To sue or not to sue?


The Rhetoric

“If the author of the book were here and had assets, I would sue him. But he is an Australian and is out of jurisdiction.”
DPM Lee Hsien Loong on why he is not suing author Ross Worthington for the latter’s claim that Lee had slapped former minister S. Dhanabalan in 1990, Straits Times, Oct 12, 2003

The Reality

“Lee [Kuan Yew] is [suing] Canada’s leading newspaper and former Singapore President Devan Nair.”
Far East Economic Review, May 2, 2002

“Political opponents…if they’ve defamed us, we have to sue them – because if we don’t, our own integrity will be suspect. We have an understanding that if a minister is defamed and he does not sue, he must leave cabinet.”
PM Goh Chok Tong, Asiaweek, Dec 3, 1999

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