, says theonlinecitizen.

Is TOC trustworthy?
No, says the NUS political science chairman.

(referring to the prev article of Singapore = PAP, where the comments got so out of hand that TOC had to censor most of the comments, which resulted in the new media not being “free” either.)

As far as I am concerned, Obama is finished. He did not live up to his own standards and calling. Now I see him as mere words; very clear with his tongue but actually nothing different from Bush nor any of our own pappies.

Although I had vigorously supported him and cheered for him in the last election, I think he will never get elected for a 2nd term.

Yes, I fully agree with “Patriot” too: Obama is shitty, no difference from the Shitty Times.

Politics are mostly for dirty people. Singapore’s politicians are all the way at the bottom of that ladder. Unintelligent, greedy, and lacking in passion and elegance.

Pui

Every single foreign publication is out of Singapore now. So now the printed media is in the hands of SPH. The law requires publications to have offices in Singapore so that they can sue. I reckon maybe they should take this to international court so that real justice can be served. Survey shows that the court isnt that impartial when judging cases align to government agencies.

32 You know what would help? ——Wait for it—— A free media.
33 Here’s today’s situation (quite funny if u ask me):

Is our mainstream media trustworthy?
No, says the Reporters sans Frontiers ranking

Is RsF trustworthy?
No, says the Law Minister.

Is the Law Minister trustworthy?
No, says theonlinecitizen.

Is TOC trustworthy?
No, says the NUS political science chairman.
___________________________________________________

A free media, or what comes close to a free media, is one in which a plethora of newspapers, radio, and TV stations (now internet media too) provide a platform where all shades of opinion can be aired, debated and enjoyed.
Sure, most of these media will be owned by business barons, but in a competitive environment the desire and the thirst to get to the truth will have a better chance of being attained.
In Singapore, where publishing licences are severely restricted in the case of news media, the environment fior free discussion and the development of a marketplace of ideas an debate is not likely to flourish. Over the years, the instinctive ability of MSM practitioners to engage in critical analysis of events, political utterances and government policy has been eroded. Some cynics would say it has disappeared, like the dodo.
Hope for freewheeling discussion (albeit with a dose of moderation) lies in the development of websites like TOC. So, please keep it up, TOC.

Note that Dow Jones did not admit wrongdoing publicly. In future, I wonder what they will do against internet media. They can’t sue many of them in Singapore and they know they can’t win in other jurisdictions. For starter, the white paper on the “repression of political freedom in Singapore” by Amsterdam and Peroff is even more critical and “defamatory” than the FEER article.

Why must the Lee father & Son company needs so much money for? Do they want to buy a nice burial place like what Qin Si Huang did when he died? Beside, was it because the TRUTH hurt so much that they need those defamation monies to buy tonic to nourish their tarnished conscience and make them feel better now? I hate to think about our kangaroo for misusing their power out of fright for the Lees.. Does that make them feel better when Shanmugan fumbled in front of the international lawyers.

BTW, he is flying economy. This money no enough!
Certainly, this continuing circus in our courts, making the judges dance to their tune is certainly too much!

XiiAoGeNgEnX #33,

It’s especially funny if you believe/disbelief everything you read/watch/hear. The onus is on the media consumer to evaluate what the information he/she receives. Do I believe everything ST tells me? No. Do I disbelief everything ST tells me? No. It depends.

If you can’t be bothered to think, you don’t deserve the truth (not that you will recognise it even if it falls into your lap).

GABRIEL #37 made the rest of my point, and polishes off the rest of your post.

wow, $400 000! cool bananas.
like striking lottery.

I congratulate our leaders for win. Well deserved.

This is actually good, for the court case and victory did more damage than the so-called defamatory article itself. The $400,000 damage awarded is peanuts considering the damage the verdict and award had done to the already battered reputation of the courts and the leaders internationally. As one international paper highlighted, the verdict just adds credance to the reports on our judiaciary. With the Dow Jones statement, which would definitely be more widely read than FEER or the local papers, making a direct indication that it would be pointless to appeal, does even further damage. Certainly seems like a strange way to protect own honour.

$400,00 will got to Lee family pocket, what they do with the money? They buy properties outside Singapore. You think they give a very damn about poor Singaporeans?

The Lees have many sources of revenue. One of them is the defamation department.

Would Dow Jones write again about singapore when he finally Retires?

It depends on who lasts longer.
As simple as that.

38) Amused on November 19th, 2009 11.11 am
For starter, the white paper on the “repression of political freedom in Singapore” by Amsterdam and Peroff is even more critical and “defamatory” than the FEER article.

Because the above is connected to IBA in some way, so do you think the father and son dare to probe them any further? they only can be bully to those they knows are weaker party but not the giants.

[...] vs FEER – TOC: Dow Jones ordered to pay PM & SM S$400,000 – Seelan Palay’s Blog: Amnesty International: Singapore Defamation case threatens press [...]

[...] vs FEER – TOC: Dow Jones ordered to pay PM & SM S$400,000 – Seelan Palay’s Blog: Amnesty International: Singapore Defamation case threatens press [...]

@post 33:

“Is TOC trustworthy?
No, says the NUS political science chairman.”

Has anybody asked the NUS political science chairman ‘is ST trustworthy’?

Why do you think SG has to resort to casinos, cheap labour and what nots? These 2 (father & son) have smeared the image of Singapore so badly big corporations or decent investors will think thrice about doing business here. Who want their family & children to live under tyrants?