Thinking it over, I think yesterday’s six hours in court can be summarised like this:
Mr Ngerng:
“I am sorry if what I said hurt you, I never intended to hurt you. I’m sorry that you took it badly. You really shouldn’t have. You’re the PM, you’re a big man and I’m just a poor blogger trying to get answers on questions of immense public interest. Anyway, please point out which line hurt you? This one? That one? How do you know I was talking about you anyway? I never named you. How do you know people read my posts anyway? And what’s wrong with you? Couldn’t you just have told me nicely that you were hurt? Now, you sue me and want to bankrupt me, an unemployed man and who had offered a princely sum of $10,000 to you, more than what most people earn… Why are you so afraid of me that you want me to shut up? I am not shutting up. Never. In any case, since you now know that I never intended to hurt you – that is, you got me all wrong – can I have a second chance and we settle everything out of court can?’’
And the PM:
“You said sorry so many times but I’m quite sure you’re not. Because you keep repeating what I thought the court had already settled: That you defamed me. Do you seriously think that $5,000 or $10,000 will make up for what you did to me, the Prime Minister of Singapore? I would have been okay with a sorry but you’re too much…I’ve been watching you and now you’ve stepped out of line. Don’t wriggle out of it by asking me about this line or that line. The whole thing was offensive. As for whether people read you or not, there’s this thing called Google. Clearly you hate me and you want to make some political capital from putting me on the stand. This is so people will think you’re a champion. But it’s really back down to this: You defamed me and the question is: How much should you pay me?”
Source: Bertha Henson
