During a defamation trial, the lawyer for Singaporean ministers K Shanmugam and Tan See Leng argued that a Bloomberg article on property transactions was intentionally misleading, using skewed data and language to target the ministers. The article suggested ministers engaged in non-transparent property dealings, which they deny.
During the defamation trial involving Singapore's Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, the ministers' lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, meticulously dissected Bloomberg reporter Low De Wei's article on property transactions . On the seventh day of proceedings, Mr.
Singh contended that the article, titled Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy and published on December 12, 2024, employed a deliberately skewed presentation of data, language, and framing to target his clients, characterizing the reporting as an exercise in journalistic malice. Mr. Singh asserted that the article's misleading use of a chart depicting Good Class Bungalow (GCB) deals, coupled with editorial choices and terms like political fodder, allowed Mr. Low to construct a fictional narrative replete with falsehoods aimed squarely at the ministers. The core of the ministers' defamation suit against Bloomberg and Mr. Low centers on the article's suggestion that they engaged in property transactions in a non-transparent manner, potentially exploiting a lack of disclosure requirements. Specifically, the article highlighted Mr. Shanmugam's sale of a GCB for S$88 million, purchased for S$7.95 million in 2003, and Dr. Tan's purchase of a GCB for nearly S$27.3 million. Mr. Shanmugam testified that internal Bloomberg emails indicated a deliberate targeting, with reporters seeking to build a narrative around his property sale. He claimed the article was framed as a broader trend piece but was primarily motivated by a desire to write about his specific transaction. Bloomberg's defense, however, maintained that Mr. Shanmugam was informed of his transaction's inclusion early on and that initial drafts did not even name him. The article further posited that buyers increasingly use trusts for GCB acquisitions to maintain anonymity, paying a premium for these off-the-radar deals. Mr. Shanmugam vehemently refuted this, calling it utter nonsense and explaining that the absence of a caveat does not influence the agreed-upon price. He also countered the assertion that non-caveated deals are harder to track, explaining that while they may not appear in the Urban Redevelopment Authority database, they are recorded in the Singapore Land Authority database post-completion. Mr. Singh argued that the article's infographic, a scatter plot comparing caveated and non-caveated GCB deals, lacked a sound basis for comparison, failing to account for crucial variables like property location, design, frontage, and actual valuations. Dr. Tan, in his testimony, questioned the description of his transaction as off the radar, as it would eventually be publicly recorded, noting that the primary difference between caveated and non-caveated deals lies in the delay before public disclosure. During cross-examination, Mr. Low admitted that while it required effort and expense, property information, including buyer, seller, and price, was accessible through a government-run database. Mr. Singh also accused Mr. Low of an agenda to link the ministers' property deals to money laundering, an accusation Mr. Low denied, asserting his article's focus was elsewhere. The defense called Madeleine Lim, Bloomberg News' senior executive editor, and Mr. Low as witnesses, with Mr. Singh concluding his cross-examination of Mr. Low before the lunch break. Subsequently, Bloomberg's lawyer, Senior Counsel Sreenivasan Narayanan, re-examined Mr. Low, introducing new evidence regarding the authorities' response to Mr. Low's inquiries about GCB transactions
Defamation Trial Bloomberg Property Transactions Singapore Ministers Journalistic Integrity
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