A Singapore high court has ordered Bloomberg News and reporter Low De Wei to pay S$460,000, equivalent to approximately US$355,734, in damages after an article was found to have defamed two government ministers. According to the judgment released on Tuesday, the defendants are liable to jointly pay S$230,000 to each of the two claimants. This total amount consists of S$170,000 in general damages and S$60,000 in aggravated damages per minister.
Justice Audrey Lim, who presided over the case, stated in her ruling that the primary intention behind the published article was to focus on the ministers, specifically regarding their transactions involving good class bungalows. The judge noted that the broader narrative presented in the report—which suggested that wealthy individuals in Singapore utilize trust structures and non-caveated transactions to maintain secrecy—served as a cover for the specific story about the officials. Furthermore, Justice Lim determined that the reporter, Low De Wei, was both reckless and inaccurate in his description of how local government records handle non-caveated bungalow transactions. The judge clarified that such information is maintained in public records and remains searchable via the Singapore Land Authority’s integrated land information service, a fact she noted the reporter was aware of from his own research processes.
John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg, expressed disappointment regarding the court's decision but affirmed that the company continues to support its newsroom and the reporter involved. In an email to Reuters, Micklethwait maintained that their reporting was accurate and served a significant public interest. He stated that the ministers involved had imposed an extremely strained interpretation on what he described as a solid story. He did not specify whether the organization intends to pursue an appeal. The law firm representing the two ministers did not provide an immediate response to requests for comment.
