Messrs Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong have made a huge issue of my attempt to postpone the date of the hearing for assessment of damages on 6-8 September 2004. They have accused me of having no intention to attend the hearing, avoiding them in court, using the matter to attack the courts, and so on.
Unbeknownst to the public, however, is the fact that both Lee and Goh had in July this year had made a similar request to the courts to re-schedule the dates of the hearing. The reason cited was that they had official matters to tend to. They had wanted to bring forward the hearing to August but later withdrew their requests because they managed to re-schedule their official appointments.
Lets get this straight. The two men ask the courts to re-schedule the hearing and then attack me for doing the same? How shameless can it get? Whats more, they had wanted bring forward the hearing to August, knowing full well that I would not be back in Singapore until after August. Isnt this yet more evidence that they had all along tried to avoid facing me in court?
Perhaps the more damning fact is that through all their bluster, they didnt even have the courage and integrity to tell Singaporeans that they had also applied to the courts to change the date of the hearing. And yet they have the cheek to accuse me of misleading the public!
With this revelation, if the MM and SM want to salvage whats left of their credibility over this matter, they must come clean and reveal to Singaporeans their attempt to re-schedule the hearing dates in my absence. The two men should also explain why they didnt mention this incident to the public in the first place. Otherwise, it is I who should be accusing them of misleading the public.
Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party