POFMA correction directions issued to Kenneth Jeyaretnam, online publication Jom over Ridout Road articles

SINGAPORE: Correction directions have been issued to Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam, Mr Thamil Selvan and online publication Jom over articles and social media posts about the rental of two bungalows along Ridout Road by two ministers.

It emerged in early May that Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan are renting two black-and-white bungalows at 26 and 31 Ridout Road respectively. 

Interest in the matter arose after opposition politician and Reform Party chief Mr Jeyaretnam questioned if the ministers were "paying less than the fair market value".

Investigations, including by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing or preferential treatment given to the two ministers.

CORRECTION DIRECTIONS TO KENNETH JEYARETNAM, THAMIL SELVAN

Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong instructed for the correction directions to be issued to Mr Jeyaretnam and Mr Selvan under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said on Sunday (Jul 16).

This was because both men 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. They had also claimed that this was done because Livspace’s CEO is the son of Mr Shanmugam.

Mr Selvan did so in a Facebook post on Jul 1, while Mr Jeyaretnam made the claims in an article on his website. It was also shared on his Twitter page.

The issue of the rentals was debated in parliament on Jul 3, with four ministers – Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, Mr Tong, Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan – giving ministerial statements.

Mr Tong, who is also Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, told the House that neither Livspace nor Mr Shanmugam’s son was appointed by SLA to carry out works for either bungalows.

“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. Thereafter, contracts to carry out the works were awarded to separate contractors through open tenders,” said MinLaw.

“SLA did not award any contract to Livspace to carry out works to 26 Ridout Road or 31 Ridout Road. SLA has not had any transactions with Livspace for these or other properties.”

Under the directions, Mr Jeyaretnam is required to carry a correction notice on his website and Twitter page, and Mr Selvan is also ordered to put up a correction notice on his Facebook post. The notices should state that their posts contained false statements of fact, said MinLaw on Sunday.

A check by CNA on early Monday showed that Mr Jeyaretnam's website had put up a correction notice.

In a Facebook post at around 3.30am, Mr Jeyaretnam said he intended to appeal the notice.

CORRECTION DIRECTIONS TO JOM

In a separate press release, MinLaw and the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) said Mr Tong and Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo have issued correction directions to online publication Jom.

According to its website, Jom is a weekly magazine about Singapore. Its co-founders are Charmaine Poh, Tsen-Waye Tay and Sudhir Vadaketh.

On Jul 7, Jom published an article that claimed Mr 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”.

The publication said Mr Teo did not go beyond replying that it is more important to observe the spirit rather than just the letter of the code.

Jom also claimed the SLA spent more than S$1 million (US$0.76 million) on the renovation of both bungalows because the ministers were tenants.

It wrote in its article that the government caused Instagram to geo-block a post by fugitive lawyer Charles Yeo, the former Reform Party chairman.

MinLaw and MCI said the Jom article omitted important information from what Mr Teo had said in parliament on Jul 3.

“Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean had expressly clarified that he meant it was important to observe the spirit as well as the letter of the code,” said the ministries.

“Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean also said that Minister K Shanmugam had recused himself, and this meant that he no longer had any duty in the matter. There could thus be no potential or actual conflict of interest.”

The senior minister also explained how Mr Shanmugam had “removed himself from the chain of command and decision-making process entirely” when it came to the rental of 26 Ridout Road.

Mr Teo also highlighted that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau had established – as part of an independent investigation – that no matter was raised by SLA to MinLaw and to any of the ministers during the rental process.

The ministries said that the identity of the tenants had no bearing on the amount spent by SLA on the works carried out on both bungalows.

“The article implies that this sum was unusually large, and omits important information that the works done by SLA were consistent with SLA’s general practice, and were assessed to be necessary in the circumstances, as explained by Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong in Parliament on Jul 3.”

They added that the authority invests a “significant amount” in maintaining conserved properties such as the two bungalows, and that a key reason for the cost is the nature of the conservation requirements for such properties, which are older than the average property in Singapore.

Mr Tong had spoken “at length” in parliament about the details of these conservation requirements, said the ministries.

“While the maintenance works are done in periodic cycles, SLA does them in the lead up to a confirmed tenancy where practical, to avoid disrupting existing tenants and to ensure that the costs can be recovered from the prospective tenant,” said MinLaw and MCI.

SLA has published information that similar and large amounts have been spent by the agency on other black-and-white bungalows “in a manner consistent with conservation requirements”.

In the case of 26 and 31 Ridout Road, most of the costs incurred by SLA were for works that external consultants had determined to be necessary. This was in light of the condition of the properties and to comply with the relevant conservation requirements.

The remaining costs were incurred as part of the usual works done before the start of a tenancy to ensure that the property is habitable, said the ministries.

With regards to the claim that an Instagram post by Charles Yeo was blocked, the ministries said this was untrue and that the government did not issue any directions or requests on this matter to Meta, Instagram’s parent company, that caused the platform to geo-block the post.

As required by the POFMA directions, Jom must publish the correction notices on its website and social media pages.

Checks by CNA on Sunday showed that Jom had complied with the POFMA directions to carry the correction notices on its website and Facebook page.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Jom's editor-in-chief Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh said the online publication intends to challenge the orders.

"We respectfully disagree with the POFMA office’s findings, and will be challenging it according to the established process: First appealing to the ministers who issued the orders (Josephine Teo and Edwin Tong), failing which, we will appeal to Singapore’s High Court," he wrote.