Singaporean blogger and influencer Xiaxue is reportedly seeking a Protection Order and a Stop Publication Order against a Twitter user @elouease.
Xiaxue, whose real name is Wendy Cheng, previously applied for an Expedited Protection Order on 21 July, according to the Twitter user on Thursday (24 September).
The 21-year-old in a string of tweets on the matter elaborated that she was “served with a further set of papers” by DC Law — the firm acting on behalf of Ms Cheng — several days later.
Through the set of papers, @elouease said she was notified that Ms Cheng had “successfully applied for an Interim Stop Publication Order” against her.
Prior to the first pre-trial conference, Ms Cheng’s lawyers had applied for a summons application “to ask that the Expedited Protection Order be extended”, according to @elouease.
Lawyers from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, who represent @elouease on a pro bono basis in the dispute, however, have “resisted this application, as they found it to be unmeritorious”.
“In the midst of the hearing, Xiaxue’s solicitors withdrew the application,” she wrote.
While both orders “have since lapsed”, @elouease said that “the proceedings are still ongoing as Ms Cheng still seeks a Protection Order and a Stop Publication Order” against her.
As such, both of these orders have since lapsed. However, the proceedings are still ongoing as Xiaxue still seeks a Protection Order and a Stop Publication Order against me.
6/x— Black Lives Matter (@elouease) September 24, 2020
She noted that she will keep the public abreast with “any developments in relation to these proceedings” as she is unable to disclose certain information due to the ongoing nature of the dispute.
While @elouease did not specify the origins and context of the ongoing legal battle, Ms Cheng told Mothership in an interview in July that she had filed for a protection order and harassment suit against individuals who had allegedly instigated a movement to “cancel” her.
Ms Cheng claimed that she made an attempt to explain the context of her posts to the said individuals. However, she said that they were “not interested.”
She alleged that the “woke mob” had been “harassing [her] clients non-stop” via email and Instagram comments, sending nasty messages to her family members, and asking her “influencer friends” to “unfriend” her on Instagram.
“I don’t foresee this behaviour stopping anytime soon and I feel when people try to destroy my livelihood and harass me non-stop, I should not just take it lying down,” said the 36-year-old.
According to Mothership, Ms Cheng’s lawyer in the case is Fong Wei Li, a commercial lawyer who specialises in media and internet law. He is also a director at DC Law.
Ms Cheng was also reportedly considering taking further legal action, including defamation as a possible case.
The influencer has come under fire in recent months for making posts of an offensive nature, one of which involved comments made about about the Workers’ Party (WP) Sengkang Group Representation (GRC) Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan.
Ms Khan’s past social media posts on alleged systemic bias favouring “rich Chinese or white people” and Christian church leaders caused a stir during the General Election period, so much so that two police reports were lodged against her on 4 and 5 July.
In response to Ms Khan’s tweets in question, Ms Cheng took to her Instagram to say that Ms Khan, a “radical feminist/leftist”, was stirring up “racist sentiments” in her tweets.
She added that Singapore does not need the “poison” from political candidates infecting the nation’s politics.
A police report was lodged against Ms Cheng on 6 July over a racist tweet she allegedly made back in 2010 about South Asian migrant workers in Singapore.
While Ms Khan was issued a stern warning by the police over her remarks on the basis of “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion or race”, none was issued to Ms Cheng in her case.