SUBTLE SHIFT: After Mr Singh's accusations, Dr Chee (seen here with his sister Chee Siok Chin) changed tack and said that Dr Peter Eigen had told him that MM Lee's award did not have 'anything to do with Transparency International'. -- ST PHOTO: SHAHRIYA YAHAYA

He accused the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief of lying that the award had not been authorised, and then trying to wriggle out of that claim.

The award in question was a Global Integrity Medal conferred by Transparency International's Kuala Lumpur branch on MM Lee Kuan Yew in September 2000.

While cross-examining MM Lee on Tuesday, Dr Chee alleged that the award did not have the consent of the organisation's chairman, Dr Peter Eigen.

'I was in Sao Paulo. I had lunch with Dr Peter Eigen... Dr Peter Eigen told me that he did not authorise Transparency International Malaysia to give this award to you,' Dr Chee said on Tuesday.

In court yesterday, Mr Singh, Mr Lee's lawyer, produced a letter from Dr Eigen that said otherwise.

'I have full confidence in you and Transparency International Malaysia in making this decision. The role of Lee Kuan Yew in fighting corruption in Singapore is well known and is considered an important model for fighting against corruption,' read the letter, which was dated Aug 18, 2000 and addressed to Tunku Abdul Aziz, the head of the KL branch.

Right after the letter was read out, Dr Chee leapt to his feet and objected, challenging the veracity of the letter and asking Mr Singh to invite Dr Eigen to testify in court.

He said: 'If Mr Singh is willing to reopen the case and invite Dr Peter Eigen to testify...about not just the authenticity, but the credibility of Transparency International itself, then let's do it.'

Mr Singh pointed to the incident as the latest example of Dr Chee changing stories when caught in a lie.

'This man has not changed since the 1990s. He does something dishonest, he gets caught, he changes his story. It's all a matter of public record,' he said.

'He cheated the university, he got caught, he came up with a different story. He misled Parliament, he got caught, he came up with a different story. He went on stage to apologise to Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok Tong; later, said 'I didn't apologise out of good faith because I was forced to apologise',' said Mr Singh, referring to past instances of Dr Chee caught lying.

'Today, he lied about Dr Peter Eigen and Transparency International and his views about them. He got caught and now he changes it and says 'Wait, wait, let's have a full debate. Are you going to call Peter Eigen?''

In his own closing statement, Dr Chee responded with a longer account of his meeting with the Transparency International chief.

Said Dr Chee: 'After I made some of the revelations (about the situation in Singapore), he (Dr Eigen) was clearly embarrassed, and I don't know whether he was just trying to protect himself, but he started to distance himself from this award.'

Dr Eigen told him that the Malaysian award did not have 'anything to do with Transparency International', he asserted.

It was a tale Mr Singh jumped on, describing it as a 'subtle but conspicuous shift' away from Tuesday's version of the story.

'He's now attacking the integrity of this man, suggesting that Peter Eigen did something, and then dishonestly claimed not to have had anything to do with it?' he said.

Ultimately, Mr Singh said, the whole episode gave an indication of the type of man Dr Chee is.

'You have an independent organisation holding up Singapore as an exemplar for political governance, and you have a Singaporean going there to try and damage the country. That's the kind of man he is, on his own admission.'

jeremyau@sph.com.sg