There’s been another update to the Lee Hsien Yang saga involving Law & Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
The younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has just confirmed the two ministers have served him defamation papers via Facebook message.
Yes, you read that right. Court papers may be served via Facebook message. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
Background of the Defamation Case Against Lee Hsien Yang
If you haven’t heard of the defamation case that Mr. Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan lodged against Lee Hsien Yang, we only have one question: have you been living under a rock?
In any event, Goody Feed is here to catch you up.
During the Ridout Road saga involving the two ministers, Mr Lee decided to join in on the fun all the way from Britain, where he currently resides with his wife.
And how else to do so other than with a Facebook post?
On 23 July, Mr Lee shared a Facebook post claiming that the two ministers had leased their Ridout Road colonial houses from an agency controlled by one of them. The 65-year-old also accused the two ministers of securing state-sponsored renovations.
Essentially, Mr Lee is implying some degree of corruption involved lah.
If you were in the shoes of Mr. Shanmugam and Dr. Balakrishnan, having been cleared for corruption by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), of course, you wouldn’t be very pleased with such accusations.
And so the two ministers took the steps pronounced by the uniquely Singaporean axiom: “Sue until your pants drop.”
Before we dive into that, if you’re not familiar with how Singapore’s justice system works, Goody Feed’s Blue Cats simplify it for you in this video:
Initially, although the two ministers only sent a letter of demand urging Mr Lee to remove the post in question, all associated comments, posting a public apology, and a sum of $25,000 as damages, Mr Lee refused to give in.
Instead, Mr Lee challenged the two ministers to launch their legal suit against Mr Lee in Britain, where he was residing.
Sua. Regardless, the ministers decided to initiate defamation suits against Mr Lee in Singapore’s High Court.
The ministers sought permission from the court to serve the defamation papers on Mr Lee via Facebook, which the court granted.
The papers have since been served. And Mr Lee has confirmed the service of these papers.
On Saturday (16 September), Mr Lee shared a post on Facebook confirming that defamation papers have been served on him via Facebook message.
You know what that means: Cancel your Netflix subscriptions, and don’t even bother watching Mediacorp shows.
A real-life legal drama is coming soon—a defamation suit between the PM’s brother and two prominent ministers.
How exciting.
At this point, you may be wondering: Huh? Gong simi? Legal papers can serve on Facebook one ah?
The answer is yes, but not all the time.
By right, legal papers must be served personally if the person who kena sued is in Singapore. This usually entails either personal delivery in the literal sense or delivery to the respondent’s registered address.
However, suppose the person who kena sued is out of jurisdiction (i.e. located outside of Singapore). In that case, the person suing may apply to the court to effect substituted service instead, meaning you may serve the legal papers through alternate means.
Drawing back to the present case, Mr Lee is residing in Britain. However, the two ministers’ defamation suit against Mr Lee was filed in Singapore. How to do personal service of the defamation papers?
As a result, the two ministers applied to the court to effect substituted service instead, which, in this case, was via Facebook message.
See. Simple as that. Now, you’re not a suaku anymore.
For now, we’re on the edge of our seats to find out how this saga will end.