Netizens speculate if Lee Hsien Yang contributed to Leong Sze Hian’s crowdfunding campaign to pay damages to PM Lee

Singapore — A Facebook post has emerged claiming that Mr Lee Hsien Yang, brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, donated money to Mr Leong Sze Hian to cover damages awarded to PM Lee in a defamation case.

Singapore’s High Court on March 24 ordered Mr Leong to pay S$133,000 to PM Lee for posting a link to a Malaysian news site that alleged the city-state’s leader had helped launder 1Malaysia Development Berhad funds.

Since then more than 2,000 people have donated to a crowdfunding campaign on social media to raise the full amount, Mr Lim Tean, Leong’s attorney, announced on Facebook on Monday (Apr 5).

In a Facebook post, one netizen claimed that the younger Mr Lee donated money during the 11 days that Mr Leong had been raising funds to pay the damages.

On Sunday (Apr 4), Mr Leong shared on Facebook that he had raised S$133,082 from over 2,000 people in his crowdfunding campaign.

Among the donors were former opposition leader Mr Chiam See Tong and his wife, Mrs Lina Chiam. Within a day, Mr Leong raised S$20,000 from 340 people. The single highest amount he received was S$5000.

What Initially Happened

The defamation suit revolved around a Facebook post that Mr Leong had shared on his wall.

The post alleged PM Lee’s involvement in the 1MDB corruption scandal, and in helping former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak launder money.

It was flagged by IMDA after three days and Mr Leong promptly removed the post.

However, the defamation suit took place after PM Lee claimed that Mr Leong’s sharing the post without verifying the information was damaging to him.

The judge awarded S$100,000 in general damages and $33,000 in aggravated damages. /TISG