Singapore
POFMA Office issues Correction Direction to Kenneth Jeyaretnam over posts on CPIB and Ridout Road saga
Singapore’s POFMA Office has directed Kenneth Jeyaretnam to correct recent online statements, disputing claims about foreign pressures, ministerial rental agreements, and a bank overhaul.
SINGAPORE: The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) Office, under the guidance of the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, Mr Edwin Tong, has directed Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam to issue a Correction Direction (CD) concerning statements he made in recent online posts.
On 18 August 2023, Mr Jeyaretnam, the Reform Party Secretary-General, shared posts on his Facebook and X (formerly “Twitter”) accounts, making several assertions that have since been disputed as false.
These statements include:
- Alleging the arrest of 10 foreign nationals on 15 August 2023, in relation to forgery and money laundering, was a result of pressures from China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi.
- Claiming that a CPIB probe involving Minister S Iswaran and Mr Ong Beng Seng was due to external pressures.
- Stating that Minister of Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam and Foriegn Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan had rental rates for properties at 26 and 31 Ridout Road locked for over nine years.
In response, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and POFMA office have issued clarifications:
- The arrest of the 10 foreign nationals was not influenced by any foreign entity. Their arrests followed rigorous investigation efforts, as confirmed in a Police News Release on 16 August 2023.
- The CPIB’s probe into Minister S Iswaran and Mr Ong Beng Seng was unrelated to foreign pressure. This information was publicly discussed in several platforms, including the Parliament session on 2 August 2023 and in CPIB’s press release on 12 July 2023.
- The rental agreements for 26 and 31 Ridout Road are not locked for nine years but are subject to renewal and revaluation every two/three years. Recent renewals took place in June 2021 and October 2022, respectively.
Additionally, Mr Jeyaretnam’s claims surrounding F1’s Ecclestone, alleged bribe payments, and connections with a Singapore bank’s overhaul have been refuted.
The authorities state that Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong addressed these matters, emphasizing the proactive stance Singapore took in sharing crucial information with UK authorities regarding Mr Ecclestone, dating as far back as 2017.
MAS’s assessment of the involved bank showed areas for improvement but didn’t find systemic weaknesses that warranted an overhaul.
Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam is now required to carry the correction notice to rectify the alleged false statements he made on both Facebook and X platforms.
The public is advised to refer to official sources for accurate information.
Mr Jeyaretnam had previously been issued with a prior CD in July in response to an alleged claim that the Singapore Land Authority – which the Minister for Law oversees – had awarded renovation contracts for the bungalows to Livspace because its CEO is Mr Shanmugam’s son. MinLaw dismissed these assertions as false.
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Everyone knows POFMA is for PAP to cover up its lies.
When PAP POFMAs you, that because you are telling the true, which PAP dislike.
You write A
Pofma-ed with B
Move on lah
Juxtapose 🇺🇸 DoJ successful prosecution of Keppel related Execs bribing Petrobas for businesses, and CPIB admission of difficulty in action towards presumably same personnel that the seeming EFFECTIVE 🇺🇸 DOJ indicted – draw your own conclusions, foreign entities or local ones more proactive and effective.
Are “official sources” also “official lies”? Like “official sources” lying our HDB values will never go down? Like pinky lying “raise gst to help the poor”? Why then should official sources be trusted at all? Why should official sources claim to be beacons of truth? Pofma in and of itself is a lie, to begin with. Never trust the government, including and especially never trust the pap regime.
The PAP don’t realise they are just helping to promote Ken’s site and other sources of free information. They act like they are running a China style totalitarian state.
If KJ is a believer in his words, he’ll just ignore this masak masak POFMA thing.
Ever since this nonsense holier than thou tool has been invented, they’re using it very casually like touchy little teenage girls on their first period. What and who decides its truth or false?
Who is the arbiter of truth? There’s got to be someone other than the authors of the tool?
The PAP still don’t get it. They can keep issuing the POFMA but the Public does not “buy,” the govt.’s version. There may be inaccuracies in KJ’s narrative, like the locked rental. This arises due to the govt.’s own failure of not making the tenancy public. The option renewal for nine years in a residential unit is not a common practice in Tenancies in Singapore. Landlords know this.So don’t make us fools by the use of POFMA. We are free to make our own inferences with the information available as the trust in the govt. diminishes.
$8 heart surgery: No POFMA? tsk tsk tsk
$1000 salary can afford HDB Flats? really? Need to POFMA or not? tsk tsk tsk