SINGAPORE – Blogger Roy Ngerng on Wednesday paid part of the amount he owes over his defamation case, partially fulfilling a settlement agreement he has with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Over the past two days, he has raised more than $12,000, in his second public call for funds to help him pay for costs and damages.

Mr Lee’s press secretary, Ms Chang Li Lin, said in response to media queries that Mr Lee’s lawyer has received $30,000 from Mr Ngerng.

The sum covers costs for a three-day hearing in July last year held to decide on the damages due to Mr Lee. Mr Ngerng had cross-examined the Prime Minister himself.

The blogger was found to have defamed Mr Lee over a blog post alleging that Mr Lee had misappropriated the Central Provident Fund savings of Singaporeans.

High Court Judge Lee Seiu Kin, in a judgement last December, had ordered the blogger to pay Mr Lee $150,000 for defamation, saying that it was likely the blogger “cynically defamed” Mr Lee to increase viewership of his blog, The Heart Truths.

Mr Lee has agreed to allow Mr Ngerng to pay this sum in instalments over a period of 17 years.

Mr Ngerng will start by paying $100 a month from April 1 this year. From April 1 2021, the amount will be increased to $1,000 until the full sum has been paid. He should be done paying the total sum by the year 2033.

In several blog posts over the past two days, Mr Ngerng listed the amounts he has raised in his fund-raising drives, on of which is ongoing.

He also accounted for how he had spent $127,000, which he raised in 2014 from individual donors and organisations. He said he has spent $122,000 of it.

Of this sum, $50,000 had gone to his first lawyer, Mr M. Ravi.

Another $30,000 went towards paying for his second lawyer, Mr George Hwang, whom he discharged before the hearing to assess damages.

The blogger said he also paid $35,000 to Mr Lee’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, which covers the costs for a hearings related to the case.

One was a hearing for a summary judgement – a procedure where a judgement is sought without going for a full trial – which Mr Lee obtained against Mr Ngerng. The other was a hearing to decide if Mr Ngerng can hire a Queen’s Counsel from Britain to represent him.

Mr Ngerng said he also paid for court filing fees and costs, which he estimated to be about $7,000.

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The Straits Times, The New Paper, AFP, Reuters

This article was first published on March 17, 2016.
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The arrest of a Singaporean travelling overseas to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) shows the Government’s unambiguous stance against its citizens engaging in armed conflicts, security experts said yesterday.

Ms Susan Sim, vice-president for Asia at New York-based The Soufan Group, a strategic security consultancy, said: “If you are not a soldier obeying lawful orders, then the Singapore Government’s stance is clear – you cannot take up arms on behalf of any group, for any cause.

“If an exception is made for any one cause, then where does it stop? Who is to say one cause is more righteous than another?”

The Ministry of Home Affairs announced yesterday that Wang Yuandongyi, 23, was arrested under the Internal Security Act and placed on a Restriction Order, which limits his movements and activities.

He had left Singapore in January and was on his way to Turkey and Syria to join a Kurdish militia that was fighting ISIS.

He had travelled to a third country, which the ministry did not name. On the request of the Singapore Government, he was located by that country’s officials and sent back here.

Analysts noted that although Wang seemed to have no ethnic or religious links to the Kurds, there could have been numerous other reasons for him to take up their cause. “There may be those who believe that they can help a community by fighting on its behalf. They may believe they are being altruistic,” said Ms Sim.

Investigations showed that Wang was looking to escape personal setbacks such as his debts from a failed business venture.

The bid to join the Kurds could have been his way of avoiding his financial issues, said senior analyst Jasminder Singh of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

“He does not fit the profile of a mercenary. This could be just a form of adventure,” he added.

Had Wang succeeded, his actions could have had negative repercussions on Singapore, analysts said.

For instance, Wang could have been conditioned to use violence here to solve his problems.

“There is nothing romantic about volunteering for someone else’s war. Once a person gets used to the idea of killing to achieve his objectives – the objectives he has decided for himself – what’s to stop him from doing the same thing in Singapore?” said Ms Sim.

Mr Singh noted that Wang had taken his Singapore Armed Forces uniform and boots with him. This could have conveyed the wrong impression that the Singapore military had been sent to the Middle East, causing ISIS to make Singapore a target. “It would have been the perfect excuse for ISIS to launch an attack here or go after our facilities overseas such as our embassies,” he said.

Wang is not alone in wanting to take on ISIS in the Middle East, with reports of scores of Americans and Europeans – some of them military veterans – taking up arms against the terrorist group.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said Wang will undergo psychological counselling to steer him away from resorting to violence. He will also be closely monitored by the authorities.

ziliang@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 17, 2016.
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Mohammad Razif Yahya began studying at a religious school in Yemen six years ago, but as the security situation deteriorated, he volunteered to do armed sentry duties.

He also signed up for sniper training, which he put to use fighting the Houthis, a Shi’ite rebel group.

Razif, 27, and fellow student Amiruddin Sawir, 53, who was also involved in a firefight, were “prepared to kill and be killed as ‘martyrs’ in sectarian conflict”, the Home Affairs Ministry said in announcing their detention.

News of their cases, as well as that of Mohamed Mohideen Mohamed Jais, 25, was greeted with dismay by Muslim community leaders yesterday.

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said the arrests show that “there are institutions abroad that may masquerade as centres of Islamic learning, but which are actually involved in armed conflict and militant activities”.

The Straits Times understands that Razif, Amiruddin and Mohideen all studied at Dar al-Hadith in Dammaj, Yemen. The school had a sizeable number of foreign students, many of whom were displaced by sectarian conflict.

