SINGAPORE: A man known as “Rich Sng” on Facebook has apologised and taken down posts that two ministers and a labour chief said were defamatory.
The man, whose real name is Sng Chia Huat, had previously published posts alleging that Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat and labour chief Ng Chee Meng were aware that convicted money launderer Su Haijin had broken laws but chose to condone it.
Earlier this week, the lawyers of the ministers and Mr Ng sent letters to Mr Sng asking him to apologise, withdraw his false allegations and pay damages, which would be donated to charity.
“All three posts have since been taken down, and I’ve also issued public apologies in the form demanded of me,” said Mr Sng in a Facebook post on Friday.
“I am sorry.”
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PROPOSAL TO DO COMMUNITY SERVICE
In his post, Sng offered to perform community service in lieu of monetary compensation, citing financial difficulties.
He said he closed his business on Apr 1 due to inflation, rising rental costs and rising energy prices.
“Like many SME (small-medium enterprise) owners, I exhausted personal savings and loans just trying to stay afloat,” he wrote. “Since then, I’ve had no income, been managing debt, and doing what I can to remain useful to society.”
He proposed to “serve 100 hours of community service for each public servant named in the letters – a total of 300 hours”.
He listed what he said were examples of him participating in “volunteer and charity” work since 2019.
“My time, sweat, and labour are what I can offer. Let me serve the people you intended to benefit through your charitable donation using hands-on effort instead of dollars,” wrote Mr Sng.
Fujian gang member Su was one of 10 people convicted in a billion-dollar money laundering case in 2024. The Cypriot national was sentenced to 14 months’ jail.
Earlier this month, pictures of Mr Ong, Mr Chee and Mr Ng together with Su were posted online by former Reform Party chairman and fugitive lawyer Charles Yeo.
The ministers’ press secretaries said last week that Mr Ong and Mr Chee did not know Su personally, who had “happened to be there”.
Mr Ng also said it was part of his work as the secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress to engage with different private sector leaders, and that he had no further interaction with Su following that meeting.
