Opposition politician, others instructed to correct fake information about state-owned bungalows rented by two Indian-origin ministers in Singapore

Singapore, Jul 16 (PTI) Singapore government on Sunday asked an opposition politician and a website, Jom, to put up corrections under the law against fake news over articles and social media posts that contain false statements about the Ridout Road saga which involves two state-owned bungalows rented by the ruling party’s Indian-origin ministers.

The Ministry of Law said Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong had issued the instructions to Reform Party leader Kenneth Jeyaretnam and Facebook user Thamil Selvan, both of Indian origin, The Straits Times online reported.

The orders are in relation to an article published by Jeyaretnam titled “Will SLA issue a statement denying the rumours that they have awarded any contracts to Shanmugam’s son’s company?” on July 2 on his website The Ricebowl Singapore, as well as Thamil’s Facebook post on July 1.

In the article and post, they had “falsely stated that the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) gave the contract to renovate 26 Ridout Road and/or 31 Ridout Road to home interior and renovation company Livspace”. The bungalows are state-owned properties but have been vacant for several years, according to earlier media reports.

They had also claimed that this was done because the chief executive officer of Livspace is the son of Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam.

The two colonial-era bungalows in Ridout Road are being rented by Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

In the statement, the Law Ministry said that Livspace and Shanmugam’s son were not appointed by SLA to carry out works for 26 Ridout Road or 31 Ridout Road, as stated by Tong during a parliamentary sitting on July 3. The parliament had debated how the bungalows were rented by the two ministers.

“As with its approach for other state properties, SLA had engaged an external consultant to assess the works needed to be carried out for the two properties,” the statement added.

The ministry also said that the contracts were awarded to separate contractors through open tenders.

A Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) probe found no evidence of corruption or criminal wrongdoing in the rentals of the Ridout Road properties by Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan.

The matter was also raised in Parliament on July 3, when Shanmugam, Dr Balakrishnan, Tong and Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean gave ministerial statements.

Under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma), Jeyaretnam and Thamil are required to carry a correction notice on their website and Twitter and Facebook accounts stating that their posts contain false statements. The correction notice will also have to carry a link to the Government’s Factually article, which lays out the facts and clarifications on this matter, said the Law Ministry.

Tong also issued a correction direction to the online publication Jom, the Law Ministry said and the Ministry of Communications and Information said in a joint statement on Sunday.

In an article titled “Singapore This Week” on July 7, Jom falsely stated that Teo did not respond to questions “concerning the issue of actual or apparent conflicts of interest and possible breach of the code of conduct for ministers beyond replying that it is more important to observe the spirit rather than just the letter of the code”.

It also claimed that SLA spent more than SGD1 million on the renovation of 26 Ridout Road and 31 Ridout Road as the tenants were the ministers involved.

Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo has also ordered Jom to post a correction for falsely stating that the Government caused Instagram to geo-block a post by opposition figure and fugitive lawyer Charles Yeo in the same article on July 7, said the joint statement.

“The Government did not issue any directions or requests on this matter to Meta, Instagram’s parent company, that caused Instagram to geo-block the post in question,” the statement said.

Jom will be required to publish correction notices stating that the article contains false statements of facts and provide a link to the Factually article on the posts on its website and social media pages.