| Dow Jones to Pay Singapore Yet Again |
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| Written by Our Correspondent | |
| Tuesday, 17 November 2009 | |
 Lee Kuan Yew will zing The Far Eastern Economic Review one last time before it goes out of business
See also: Singapore's Lees Win a Case Against a Defunct Magazine No Country for Old Men Dow Jones Corporation, the owner of the soon-to- be-defunct Far Eastern Economic Review, will pay US$175,000 in damages and costs rather than wait for a hearing over damages* on a ruling that the magazine defamed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, in a 2006 interview with Chee Soon Juan, the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party. In a judgment handed down Tuesday by Singapore's Court of Appeal, the defendants – Review Publishing co. and Hugo Restall, the editor – were ordered to pay US$150,000 to the Lees and US$25,000 to their lawyers by Nov. 20 or face paying US$230,000 in total if they appeal the case, which they would almost certainly lose. No publication has ever won a lawsuit against the Lees in their own courts. The 63-year-old magazine, once the most influential regional publication in Asia, will be shut in December, according to a September 21 statement by Dow Jones. In addition to suing the FEER and Restall for the story, a long interview in which Chee said Singapore would never change until the elder Lee was dead, the government also later banned the Review, which at that time had more than 1,000 subscribers in Singapore, because the magazine hadn't appointed a legal representative or paid a $126,150 security bond -- new requirements that at the time were unrelated to the lawsuit, but that the Review called unjustified. In agreeing to the settlement rather than continue to fight the case, Dow Jones issued the following statement: "Dow Jones strongly disagrees with the decision of the Singapore Court of Appeal upholding the ruling against the Far Eastern Economic Review in the defamation case brought by Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Kuan Yew. The Court casts significant doubt as to whether Singapore will ever recognize the fair and honest reporting privilege accorded to responsible journalism — a privilege available in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries with diverse histories and cultures. "The Court ruled that even if the privilege were to apply in Singapore, it does not apply to the foreign press – based on the misguided notion that non-Singaporeans have no vested interest in Singapore society. Having waged this battle for press freedom to Singapore's highest court, we are now resolving this case rather than engaging in a protracted damages process. But make no mistake, Dow Jones does not believe it defamed Lee Hsien Loong or Lee Kuan Yew, and this decision will not deter us from our core mission, which is to provide fair and timely reporting and commentary on matters of importance from around the world, including in Singapore." Dow Jones, now owned by media mogul Rupert Mogul's News Corp, got off relatively lightly. In past years, The Economist was ordered to pay US227,000 in one case and US$125,000 in another. Bloomberg was ordered to pay the Lees US$550,000 in 2002. Apparently the biggest damages were paid by the international Herald Tribune which had to put up US$678,000 when libel charges were brought against the IHT's columnist, Philip Bowring, who is also a founder of Asia Sentinel. In several other cases, the damage settlements were not revealed. Some of the biggest battles with Singapore were staged by the Far Eastern Economic Review, which at one point in the 1980s was banned from circulation in the island republic. Instead, the government ordered copies of the Review printed on government presses and sold without advertising to steal the magazine's content but deny it any revenue from advertising. In announcing the closure of the Review, Dow Jones said "continued losses in advertising revenue and readers are now unsustainable." Killing off FEER, the company said, would allow "opinion and commentary resources from Asia" to expand across all Dow Jones properties. Restall, the company said, would keep his job on the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal and the staff would be offered jobs elsewhere in the company. *Clarification: We originally said Dow Jones would pay rather than appeal further. The only appeal available would be on the size of the damages. See also: Singapore's Lees Win a Case Against a Defunct Magazine No Country for Old Men Comments
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Let's hope he dies soon, then
written by irene puah siew hoon , November 22, 2009
Best outcome for everyone: LKY takes the many hints and departs for his Nirwana. Then the rest of his parasite family will be hounded out of Singapore. Finally we Singaporeans will no longer be the laughing stock of the world.
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Small Beer
written by Mamakthir , November 21, 2009
Paying out a few thousand quiks for character damages is small beer compared to Tumasek paying 52 billions to the West for equally unscrupulous lesson.
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written by Exodus , November 19, 2009
Yes, after North Korea, Singapore is the most repressive state. Despite efforts by the local running dog media to portray Singapore as a free, democratic country, the whole world knows that living in Singapore can be a nightmare.
Votes: +4
People are made to work and work and work. And for what? For peanuts. Meantime, the Ministers take home millions and millions of dollars. In fact they don't even bother that citizens are running away to other countries. They just bring in foreigners to take their place. In doesn't matter if it is citizens or foreigners working on the island, as long as they help to increase the GDP. Sadly, the rest of the world is keeping silent on this. report abuse
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Uphold the pirate principles
written by captain morgan , November 19, 2009
Don't give in to these do gooders LKY! We pirates must stick together and uphold the principles of piracy. This is the best place in the world for pirates, so keep up the evil and to hell with these softies. I make it a point to make my critics walk the plank. No one dare critisize me. LKY, do the same. Fix up your critics. Whip them into shape. Make sure they don't complain about the medical disasters in KKMH and NUH. Twist their arms until they give up. S.E.A is the only place left for us pirates. I know you don't like Dr Mahathir but he is also another great pirate. You two must learn to get along together. LKY, you did a great job intimidating your people - during the APEC meeting, everyone was amazed how cowed Singaporeans were. Not a wimper nor a placard. They must be frightened to hell by you! Great job. I like that. You must take my new intern and give him a thorough brain washing. Up with despotism - down with democracy and human rights.s**t, I am beginning to believe myself!
