Edwin Tong, the Culture, Community, and Youth Minister and Second Minister for Law, has instructed for a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) to be issued to Reform Party Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam.
This is the seventh correction direction issued to Jeyaretnam, and it pertains to a Facebook post he published on May 25, 2024, according to a May 29 press release issued by the Ministry of Law.
"His latest post continues to propagate false and unfounded statements, reflecting a deliberate intent to undermine our public institutions," added government fact-checking site Factually.
Jeyaretnam's post
In his post, Jeyaretnam commented on a Singapore court decision which ordered Lee Hsien Yang to pay Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan S$200,000 each for defaming them in a Facebook post about their rental of black-and-white bungalows along Ridout Road.
Jeyaretnam also reposted Lee's response to the court decision.
As of May 30 morning, Jeyaretnam had inserted a notice on the top of his post with a link to the government's clarification, a requirement of the latest correction direction issued to him.
False allegation
According to the Ministry of Law, Jeyaretnam's post had wrongfully stated that the prime minister and law minister can influence the size of performance bonuses paid to specific High Court judges.
Under Singapore's constitution and The Judges' Remuneration Act 1994, the legislature will provide for the remuneration of the Supreme Court Judges and as a class, their annual pensionable salary is fixed by law.
The constitution also provides that a Supreme Court Judge's remuneration and other terms of office shall not be altered to his disadvantage after his appointment, added Factually.
Correspondingly, it is the Chief Justice who determines the salary and bonuses to be paid to each Supreme Court Judge within the scope of the framework set out in law.
Neither the prime minister nor any ministers can determine or influence the payment to be made to specific judges under this framework.
Inaccurate statements
Separately, Factually said Jeyaretnam's post also made "other statements which are misleading and give an inaccurate picture".
One such statement was his comment that "defamation laws only serve to protect those in positions of power from being held accountable and their actions held up to scrutiny".
In response, Factually said that the protection afforded by defamation law "applies equally to everyone" in Singapore, citing the case of opposition politician and founder of the Singapore Democratic Party Chiam See Tong.
Despite scrutinising the government and those in power throughout his career, Chiam "has never been sued for defamation".
"In fact, he has taken action against others, including two former government ministers, for defaming him. The ministers apologised and reached an out-of-court settlement with him," added Factually.
Top image via Kenneth Jeyaretnam/Facebook