Tang Liang Hong
Encyclopedia
Tang Liang Hong is a politician
and lawyer
from Singapore
.
Tang stood as a candidate for the opposition
Workers' Party
in the Cheng San Group Representation Constituency
at the 1997 general election. The Worker's Party team in the constituency was defeated by the team from the governing People's Action Party
(PAP) by 45.2% of the votes to 54.8%.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister
Goh Chok Tong
accused Tang of being an anti-Christian
and anti-Muslim
Chinese
chauvinist. After the election, Tang was sued
for defamation by several of the PAP's leaders, who accused him of making statements during the campaign which unreasonably questioned their integrity. Tang fled to Australia
soon after the election and has not returned to Singapore since then. The plaintiffs in the lawsuits obtained default judgements against Tang in all their suits.
in 1962, and moved to the University of Singapore the following year. He graduated in 1967 and joined the bar
a year later at the age of 38.
Tang served for serveral years as the Chairman of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
, and also sat on the board of management of The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Junior College
.
J.B. Jeyaretnam
.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong accused Tang of being a Chinese chauvinist because of comments Tang had made at other public events in the past. Goh stated that he was therefore making himself "a special candidate" in Cheng San GRC (even though it was not his constituency) because he felt that Tang must be kept out of Parliament if Singapore's inter-racial harmony was to be protected. Tang insisted that all he had ever tried to do was to "better represent the Chinese community and ask questions on their behalf". He vigorously denied that he was a Chinese chauvinist and accused the PAP of trying to win votes by sowing fear into the electorate.
Tang also came under fire from the PAP after he raised the issue of the Hotel Properties Ltd case during the election campaign. This issue arose after the Stock Exchange of Singapore
had previously criticised Hotel Properties Ltd for its "tardiness" in disclosing details of sales of its condominium units to directors and their family members. Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who had purchased one of the units and whose brother was a director of Hotel Properties Ltd, claimed that Tang was trying to smear his name and milk this issue for political capital.
On election day, the Worker's Party's team in Cheng San GRC lost to the PAP's team by 44,132 votes (45.2%) to 53,553 (54.8%). This was the highest percentage of the vote garnered by any opposition losing candidates, and was therefore enough to secure one of the team's members a seat as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament
(NCMP). The party selected Jeyaretnam to become its NCMP.
for defamation by several of the PAP's leaders, including Goh, Lee and Deputy Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong
and Tony Tan, who accused him of making statements during the campaign which falsely questioned their integrity. A total of 13 judgements were entered against Tang for defamation.
Tang also subsequently faced charges from the Inland Revenue Department for evading tax
es.
Tang left Singapore for Johor
, Malaysia, shortly after the election. His wife's passport
was then impounded but later released. Eventually Tang found refuge in Australia, where he was reunited with his wife.
After Tang left Singapore, the plaintiffs in the lawsuits obtained the Mareva injunction
against him to restrain him from disposing of assets and to require him to disclose the whereabouts of his assets. When Tang failed to file an affidavit disclosing his assets, the plaintiffs obtained default judgements against Tang in all their suits. Damages were assessed by a judge of the High Court
at a total of $8,075,000. Tang's appeals against the default judgements were argued by the British Queen's Counsel
Charles Gray before the Court of Appeal in September 1997, but was unsuccessful.
Tang has not returned to Singapore since 1997 and continues to live in Australia.
More details about the circumstances leading to the above legal action and about the lawsuit itself can be found in this website: http://www.singapore-window.org/1028judi.htm http://www.singapore-window.org/1028judi.htm
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
from Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Tang stood as a candidate for the opposition
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...
Workers' Party
Workers' Party of Singapore
The Workers' Party of Singapore is a centre-left opposition political party in Singapore. The party currently has six elected seats in Parliament, with the party's Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh serving as Members of...
in the Cheng San Group Representation Constituency
Cheng San Group Representation Constituency
Cheng San Group Representation Constituency is a now defunct Group Representation Constituency in the north-eastern region in Singapore...
at the 1997 general election. The Worker's Party team in the constituency was defeated by the team from the governing People's Action Party
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....
(PAP) by 45.2% of the votes to 54.8%.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Singapore
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is the head of the government of the Republic of Singapore. The President of Singapore appoints as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs.The office of Prime Minister...
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 28 November 1990 to 12 August 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime...
accused Tang of being an anti-Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and anti-Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
chauvinist. After the election, Tang was sued
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
for defamation by several of the PAP's leaders, who accused him of making statements during the campaign which unreasonably questioned their integrity. Tang fled to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
soon after the election and has not returned to Singapore since then. The plaintiffs in the lawsuits obtained default judgements against Tang in all their suits.
