Does Threat of Defamation Lawsuit Scare and Silence?

Apart from apologies and deletions, are there not going to be noises in Singapore's cyber cowboy town?

With three threats and demands (Shanmugum, Lee & Lee) coming from legal firms so soon one after another, will alternative news soon sound like mainstream media? Will Singaporean bloggers who write their thoughts against the grain walk into the sunset and say, "Goodbye freedom of speech. Goodbye unjust world." Would they shrivel up and die? I doubt so!

By reading Lucky Tan's "Threats of Defamation Lawsuits : Not a way to win over netizens...." [Link], I think Lucky may have spoken for many Singaporean minds when he compared Barack Obama against Lee Hsien Loong. No, not the comparison of salary, which has become pretty stale, but character! Of one who admitted, "I screwed up!" [Video Link from previous blog] and of another who complained that he should have more time to 'buy and fix' [Video Link from previous blog].

In "An Open Challenge to Lee Hsien Loong" [Link], I'm energised by the wisdom and brilliance of writer of "Under The Willow Tree". While others may feel that it is silly, I would strongly encourage PM Lee to take up this challenge. It will be the most honourable thing to to do if he is serious about putting an end to all the insinuations and rumours of nepotism. It would, once and for all, put the rumour mongers to silence forever!

PM Lee has missed many opportunities to act on what he preached. If an open and inclusive society where trust, care, openness and transparency is what he sincerely wants in Singapore, he must step up to the plate and do what's right for the nation. We don't want a lame Prime Minister. We want one who has the gumption to do right when rightfully and reasonably challenged.

In the same way that Workers' Party has been challenged by the msm to come clean on the saga of Yaw Shin Leong, I, as a citizen of Singapore, seek the PM's sense of fairplay to come clean on this issue without further threat of defamation charges. In fact, I do not take "An Open Challenge to Lee Hsien Loong" as a challenge. I take it as a request from a blogger who is, like me, sick and tired of the arrogance of the powerful who use their riches to engage lawyers to fighten and gag the views and voices of those who question to find the truth.

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