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