SINGAPORE: The defamation trial against Bloomberg and one of its reporters, brought by Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, opened in the High Court on Tuesday (Apr 7) morning.
After a brief opening by both sides, the defence counsel for Bloomberg and its reporter, Senior Counsel Sreenivasan Narayanan, launched into an intense cross-examination of Mr Shanmugam, who was the first to take the stand.
The questioning had Mr Shanmugam's lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, interjecting multiple times regarding the relevance of his questions, and the presiding judge had to step in several times to redirect proceedings.
At one point, Mr Shanmugam spoke at length about the difference between matters of public interest and matters that the public is interested in - stating that he did not think the sale of his property was a matter of public interest. However, he said it would be "newsworthy" in the sense that people would like to gossip about it.
The ministers had sued the United States-based news organisation and its reporter, Mr Low De Wei, over a December 2024 Bloomberg article on Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions.
Bloomberg reporter Low De Wei arrives at the Supreme Court building on Apr 7, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Tan)
The ministers have alleged that the article, titled "Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy", has defamed them by suggesting that they had taken advantage of the lack of checks and balances and disclosure requirements in purchasing property in a "non-transparent manner".
They also claimed that the article falsely suggested that the ministers wanted to "hide" the transaction and avoid scrutiny, including about the possibility of money laundering.
Presently,
Bloomberg, along with other outlets like The Edge Singapore, The Independent Singapore and The Online Citizen, had been issued POFMA correction directions on Dec 23, 2024 for their articles and posts about the GCB transactions.
Bloomberg's Dec 12 article had been republished by The Edge, with the Independent Singapore and The Online Citizen publishing articles commenting on Bloomberg's article.
In refuting the Bloomberg article, the Singapore government stated that information on property ownership and transfers, including for all GCBs, is available on the Integrated Land Information Service portal, regardless of whether a caveat was lodged for the sale transaction.
It also stated that Singapore mandates strict disclosure of identities and citizenship of purchasers and ultimate beneficial owners in all landed residential property transactions, including GCB transactions.
Minister of Home Affairs K Shanmugam arriving at the Supreme Courts building on Apr 7, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Tan)
The POFMA orders came days after Dr Tan and Mr Shanmugam said in a joint statement on Dec 16, 2024 that they were taking legal action against Bloomberg and other media outlets for publishing statements over their property transactions.
They said at the time that they would issue letters of demand for what they considered was "libellous".
Letters of demand typically contain lists of demands. If they are not followed, the sender might take legal action such as mounting a lawsuit.
Both ministers are represented by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh.
The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.
Bloomberg and its reporter filed defences denying that the article is defamatory. Bloomberg said it had "no interest or reason" to impugn the reputation of the ministers.
The news agency said the article highlighted that purchases of some GCBs, which are not caveated, bring some privacy benefits and typically transact at a higher price.
It also highlighted that purchasers of such bungalows who do not want their identities to be publicly discoverable use trust structures in their purchases.
A property caveat is a legal document that is submitted to the Singapore Land Authority to register interest in a property that a buyer wishes to purchase. This prevents other people from purchasing it.
Dr Tan's non-caveated purchase and Mr Shanmugam's use of a trust structure were mentioned as examples, with no wrongdoing suggested on their parts, Bloomberg maintained.
The news outlet said no "reasonable reader" would infer any link between the sale of Mr Shanmugam's GCB with money laundering or the possibility of money laundering.
If the article was found to be defamatory, Bloomberg said it would rely on the defence that it was exercising responsible journalism to report on a matter of public interest.
Mr Low's lawyers stated in his defence that he had exercised "responsible journalism" in writing the article, ensuring his references to the ministers' transactions were factually accurate, very short and presented neutrally.
He also sought comments from both ministers, but their press secretaries replied that they would not be commenting.
Bloomberg is represented by lawyers from RCLT Law led by Mr Remy Choo, while Mr Wong Thai Yong from his eponymous firm represents Mr Low. They are joined by Senior Counsel Sreenivasan Narayanan and Senior Counsel Chelva Retnam Rajah, who are acting as instructed counsel.
Separately, the two ministers had also sued Mr Terry Xu, the chief editor of socio-political website The Online Citizen, for defamation.
They won the case and Mr Xu was ordered to pay them S$210,000 (US$163,200) each for defaming them in an article about GCBs, which had cited Bloomberg's news article as a reference.
