Singapore PM sends lawyer's letter to website

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has sent a lawyer's letter to the editors of a sociopolitical website over a post alleging cronyism in the appointment of his wife Ho Ching as head of Temasek Holdings, local media reported on Monday. The website removed the post on Sunday evening, the Straits Times said. In the letter sent on Sunday, the prime minister asked for the post to be removed and the website Temasek Review Emeritus to post an apology by Feb. 24. The apology post must remain on the website for the same number of days as the offending post had. The prime minister also asked the editors of the website to give a written confirmation by Feb. 23 that they would comply, and legal proceedings against them would be started if they fail to do so. Richard Wan, the editor to whom the letter was addressed, said on Sunday night that he was discussing the matter with other editors of the website and a statement is expected to be issued by "around lunch time" on Monday. Local daily Lianhe Zaobao quoted Wan as saying that an apology would be posted on the website. The website often carries comments or posts that are critical of the government and the ruling People's Action Party, but some of the posts are often deemed emotional. Wan is a 49-year-old information technology consultant who made his first public appearance last week at a public forum declaring himself as one of five editors of the website. Davinder Singh, the lawyer acting for the prime minister, said the letter had been served on Wan in person. The letter also defends the appointment of Ho as head of Temasek Holdings in May 2002, saying it was "on merit and through proper process." S. Dhanabalan, chairman of the sovereign wealth fund that controlled many leading companies in Singapore, first decided that Ho was the right person for the job, and approached Lee in August 2001 to broach the subject. Lee, then deputy prime minister, was uncomfortable with the idea, as was then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. However, Dhanabalan still felt that Ho was the most suitable person and raised the subject again in November 2001 with Lee, who again turned it down. Dhanabalan then proposed that he would reconstitute Temasek's executive committee and chair it himself, with Ho as executive director instead of chief executive officer, so that she would report directly to Dhanabalan and not to the prime minister. Ho's appointment to the board of Temasek Holdings had to be approved by the president, too, as it is a company listed in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. The letter also referred to the comments of Dhanabalan and former prime minister Goh, who said Ho's appointment had nothing to do with her family connections but was because of her record and performance. The lawyer's letter also requested the editors of the website to provide the identity and contact particulars of "Matthew Chua," the person who contributed the post in question. The Straits Times quoted Wan as saying that Chua was an occasional contributor to the website whose articles had been published on the website before, but he did not know him personally. He is reachable, however, by email. Internet users in Singapore are encouraged to use the Internet in a responsible manner. Defamatory comments or posts that are deemed seditious on social websites, for example, could lead to legal proceedings. On Tuesday last week, Law and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam sent a lawyer's letter to blogger Alex Au, asking him to remove allegedly defamatory comments. Au did so the same evening.