Journalists and curious individuals packed the public gallery yesterday as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took the stand to be cross-examined in his defamation case against blogger Leong Sze Hian.

For three hours, PM Lee was questioned by Mr Leong's lawyer, opposition politician Lim Tean, who was focused on the issues he wanted to examine.

But this saw PM Lee fielding the same handful of questions over and over throughout the session.

The exchanges ended several times with the parties talking over each other, with Mr Lim drowning out the repeated objections of Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, who led PM Lee's team of lawyers.

"He comes protecting his client, who is supposed to be the most powerful man in Singapore politically, and he's mollycoddling him," said Mr Lim at one point.

Justice Aedit Abdullah had to step in several times, helping to guide the cross-examination and reminding Mr Lim to be specific in his questions and to keep them within the scope of the case before the court.

At one point, Mr Singh stood up for the umpteenth time to raise an objection while Mr Lim was attempting to question PM Lee on his involvement in various government processes, and Justice Aedit said: "Mr Singh doesn't even have to stand for this. Mr Lim, you are going beyond the remit. I have given my direction."

With safe distancing rules still in place owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, only 20 members of the public were allowed into the public gallery at any one time.

Those who managed to secure a place were instructed to leave one empty seat in between them.

There were only about 50 people in the courtroom in total, including reporters, the lawyers and security officers. Courtroom 4B can typically take almost double that number.

The day had started early for those who wanted to attend the hearing, with a queue forming from about 5am.

First in line was The Online Citizen chief editor Terry Xu, who is himself being sued by PM Lee for defamation over an article in which he repeated allegations about PM Lee in relation to his late father Lee Kuan Yew's family home in Oxley Road.

Others who had turned up early included residents from PM Lee's Teck Ghee constituency as well as supporters of Mr Leong.

The limited spaces, as well as public interest in the case, meant that many who turned up were not able to go into the courtroom.

Financial consultant Raymond Giam, 57, who had set off early from his home in Bukit Timah and joined the queue at 6.30am, just missed his chance to enter the courtroom. He was No. 23 in line and did not receive a ticket when they were given out at 7am.

"I enjoy the cut and thrust of debate and I thought it would be interesting, given the people involved," he said.

Also unable to enter was medical administrator Michael Fang, 43, who posed for a group photo with Mr Leong.

Mr Fang was a Peoples Voice party candidate for Jalan Besar GRC during the general election in July, and the slate led by Mr Lim had also included Mr Leong.

Mr Fang said the case had generated a lot of public interest and he hoped "to see a good outcome".