A fourth POFMA (Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act) correction direction has been issued to opposition politician Kenneth Jeyaretnam for social media posts and a website article on what he thought about the government's management of Singapore's reserves.
Besides repeating comments about Ridout Road, for which he had been issued correction directions, Jeyaretnam wrote about the government's disbursement of money packages for retiring Singaporeans and Singapore's recent labour force participation rate.
The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) issued the correction direction on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, for his article on The Ricebowl Singapore (TRS) website and posts on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn made on Aug. 21.
This is Jeyaretnam's third POFMA correction direction in August and the fourth in 2023.
Full disbursement of Majulah Package, Pioneer Generation Package, and Merdeka Generation Package
According to the Factually article published on the government's website, Jeyaretnam posted a false statement of fact that the government does not expect to fully disburse to the intended beneficiaries the monies set aside for funds to support the Majulah Package, the Pioneer Generation Package, and the Merdeka Generation Package disbursements.
MinLaw explained that the government had set aside the monies to fund specific disbursements of the packages.
It added the funds meet the long-term spending commitment towards the package, such that the funding of the packages will not burden future generations.
It said,
"The Government projects and has always remained committed to the full disbursement of the moneys in the funds towards the Packages.
The moneys set aside therefore entail real spending to support the Packages."
Labour Force Participation Rate for Singapore citizens well over 50%
MinLaw also said that Jeyaretnam made two false statements of fact regarding manpower statistics in his TRS article.
First, MinLaw clarified that contrary to Jeyaretnam's statement, not all full-time students are considered employed in Singapore's manpower statistics.
MinLaw said, "Whether a full-time student is considered to be employed depends on whether the person is working while studying."
MinLaw added that Jeyaretnam also wrongly claimed that the recent Labour Force Participation Rate for Singapore citizens is below 50%.
MinLaw cited the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) statistics, saying,
"The Ministry of Manpower (MOM)’s Comprehensive Labour Force Survey shows that the Labour Force Participation Rate for Singapore citizens over the past five years has consistently stayed well above 50%.
In 2022, it was 68.3%."
Image via Manpower Research & Statistics Department, MOM.
MinLaw also stated that the MOM does not usually separate resident labour force statistics into Singapore citizens and permanent residents. It said that Singapore citizens make up 85% of the resident labour force, while the permanent resident population has also remained stable.
It explained that "for the most part, resident data mirrors citizen data."
Ridout Road rentals
Jeyaretnam repeated multiple false allegations in his article about the Ridout Road rentals of ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan.
Some of these falsehoods had already been issued earlier correction directions.
Rentals not because Shanmugam controlled SLA
MinLaw reiterated that the 26 and 31 Ridout Road rentals were based on fair market value. The properties had already been vacant for several years before the rental.
For his rental transaction, Shanmugam had recused himself.
The rentals did not occur because the two ministers would be its tenants, and also not because Shanmugam controlled the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).
Fair market value to determine value of land for rental
MinLaw pointed out that Jeyaretnam falsely claims that the government uses different principles to value land for sale and rental.
It stated that the government determines the value of land for sale to the public and land for rental using the same underlying principle of transacting at fair market value.
"Whether for short-term rental or a longer-term sale, the valuation seeks to establish the price that the market is willing to pay in each case, so that the Government transacts at fair market value."
Other allegations
MinLaw also stated that it was untrue for Jeyaretnam to say that SLA allowed Shanmugam to annex additional land to the property.
In addition, MinLaw pointed out Jeyaretnam's claim that Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean had said the additional land was "virtually valueless" was also untrue.
MinLaw said Teo had made no such statement in Parliament and instead explained that professional valuers assessed the Guide Rent.
Government takes strict action against money laundering and foreign tax evasion
MinLaw said Jeyaretnam also wrongly stated that the government allows "dirty money" to enter Singapore while "deliberately" not taking action against these two offences.
MinLaw stated that the government has "policies and a robust and comprehensive regulatory framework to counter money laundering, which are tightly supervised and enforced".
MinLaw further explained the following measures to counter these offences:
- Financial institutions implement anti-money laundering measures, such as customer due diligence checks.
- The Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office detects money laundering and analyses suspicious transaction reports.
- The Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 has been amended in 2023 for stronger enforcement against these serious offences.
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Top image from Facebook & Ministry of Law website.