The article below was originally published in 2018, but was referred to in court this week as the Prime Minister of Singapore continues to pursue a legal action against a private citizen who mistakenly posted on Facebook an erroneous online article by an anonymous third party.
The case is remarkable in that it is singularly rare for a sitting prime minister to pursue a defamation case, whilst simultaneously employing the full apparatus of the state to enact criminal proceedings against the same individual over the same matter.

Sarawak Report questioned the decision at the time and stands by its remarks, now that the case has made it all the way to an open court.
Rightly in a democracy, state officials are by received judgement and understanding expected to have a “thicker skin” than normal individuals when it comes to criticism and attack, given they represent the government which ought to be held to account and subject to opinion in any democracy.

As a counter-balance, these same officials are protected by the formidable apparatus of the state when it comes to defending themselves, as in this case.

So, why did the PM of Singapore decide to take matters so much further into the private sphere of civil law far in order to kick a small man down and can any judgement in this case serve to raise confidence in Singapore’s democracy?
Sarawak Report stands by its original view that this case involves an accusation that had already been de-bunked at source (in this case there had been a misrepresentation of Sarawak Report) and that the decision to pursue a private defamation case was ill-advised – politically, if not also legally.


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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Residents of Jalan Abdullah in Bangsar have repeated their objections to a planned 32-storey residential development in their neighbourhood.

Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur (SKL) chairman Datuk M. Ali said it should not have been approved in the first place as no prior engagement was done with residents of Jalan Abdullah.

“Before the proposal of the project was approved, they should have met the residents. Not the other way around, approve the proposal and then talk to the residents,” Ali told Malay Mail when contacted.

Ali, who is also the Bukit Bandaraya Residents’ Association adviser, said the required traffic impact assessment (TIA), environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) were not conducted.


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COVID-19 | A bus driver in Sandakan has tested positive for Covid-19 and this has led to the discovery of a new cluster with at least 20 people in the Sabah town.

The man developed a sore throat and fever on Sept 27 and tested positive for Covid-19 on Oct 3 after he was admitted to the Duchess of Kent Hospital, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.


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Performance well implemented. Following in the footsteps of the MateBook D 15, the smaller MateBook D 14 proves once again that there is absolutely no reason to throttle CPU performance under load. Find out in our review what other qualities Huawei's notebook has to offer.

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(CNN)A strongly medicated President Donald Trump bolted from his VIP hospital bubble Monday, staging a bizarre White House comeback that included an irresponsible mask removal and a reckless pronouncement there is nothing to fear from Covid-19, which has already killed 210,000 Americans.

His actions show him, if anything, entrenched deeper in denial over the virus than ever before and more committed to trashing scientific protocols that could slow the pandemic.

"We're going back. We're going back to work. We're gonna be out front. As your leader I had to do that. I knew there's danger to it but I had to do it," Trump says in a strange campaign video whipped up by aides within an hour of his return to the White House, in which the President framed himself as a warrior who took on the virus and won.

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Japan has decided to coexist with the new coronavirus! Announced the "new life model" calling the people to be prepared to follow this model for an extended period of time and learn to live and work with the virus lurking around the corner.

Looking closely at these new life models, it can be seen that the Japanese government established these very practical set of SOPs using principles of rationality, science, and risk assessment.

Maybe it is related to the Japanese understanding that "bad" things can't be forsaken for all times.  Using risk assessment models in principle, humans can continue to live well. Read them one by one. There are three basic points:

1. Keep a distance between people.

2. Wear a mask.

3. Wash hands frequently

Specific requirements

1. People keep a distance of 2 meters.

2. Play as much as possible outdoors

3. Try to avoid being face to face direct facing when speaking to other people 

4. Go home and wash your face and clothes immediately

5. Wash as soon as you touch someone's hand

6. Try online shopping and electronic settlement

7. Supermarket shopping is best for 1 person, to choose time there are less people

8. Try not to touch commodity samples

9. Don't talk on public transportation

10. Go to work by bike or on foot

11. It is best to use electronic business cards

12. Try to use video conference when meeting

13. To control the number of people in meetings, wear masks and open windows for ventilation.

14. Work at home or commute at off  peak time

15. Do not go to countries or places where the virus is endemic

16. Try not to return home to visit relatives and travel, and control business trips.

17. When you have symptoms, remember where you went and who you met.

18. Eat meals with others not face to face, preferably side by side

19. Do not use large bowls and large pots to share food, implement a divided individual portion system

20. Chat less at meal, eat more vegetables

21. Try not to have too many people gathering at meal together as possible

22. Avoid "closed spaces, dense crowd flow, intimate contact"

23. Self-test body temperature every morning to strengthen health management

24. Cover the lid when flushing the toilet

25. Don't stay too long in a narrow space

26. When walking and running, the number of people should be small, when meet each other stagger the distance.

Shigeru Oo, chairman of the Japanese government committee, said that it takes at least one and a half years for the vaccine to be fully developed and officially put into use.

Since the enemy cannot be completely eliminated, it is necessary to learn to coexist with the virus.  
Only by following the new rules of life can we live in peace with the corona virus for a long time.

In fact, most of the above methods have been implemented in China. 

Everyone understands that it is a long-term war, but each item is not listed in detail. 

The Japanese are genetically a very disciplined nation and they do things and follow instructions scrupulously. 

It is worth learning.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Monday lamented the persistent spread of the coronavirus in the U.S., suggesting the nation’s response pales in comparison to other places around the world.

“The entire Pacific Rim has less than 1,000 infections a day. Having a raging epidemic is not inevitable,” Gottlieb said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” referring to countries such as China, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and Australia. 

“People want to say China is lying about the two dozen cases that they’re reporting a day, which I don’t believe they are [lying]. Certainly, the entire Pacific Rim isn’t in on the conspiracy. It isn’t inevitable that we have a raging epidemic,” added the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner under President Donald Trump.



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