Eight people and one Facebook page, including People's Voice politician Lim Tean, film-maker Martyn See, journalist Kirsten Han and ex-editor of socio-political site The Online Citizen Andrew Loh have been issued letters from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The letters concern remarks given by Home Affairs and Law Minister, K Shanmugam, in Parliament and require them to make corrections to their false statements and apologise.

According to MHA, the nine are:

• • Lim Tean
  • Andrew Loh
  • Kirsten Han
  • Martyn See
  • Julie O’Connor
  • Jolovan Wham
  • Kokila Annamalai
  • Lynn Lee
  • Wake Up Singapore

As of publication, seven have corrected their posts and apologised for what they did.

Shanmugam on FICA

Shanmugam was speaking in Parliament on Oct. 5, following his wrap-up speech on the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act.

He said the rule of law is fundamental for Singapore and its success.

Shanmugam also said the government has always been committed to the rule of law and continues to be committed to it.

He also said there are some countries around the world “where rule of law is a concept for lawyers, but it does not operate in the real world”.

He used this as a contrast to how the rule of law is applied in Singapore.

You can get a fuller picture of the exchange in the story below:

MHA also provided a link to a webpage to clarify the same.

Posts by Lim, Han and See

Following Shanmugam's speech, some commenters made posts about it.

See put up a post on Facebook on Oct. 6 which began with the line, "Minister denounces rule of law." He has since made a correction:

Kirsten Han

Han both tweeted and posted on Facebook the following excerpt from Mothership‘s article on Shanmugam's speech.

Han made a correction on her Facebook post, and shared the same on Twitter:

Andrew Loh

Loh also put up an apology and explanation on his Facebook page.

Lim Tean

People's Voice politician Lim Tean also put up a Facebook post on Oct. 6, an image with a caption that read:

"So Shanmugam Confirmed In The FICA Debate That There Is No Rule Of Law In Singapore????

How interesting coming from a Law Minister! So is there only the Rule Of Men in Singapore?"

However as of 11pm on Oct. 7, Lim did not make any edit to this post.

Mothership's edit and apology

Mothership reported Shanmugam's remarks on the rule of law on Oct. 6.

At around 12pm on Oct. 7, Mothership edited and updated its article to include an editor's note and an apology, which you can see below:

"Our earlier version gave the impression that Minister Shanmugam has changed his mind on rule of law. This is wrong and taken out of context.

Minister Shanmugam said in Parliament that the rule of law is fundamental for Singapore and its success. He also said the government has always been committed to the rule of law and continues to be so. He also referred to some countries around the world “where rule of law is a concept for lawyers but it does not operate in the real world.” He used this as a contrast to how the rule of law is applied in Singapore.

Mothership apologises for the misrepresentation. We have corrected our article to accurately represent Shanmugam's comments."

Mothership’s initial published version included a section on how Shanmugam believes in the principles of the rule of law and the separation of powers, both then and now.

Top image from MCI YouTube.