Ministers Shanmugam & Tan See Leng to donate damages awarded in Bloomberg trial to charity

Home affairs minister K Shanmugam and manpower minister Tan See Leng have said that they will be donating to charity the damages awarded to them in the Bloomberg defamation lawsuit.

They shared their intention in separate Facebook posts on Jul. 14 evening.

Both ministers succeeded in their defamation suit against Bloomberg and its reporter over a December 2024 article on Good Class Bungalow transactions in Singapore.

They were awarded S$230,000 each in damages following a court decision on Jul. 14.

Shanmugam on why he brought lawsuit

In his post, apart from noting his intention to donate the awarded damages to charity, Shanmugam also laid out the court's verdict, which found that Bloomberg and its reporter had defamed the ministers.

He also explained why he decided to bring the lawsuit against the finance and media organisation as well as its reporter.

Shanmugam said that if outlets like Bloomberg could "get away with publishing lies and falsehoods about public officers, it will set a new norm".

"It will mean that anyone wanting to serve the public will have to face an additional obstacle — that well-funded organisations like Bloomberg will use lies to attack them, put them down and seek to destroy their reputations," the minister wrote.

"This happens in many countries, and as a result, many good people do not come forward to serve the public. Public interest as a whole suffers in these countries," he added.

Shanmugam also wrote that he had brought the lawsuit despite having to "subject [himself] to public scrutiny and cross-examination in Court".

Welcome court's judgment: Tan

Tan wrote in his post that he welcomed the court's judgment, which "vindicated" his position that the Bloomberg article was defamatory.

"From the outset, this case has been about protecting my integrity and reputation, and the standing of the office I hold," the Minister for Manpower wrote.

He commented that political office holders must discharge their duties "with integrity" and "be open to scrutiny and legitimate criticism".

"Equally, media reporting should be fair and accurate, particularly where it concerns allegations that can seriously damage an individual’s reputation," he continued.