Chee’s S$30k offer to anul bankruptcy accepted

SINGAPORE: Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong have accepted opposition politician Chee Soon Juan’s offer to pay S$30,000 to discharge himself from bankruptcy.

Senior Counsel Davinder Singh of Drew & Napier LLC said this in a statement on Friday.

Dr Chee, who is the Secretary—General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), was declared a bankrupt in 2006 after he failed to pay damages totalling S$500,000 to Mr Lee and Mr Goh.

This followed a defamation suit brought on by the two over remarks Dr Chee made during the 2001 General Election.

Earlier, in a statement on September 11, Dr Chee said Mr Lee and Mr Goh had indicated that they would accept his offer of S$30,000 to annul his bankruptcy.

The SDP posted an email dated September 7 from the Official Assignee to Dr Chee on its website, saying that Dr Chee’s creditors — Mr Lee, Mr Goh and the Attorney—General’s Chambers — had no objection to his offer of composition of S$30,000.

Dr Chee said he will be working to raise the amount, primarily through the sale of his books.

He added that he was looking forward to being formally cleared of his bankruptcy so that he would be eligible to stand in the next General Election, due in 2016.

— CNA/fa