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After a brief opening by both sides, the defence counsel for Bloomberg and its reporter, Senior Counsel Sreenivasan Narayanan, launched into an intense cross-examination of Mr Shanmugam, who was the first to take the stand.
The questioning had Mr Shanmugam's lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, interjecting multiple times regarding the relevance of his questions, and the presiding judge had to step in several times to redirect proceedings.
At one point, Mr Shanmugam spoke at length about the difference between matters of public interest and matters that the public is interested in - stating that he did not think the sale of his property was a matter of public interest. However, he said it would be "newsworthy" in the sense that people would like to gossip about it.
The ministers had sued the United States-based news organisation and its reporter, Mr Low De Wei, over a December 2024 Bloomberg article on Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions.
Bloomberg reporter Low De Wei arrives at the Supreme Court building on Apr 7, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Tan)
The ministers have alleged that the article, titled "Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy", has defamed them by suggesting that they had taken advantage of the lack of checks and balances and disclosure requirements in purchasing property in a "non-transparent manner".
They also claimed that the article falsely suggested that the ministers wanted to "hide" the transaction and avoid scrutiny, including about the possibility of money laundering.
Presently,
Bloomberg, along with other outlets like The Edge Singapore, The Independent Singapore and The Online Citizen, had been issued POFMA correction directions on Dec 23, 2024 for their articles and posts about the GCB transactions.
Bloomberg's Dec 12 article had been republished by The Edge, with the Independent Singapore and The Online Citizen publishing articles commenting on Bloomberg's article.
In refuting the Bloomberg article, the Singapore government stated that information on property ownership and transfers, including for all GCBs, is available on the Integrated Land Information Service portal, regardless of whether a caveat was lodged for the sale transaction.
It also stated that Singapore mandates strict disclosure of identities and citizenship of purchasers and ultimate beneficial owners in all landed residential property transactions, including GCB transactions.
Minister of Home Affairs K Shanmugam arriving at the Supreme Courts building on Apr 7, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Tan)
The POFMA orders came days after Dr Tan and Mr Shanmugam said in a joint statement on Dec 16, 2024 that they were taking legal action against Bloomberg and other media outlets for publishing statements over their property transactions.
They said at the time that they would issue letters of demand for what they considered was "libellous".
Letters of demand typically contain lists of demands. If they are not followed, the sender might take legal action such as mounting a lawsuit.
Both ministers are represented by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh.
The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.
BLOOMBERG'S DEFENCE
Bloomberg and its reporter filed defences denying that the article is defamatory. Bloomberg said it had "no interest or reason" to impugn the reputation of the ministers.
The news agency said the article highlighted that purchases of some GCBs, which are not caveated, bring some privacy benefits and typically transact at a higher price.
It also highlighted that purchasers of such bungalows who do not want their identities to be publicly discoverable use trust structures in their purchases.
A property caveat is a legal document that is submitted to the Singapore Land Authority to register interest in a property that a buyer wishes to purchase. This prevents other people from purchasing it.
Dr Tan's non-caveated purchase and Mr Shanmugam's use of a trust structure were mentioned as examples, with no wrongdoing suggested on their parts, Bloomberg maintained.
The news outlet said no "reasonable reader" would infer any link between the sale of Mr Shanmugam's GCB with money laundering or the possibility of money laundering.
If the article was found to be defamatory, Bloomberg said it would rely on the defence that it was exercising responsible journalism to report on a matter of public interest.
Mr Low's lawyers stated in his defence that he had exercised "responsible journalism" in writing the article, ensuring his references to the ministers' transactions were factually accurate, very short and presented neutrally.
He also sought comments from both ministers, but their press secretaries replied that they would not be commenting.
Bloomberg is represented by lawyers from RCLT Law led by Mr Remy Choo, while Mr Wong Thai Yong from his eponymous firm represents Mr Low. They are joined by Senior Counsel Sreenivasan Narayanan and Senior Counsel Chelva Retnam Rajah, who are acting as instructed counsel.
Separately, the two ministers had also sued Mr Terry Xu, the chief editor of socio-political website The Online Citizen, for defamation.
They won the case and Mr Xu was ordered to pay them S$210,000 (US$163,200) each for defaming them in an article about GCBs, which had cited Bloomberg's news article as a reference.
Continue reading...