Roy Ngerng turns to crowdfunding following the success of Leong Sze Hian

Singapore — Singaporean blogger Roy Ngerng has turned to crowdfunding to pay damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He has already raised S$12,444, he said in a Facbook post on Thursday (Apr 7) afternoon, just the day after he announced he was reviving his crowdfunding campaign.

He was encouraged to do so by his friends and supporters, he said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (April 6),  following the success of blogger Leong Sze Hian who raised $133,000 — the entire damages he has to pay PM Lee — in a crowdfunding campaign in 11 days.

Mr Ngerng, 39, has to pay S$150,000 in damages.

Living in Taiwan since 2016, he said he has been paying Mr Lee S$100 a month for the past five years.

He was ordered to pay the damages in December 2015 for a blog post questioning the Government’s management of the Central Provident Fund.

Mr Lee sued him in May 2014  over an article he wrote on his blog: The Heart Truths.

Mr Ngering said in his Facebook post on April 6:

“𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘄𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗲 𝗦$𝟭𝟰𝟰,𝟬𝟬𝟬 (𝗨𝗦$𝟭𝟬𝟳,𝟱𝟬𝟬)—𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲, 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟭𝟮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟯. S$1,000 a month is a substantial amount of money; it is nearly half my current monthly salary.”

The blogger, who worked at a hospital in Singapore, lost his job in June 2014.

He contested the 2015 general election as part of the six-member Reform Party team of candidates for the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency.

In 2016, he left for Taiwan.

He is seeking goodwill from Singaporeans, hoping to raise enough money to pay off the remaining amount to Mr Lee. He is very thankful to any person who donates to his campaign.

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