Razif and Amiruddin returned home separately between April and June last year, and were arrested under the Internal Security Act in July. They were each issued a two-year order of detention in August.

Ustaz Muhammad Zahid Mohd Zin, vice-president of Islamic scholars and religious teachers association Pergas, said Yemen was one of the more popular destinations for Muslims who want to learn more about their religion abroad, alongside Egypt and Jordan.

While many enrol in recognised institutions, the three who fell foul of the law enrolled in a school that subscribed to a more puritanical interpretation of Islam, he said.

“They were not enrolled in the two institutions we have accredited and work with in Yemen,” he added.

Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir, deputy director at the Office of the Mufti, urged Muslims in Singapore who wish to study Islam to approach only recognised teachers.

“For those who wish to study in foreign institutions, please consult Muis and we will provide guidance and the necessary support on the appropriate overseas institutions for Islamic studies,” he said.

He also encouraged parents and family members to play a more active role in guiding loved ones to proper sources of Islamic learning.

“As a community, we must continue to be vigilant against extremist elements in our society,” he said.

Ustaz Zahid noted that Pergas organises an annual voluntary pre-departure programme for madrasah graduates about to pursue higher Islamic education overseas.

The programme covers topics such as the security situation in the Middle East and steering clear of political activity and armed conflict.

“We know there are a few who go overseas by themselves to learn, but we can’t know their exact number because they are not obliged to register with us,” he said.

Pergas is now looking at making the programme compulsory, and will also urge students to keep a lookout for private Singaporean students so it can keep track of them.

Mr Abdul Halim Kader, president of community group Taman Bacaan, said it may be timely for the community to consider distance learning tie-ups with reputable Middle East institutions so students can obtain certification from such schools while studying here.

“Two decades ago, there was no problem sending your children to an Islamic university in the Middle East because it was peaceful, but the situation is very different today,” he said. “Perhaps Muis should consider working with foreign universities to bring them here.”

The Religious Rehabilitation Group urged people to call its helpline on 1800-774-7747 if they have questions about radicalisation.

yanliang@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 17, 2016.
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TIMBALAN Pengarah Pejabat Mufti Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (Muis), Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir: “Kami menggesa Muslim di Singapura yang mahu mendalami Islam agar mendapatkan panduan dan nasihat daripada asatizah yang diiktiraf.

“Bagi mereka yang ingin belajar di institusi luar negara, harap dapatkan nasihat Muis dan kami akan memberikan panduan dan sokongan sewajarnya berkaitan institusi luar negara yang sesuai bagi pengajian Islam.

“Kami juga ingin menggalakkan ibu bapa dan anggota keluarga agar memainkan peranan lebih aktif membimbing mereka yang disayangi, dalam mendapatkan sumber pengajian Islam yang sepatutnya.

“Sebagai sebuah masyarakat, kita harus kekal berjaga-jaga terhadap elemen pelampau dalam masyarakat. Kita harus terus menegakkan ajaran Islam yang relevan bagi keperluan kontemporari dan yang sesuai dengan kehidupan berbilang agama di Singapura.

“Muis, dengan kerjasama masjid dan institusi setempat, telah memperkenalkan pelbagai programme pengajian Islam seperti aLive dan ADIL (pengajian Islam bagi dewasa) yang bertujuan memenuhi objektif ini.”

This article was first published on March 17, 2016.
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In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) survey conducted in 2015, Singapore was ranked as the most expensive city for expatriates to live in for the third consecutive year.

The WCOL survey is designed to allow HR managers and expatriates to compare the cost of living in 133 cities globally, and to enable the HR managers to work out appropriate compensation policies when relocating employees.

The survey findings do not reflect the cost of living of Singaporean households. Here’s why:

1. All prices are converted from local currencies to US dollars1, which means that the rankings are sensitive to currency fluctuations.

From 2004 to 2014, the Singapore dollar appreciated by nearly 35 per cent against the US dollar. This significantly increased the price of goods and services expressed in US dollar terms, thus contributing to the rise in Singapore’s ranking in the EIU survey over this period.

In 2015, when the Singapore dollar depreciated by 11 per cent against the US dollar, the gap between Singapore and the next two cities in the ranking (Zurich and Hong Kong) narrowed.

While such currency fluctuations affect the rankings and cost of living of expatriates who earn their income in foreign currencies, they have less impact on Singaporeans who earn their income in the local currency.

2. The items in the EIU consumption basket are quite different from the goods and services regularly consumed by Singaporeans.

For example, the EIU’s consumption basket includes items like filet mignon and international foreign daily newspapers. Comparatively, the typical Singaporean consumption basket includes items such as local newspapers and chicken rice, which tend to be cheaper.

3. The prices of comparable items in the EIU survey are higher than what Singaporeans pay

For the comparable items in both the EIU and Singaporean consumption baskets, the prices of close to 95 per cent of them were higher in the EIU survey than in the surveys conducted by the Department of Statistics (DOS).

Indeed, for these items, about 40 per cent had prices that were more than double what Singaporeans pay. Table 1 shows the prices of some of the comparable items collected by DOS and EIU.

*Prices from the EIU WCOL survey have been scaled to match the units used by DOS.

Note

1. EIU converts all prices to US dollars because the WCOL survey is intended as an international guide to global companies.

2. DOS has comparable data for about 120 out of 170 items included in the EIU WCOL basket.

3. DOS collects the price data for more than 6,600 brands/varieties of goods and services in its monthly and yearly surveys. Prices of selected items are published in the Singstat Table Builder.

4. The price range for the monthly electricity bill in the EIU survey is based on the consumption of a spacious property serving a wealthy expatriate family of four (plus possible domestic helpers).