Blogger Roy Ngerng is worried that the damages in a defamation case filed against him by Singapore's prime minister, will deal him a financial blow from which he may not be able to recover.
Excerpt of a CPJ Blog post by Sumit Galhotra, CPJ Asia Program Research Associate
“If we want our freedom, we have to fight for it,” wrote blogger Roy Ngerng last year after he was sued for defamation by Singapore’s prime minister. The case was sparked by a blog post in which Ngerng allegedly suggested Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had misappropriated funds in a state pension system. In November, the court ruled in favor of the prime minister.
A court will be assessing damages on July 1-3. But the blogger is worried that the damages, which will be announced after the hearings, will deal him a financial blow from which he may not be able to recover.
“When the damages come, it is likely that I would be made bankrupt,” Ngerng told CPJ. “For me, it has been an enduring time of ups and downs, sometimes of hope and sometimes of dismay, at why your writing does not garner and harness the effect that it has [as in other places]. I do at times feel helpless and lost as to what I should do.”