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written by Dirt Devil , November 18, 2009
If LKY did not get the message from Obama's reply to his insult, then things don't really look too good,
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Small man, big ego
written by Meiji , November 18, 2009
The FEER, like other foreign publictions(but not the local ones), were quick to notice the mistakes of the early LKY government. What he said and what he actually did, well, did not quite match. Hence every meeting with the foreign press was a hassle for LKY. It actually became a stressful necessity for LKY - each press conference was a "quickie". As for the "character" of LKY, recent events show him up for what he is. He called Obama a "flash in the pan". Obama replied by calling him platitudes. The chinese President cooled down the temper of the Chinese - angered by LKY telling the USA to "engage" the Chinese. Great leaders have great character - they will stoop to apologize if necessary because they are representatives of the people they govern, not their LORD and MASTER. Other PMs and presidents like Rudd, Menkel, Brown have at some time in their careers apologized for mistakes of their government. Mr Rudd even apologized for the mistakes committed by the Australian government more than 70 years ago, by his predecessors! Being of great character and the great man that he is, he apologized for the whole world(not in private) to see. The Japanese and Korean leaders never fail to bow to apologize for any indiscretion or abuse of power by a relative of a minister. Great leaders are magnanimous, humble and feel for their people.
Votes: +4
If LKY did not get the message from Obama's reply to his insult, then things don't really look too good, for LKY's character at least. It was not long ago that LKY proclaimed that if he caught government critic Catherine Lim in a cul de sac, he would put on his knuckle dusters and "we will see who wins". Recently 2 patients in Singapore were given anticancer treatment at the wrong dosages. While admitting the mistakes, no one apologized to the patients and to the people. The CEO of the hospital did not make a wimper of an apology at all. Strange, but true. The people are still waiting. Instead the Minister of Health defended the mistake saying it was an accidental mistake. "No one at fault". Well, even then an apology would be the appropriate response. Perhaps the CEO is the wife of potential PM Dr Ng Eng Hen had something to do with it. Was the Minister of Health doing some apple polishing? What is the point of all this? Character is very important in political leaders. Great leaders have great character - like Obama, Rudd, the Japanese/Koreans PMs, Brown etc. Small boys trying to be big man will inflate their egos, throw their weight around and generally go around snapping at the heels of their neighbours. That was the message that FEER was bringing across for the last 50 years. Their readers will know that the FEER was not wrong. report abuse
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written by shame , November 18, 2009
I hope the next release of the press freedom index for Singapore ranking is 1 of the bottom 3. Look at what LKY done with his power:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqhr4wxUFws&feature=player_embedded Singapore should not be talking about human rights. What a shame government. report abuse
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written by Ision , November 17, 2009
"No publication has ever won a lawsuit against the Lees in their own courts."
Votes: +5
That just says it all! report abuse
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Vindictive Lee
written by Suharto , November 17, 2009
The obsession against the FEER by LKY stems from the past performances of the FEER, i.e. what the FEER had been saying about the Lees. Certainly if you had read the FEER from the sixties, you would have known that not all is correct with the Lees. LKY has made mistakes and he and his government will not go to heaven too. The entry requirements would have been impossible for LKY or his government to pass the gates into heaven. But the difference between LKY and his predecessors is that with LKY, no one is allowed to critique him. Do so and you end up under the ISA for being a "communist". This was his favourite ploy to imprison his critics, as the FEER has always not failed to point out. Later when his control of the government became so strong, he could literally sue anyone and get away with it. Unfortunately he became so habituated with sueing, based on his successes with JB Jeyaratnam, Tang and others,that he took on Chee Soon Juan. Probably this occured with the provocation by his sycophants and agent provocateurs. Whatever it is, his ego and paranoia suitably excited and inflammed, the repeated suits against CSJ began to look like it needed a psychiatrist to unravel the character behind the man. His performances during the trial(like marching into the court room unannounced with his body guards) worked against his carefully crafted image. He began to look very susceptible to the ravages of time and the power of "karma". The whole rather sordid affair took on the appearance of a "turning point". It will certainly not be the same again. Each suit evokes no more empathy for the "old man". Rather, people will shake their heads and wish he would just go away and let the people of Singapore get on with their lives - with no ISA and no suits.
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Now we see several fund raising TV shows asking for money for those disabled or jobless and moneyless because of retrenchment. Will those affected be developing a "crutch" mentality? If Singaporeans were to believe the government, then easy money from charities would only create a "crutch" mentaliy which the government has said it will prevent at all costs. If the government refuses to be charitable why should the people be asked to be so?