MM: A lie against Govt will be pursued - even in cyberspace
ANY lie that questioned the Government's integrity must be
fought, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew yesterday.
He would pursue even those who perpetrated such lies in cyberspace,
if the authorities could pinpoint the culprit.
MM Lee launched into the subject from the witness stand in
response to a quote cited by the Singapore Democratic Party's (SDP)
lawyer M. Ravi during cross-examination.
''Never chase a lie. Let it alone and it will run itself to
death.' Do you agree with that?' asked Mr Ravi.
MM Lee replied that he did not, even though Western journalists
had been urging such a view on him for years.
'I take a contrary view, because I know the mentality and the
attitudes of the people in Singapore - and they know me by now,
that if anybody impugns the integrity of the Government, of which I
was the prime minister, I must sue,' he said.
'And I must demand that either the court finds that those
defamatory words (are) true, in which case I am demolished, or
there's a penalty.'
When further pressed on the point, MM Lee said that his
political credo was that every lie related to the integrity, honour
and rectitude of the Government had to be nailed:
'This Government has lasted through 11 general elections, from
1959 to 2006. Nobody has said the elections were rigged, not even
the SDP.
'I have put myself before the public, my Government, on seven of
those general elections. I personally led the Government and I know
that that was possible only because we run a clean, efficient,
effective, competent Government that works to the benefit of the
people.'
For the moment, however, he had no choice but to tolerate
attacks on the Government that were posted on the Internet.
'But if anybody puts his name in print or verbally identifies
himself out of court with those remarks, is challenging my
integrity, (and) is prepared to stand on his credibility, we will
need to have it resolved,' he added.
When asked by Mr Ravi if he would pursue those online if the law
could capture the culprits, MM Lee said that he would.
From questions of integrity, the cross-examination turned to
what MM Lee thought of Dr Chee's character.
After MM Lee, at one point, described Dr Chee as a 'near
psychopath', Mr Ravi asked if he took the SDP chief's comments
seriously.
'I have to,' said MM Lee.
'Because he takes it very seriously, enough to tell the public
to believe him. If I did not take him seriously and he keeps on
repeating this, and others repeat this, at the end of the day, I
and the party that I used to lead will be totally destroyed.
'Am I being asked to say that your client's credibility is so
low that I should ignore whatever he says?'
As to whether most people would believe what Dr Chee said, MM
Lee pointed to the results of the May 2006 General Election, where
the SDP won 20 per cent of the valid votes in Sembawang GRC.
'Obviously, 20 per cent of the people in Sembawang decided that
what Mr Chee and his supporters were saying in the campaign,
repeatedly, that the Singapore government is run like the National
Kidney Foundation, was put to the test.
'So here's 20 per cent in Sembawang. And that's with vigorous
campaigning on the PAP's side,' he said.
'So you cannot dismiss the effect of such repeated attempts to
discredit the reputation of the leaders of the PAP.'
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