Roy Ngerng hits crowdfund target of $144k after 9 days, thanks all who have contributed

Singapore — Singaporean blogger Roy Ngerng has raised money even faster than fellow blogger Leong Sze Hian, like whom he has to pay damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Mr Leong’s crowdfunding campaign raised S$133,000 in 11 days.

Mr Ngerng, also crowdfunding, raised S$144,000 in just nine days.

“We have made it,” he exulted on Facebook on Friday (Apr 16).

“As of 11.45am today, you have helped raised S$144,389.14 to pay the money Singapore’s prime minister has demanded. (The damages demanded were S$150,000. Over the last 5 years, I have paid out S$6,000.

The blogger was ordered by the High Court to pay S$150,000 to PM Lee after a defamation suit in 2015. Mr Lee sued him for an article he wrote on his blog, The Heart Truths.

In his Facebook post, Mr Ngerng wrote: “It was about this time 7 years ago that the strong arm of the Singapore government came down on me. 10 days after my birthday, I received the email from Davinder (Hsien Loong’s lawyer) in my work email. And that was when to my disbelief the prime minister has sued a common person.”

“I am grateful and indebted to you,” he tells his donors.

“This support has come from all of you, whether you are a retiree, a security officer, a Grab driver, as you have all told me, or whether you are the ‘poor uni[versity] stud[ent]’ who donated S$1, you said, or the person who donated S$1 because you ‘hope [that I will] get up again’, or the person who donated S$2 because you said,  ‘every little bit helps’.”

He has also received support from notable individuals. Dr Yong Guan Ang of the Progress Singapore Party has made posters every day to update on the funds raised from this campaign to share with friends and colleagues. Mr Tan Kin Lian, who was a candidate in the 2011 presidential election, had said he was donating through this crowdfunding campaign to “LHL’s favourite charities”. Mr Tan Jee Say of the Singapore Democratic Party, who was also a candidate in the 2011  presidential election, contributed to what he said is “a sweet victory for standing up.”

Mr Ngerng would like to thank PM Lee’s younger brother, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, and his wife Mrs Lee Suet Fern, for their contributions and encouragement.

He also thanks his family, bosses and colleagues, and other activists for their support.

Mr Ngerng, who now lives in Taiwan, wrote: “Up until a week ago, it felt like this, that I would never be able to return home to Singapore, for fear of the defamation suit and threat of bankruptcy hanging over my head.

“But over the last week, you have rallied together and helped make it possible for me to return again. I am so grateful.

Denise Teh is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG