Sued politician mulls apology offer

Sued politician mulls apology offer

SINGAPORE: Veteran Singapore opposition politician J. B.
Jeyaretnam could end a series of lawsuits brought against him by
members of the ruling party with a public apology, the High Court
heard on Monday.

A lawyer for several Singaporean ministers who are suing the
now bankrupt former leader of the Workers Party said they would
drop their defamation suits if he read out an apology in court.

The suits arose from remarks Jeyaretnam made in a speech
during the 1997 general election campaign.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was the first to take action
against Jeyaretnam for the comments and was awarded S$100,000
(US$54,290) in damages in 1998.

Jeyaretnam was declared bankrupt after defaulting on an
installment on S$227,000 from a previous defamation suit brought
by seven government members including Senior Minister Lee Kuan
Yew, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Defense Minister
Tony Tan. --Reuters

;AP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-S'pore-parliament
Singapore lawmakers debate art for arts sake on first day of
debate
JP/9/ASEAN

Lawmakers debate art for art's sake

SINGAPORE: The government of this tightly controlled island
nation must stop viewing creative outlets simply as a means to
spur future economic growth, a lawmaker said on Monday during
Parliament's first debate since the November elections.

"We must adopt the development of the arts and sports as
primary aims, and not as secondary aims to promote
entrepreneurship," said member of Parliament Chin Tet Yung.

Singapore has become one of Asia's wealthiest countries since
its humble founding in 1965. The government says its tight
controls on the people and economy have helped ensure that
success.

But many say Singapore's achievements have come at the expense
of a freethinking, creative citizenry -- a growing concern as the
country battles the worst recession in its history.

Parliamentary debate began on Monday amid new rules
encouraging lawmakers to speak their minds and occasionally stray
from the official party line on certain issues. --AP

;AP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-Malaysia-Anwar
Malaysian prosecutors brush aside Anwar's claim of political
JP/9/ASEAN

Prosecutors brush aside Anwar's conspiracy claim

MALAYSIA: Former deputy leader Anwar Ibrahim's claim of a
political conspiracy against him is irrelevant in his appeal
against a corruption conviction, government lawyers argued in
Malaysia's highest court on Monday.

Prosecutor Yusof Zainal Abiden rejected defense arguments that
Anwar was convicted in 1999 and sentenced to six years in prison
because the trial judge refused to consider proof of a high-level
plot to oust him.

The corruption case hinges on whether Anwar abused his power
as Malaysia's then-deputy prime minister in 1997 to get police to
obtain forced retractions from people who accused him of sodomy
and adultery.

Defense lawyers said the police officials were lying, and
tried to introduce evidence of a political conspiracy, which the
judge rejected. --AP

;AP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-Vietnam-prostitution
Vietnamese province begins publicizing names of civil servants
who
JP/9/ASEAN

Names of prostitutes' clients announced

VIETNAM: The number of customers at bars and karaoke parlors
known for prostitution has fallen in a Vietnamese province since
it became the first to publicize the names of civil servants who
patronize prostitutes, an official said on Monday.

Local media in the southern province of Can Tho printed the
names of 20 local officials following police raids on bars and
karaoke parlors in the province, he said.

The official from the government's Anti-Social Evils
Department said the National Assembly's Standing Committee is
expected to issue later this year an antiprostitution decree
which outlines punishments against prostitutes' clients.

The proposed decree, submitted by the government to the
Standing Committee late last year, states that prostitutes'
customers will be fined and their offices will be informed if
they are civil servants. If they are private citizens,
authorities will notify their local governments, he said. --AP

;AFP;KOD;
ANPAu..r..
Aglance-Thai-monks-smoke
Thailand to ban smoking in temples to curb heavy toll on monks
JP/9/ASEAN

Bangkok to ban smoking in temples

THAILAND: Smoking will be banned in Thai temples after new
statistics indicated that the habit is the leading cause of death
among Buddhist monks, health authorities said on Monday.

Health minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the ministry would
cooperate with the religious affairs department in enforcing the
smoking ban after an earlier 1997 directive was ignored.

According to statistics from the Monks General Hospital, most
deaths among Buddhist clergy who had been admitted there died
from lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases.

The number of monks contracting the diseases rose to 18,775 in
2000, up 86 percent from 1997.

Some 150,000 monks across the country are believed to smoke,
with one in every two expected to die of a related disease, the
ministry said. -- AFP