Biography
Tang was born in 1935 to parents who came from agricultural backgrounds. He was one of eight children in his family. He started his formal education only at the age of 13, when he began attending Yeung Ching Primary School in 1949. He graduated from high school in 1957. He then began studying at Nanyang UniversityNanyang University
Nanyang University was a university in Singapore from 1956 to 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only Chinese language post-secondary institution...
in 1962, and moved to the University of Singapore the following year. He graduated in 1967 and joined the bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
a year later at the age of 38.
Tang served for serveral years as the Chairman of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is one of the oldest and most established tertiary arts institution in Singapore....
, and also sat on the board of management of The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Junior College
Hwa Chong Junior College
Hwa Chong Junior College was a junior college in Singapore offering pre-university education. The college was founded in 1974 and merged with The Chinese High School on 1 January 2005 to form Hwa Chong Institution.-Founding:...
.
1997 general election
Tang stood as a candidate for the Workers' Party in Cheng San the Group Representation Constituency at the 1997 general election. The party's team in the constituency also included the party's leader, former Member of ParliamentParliament of Singapore
The Parliament of the Republic of Singapore and the President jointly make up the legislature of Singapore. Parliament is unicameral and is made up of Members of Parliament who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament and Nominated Members of Parliament who are appointed...
J.B. Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...
.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong accused Tang of being a Chinese chauvinist because of comments Tang had made at other public events in the past. Goh stated that he was therefore making himself "a special candidate" in Cheng San GRC (even though it was not his constituency) because he felt that Tang must be kept out of Parliament if Singapore's inter-racial harmony was to be protected. Tang insisted that all he had ever tried to do was to "better represent the Chinese community and ask questions on their behalf". He vigorously denied that he was a Chinese chauvinist and accused the PAP of trying to win votes by sowing fear into the electorate.
Tang also came under fire from the PAP after he raised the issue of the Hotel Properties Ltd case during the election campaign. This issue arose after the Stock Exchange of Singapore
Stock Exchange of Singapore
The Stock Exchange of Singapore was a stock exchange company in Singapore. It was formed in 1973, when the termination of currency interchangeability between Malaysia and Singapore, caused the Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore to separate into the SES and Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Bhd...
had previously criticised Hotel Properties Ltd for its "tardiness" in disclosing details of sales of its condominium units to directors and their family members. Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who had purchased one of the units and whose brother was a director of Hotel Properties Ltd, claimed that Tang was trying to smear his name and milk this issue for political capital.
On election day, the Worker's Party's team in Cheng San GRC lost to the PAP's team by 44,132 votes (45.2%) to 53,553 (54.8%). This was the highest percentage of the vote garnered by any opposition losing candidates, and was therefore enough to secure one of the team's members a seat as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament
Non-Constituency Member of Parliament
Non-Constituency Members of Parliament are members of the opposition parties who are appointed as members of the Parliament of Singapore even though they had lost in the parliamentary election....
(NCMP). The party selected Jeyaretnam to become its NCMP.
Post-election legal action
After the election, Tang was suedLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
for defamation by several of the PAP's leaders, including Goh, Lee and Deputy Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....
and Tony Tan, who accused him of making statements during the campaign which falsely questioned their integrity. A total of 13 judgements were entered against Tang for defamation.
Tang also subsequently faced charges from the Inland Revenue Department for evading tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es.
Tang left Singapore for Johor
Johor
Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...
, Malaysia, shortly after the election. His wife's passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
was then impounded but later released. Eventually Tang found refuge in Australia, where he was reunited with his wife.
After Tang left Singapore, the plaintiffs in the lawsuits obtained the Mareva injunction
Mareva injunction
The Mareva injunction , in Commonwealth jurisdictions, is a court order which freezes assets so that a defendant to an action cannot dissipate their assets from beyond the jurisdiction of a court so as to frustrate a judgment...
against him to restrain him from disposing of assets and to require him to disclose the whereabouts of his assets. When Tang failed to file an affidavit disclosing his assets, the plaintiffs obtained default judgements against Tang in all their suits. Damages were assessed by a judge of the High Court
High Court of Singapore
The High Court of the Republic of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper being the Court of Appeal. It consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore and the Judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload...
at a total of $8,075,000. Tang's appeals against the default judgements were argued by the British Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
Charles Gray before the Court of Appeal in September 1997, but was unsuccessful.
Tang has not returned to Singapore since 1997 and continues to live in Australia.
Sources
- Life on the run by James Gomez (4 April 2000)
- Worker's Party history 1991 to 2000
- "The politics of judicial institutions in Singapore"
More details about the circumstances leading to the above legal action and about the lawsuit itself can be found in this website: http://www.singapore-window.org/1028judi.htm http://www.singapore-window.org/1028judi.htm