Today I and Andy Zhu Laicheng, the Chair of the Reform Party. sent the following letter to the Editor of TODAY Online:
26 May 2020
The Editor
TODAY Online
Mediacorp Campus
1 Stars Avenue
Singapore 138507
Dear Sir
On 24 May 2020 an article that in the online edition of your newspaper entitled “Members who resigned, were expelled ‘no big deal’ for Progress Singapore Party: Tan Cheng Bock”.
In the article your newspaper goes on to say:
“Back in 2011, the party founded by Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam saw a mass resignation of nine members”.
It is clear from the context that “the party” refers to the Reform Party. This statement is incorrect and furthermore clearly fits the definition of Fake News.
The Reform Party was founded by Mr. J B Jeyaretnam shortly before he passed away in 2008. I have supplied a link to the facts as stated by The National Library Board quote below from the National Library Board website HistorySG:
“The Reform Party is a political party in Singapore. It was registered on 18 June 2008 and inaugurated the following month on 11 July.[1] The founder and first secretary-general of the party was J. B. Jeyaretnam, who was formerly the secretary-general of the Workers’ Party from 1971 to 2001.”
By publishing fake news, your article obliterates an important element of the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam’s legacy in founding the Reform Party. The employment of this fake news also damages the reputation of the Reform Party and that of the current SG, Kenneth Jeyaretnam in attempting to lower the status of both in the eyes of the public. The lie that you have published would lead any reasonable person to the assumption that the Reform Party is:
Not a democratic institution.
A vehicle for personal advancement.
The Reform Party did at its founding and still does hold an historic place in the annals of Singapore’s political landscape being the only party to have a fully democratic constitution. This was JBJ’s legacy and the reason for the name “Reform”.
After Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam’s death, Ng Tek Siong assumed the leadership of the party from the position of chair until a democratic leadership contest could be held. Kenneth Jeyaretnam was then elected by majority vote of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) to the SG position in April 2009 and has since fought robust democratic leadership contests for the role. Constitutionally Reform Party remains the only fully democratic political party without a cadre system in Singapore AND with the further democratic check and balance of term limits on the key officers. It is this fact that democracy can exist in Singapore, that you are attempting to hide from the public.
We require you to correct your mistake to avoid further damage to the party and to Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s reputation and to publish an apology forthwith.
If we do not receive an adequate response within 24 hours we will ask the Minister to issue you with a Correction Notice as provided for under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.
Yours faithfully
Andy Zhu Laizheng
Chairman
Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Secretary General
We await a response. If none is forthcoming in the next 24 hours we will ask the Minister to issue a Correction Notice under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.
GeorgeOrwell – Animal Farm “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” - AristoCATs are always “transparent” since they are the arbiters of “truth”. All others are therefore deemed phonies ! - Vote wisely at the next GE, VTO!
TODAY Online has apologized!
State Media Organ TODAY Online Admits Fake News in article regarding JBJ and Reform Party
Our letter to the Editor of TODAY Online yesterday received a response. To remind readers my letter referred to an article published in TODAY dated 24 May 2020 entitled “Members who resigned, were expelled ‘no big deal’ for Progress Singapore Party: Tan Cheng Bock”.
TODAY said in the body of its article ; “Back in 2011, the party founded by Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam saw a mass resignation of nine members“
Like most state media articles about the Opposition, this and the story about members leaving Tan Cheng Bock’s party was just part of the PAP’s strategy of portraying the Opposition as a hopelessly fractious bunch, always squabbling both internally and externally. In doing so it gives credence to a group of serial professional party hoppers, some of whom, like Hazel Poa, feature in both events, even though they are nine years apart .
To say that the Reform Party was founded by me is also clearly untrue. By publishing this fake news the state media was just trying to write JBJ out of history, which has been the PAP’s aim since he died in 2008, and suggest that the Reform Party is a personal vehicle.
The Chair and I wrote to Today and received a reply. They have changed the word “founded” to “headed“.
They also published a correction notice: CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story by CNA said that “in 2011, the party founded by Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam saw a mass :”. This is incorrect. It should have been the party “headed” by Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam. We apologise for the error.
While I am one of the strongest opponents of the Protection from Online Falsehood and Manipulation Act (POFMA), which I view as an attempt by the Government to stifle criticism and prevent the expression of opposing views, the fact that TODAY backed down after I threatened to ask the Minister to issue a Correction Notice, shows that it can and should be made to work both ways. We need to prevent Ministers like Josephine Teo talking cock because they feel secure that Singaporeans will be intimidated by the POFMA legislation into not challenging them.
It is extremely difficult to get the state media to correct fake news, and I speak from personal experience. In the run-up to the 2011 election Tessa Wong, then a journalist with the Straits Times but who has now joined the BBC, to its detriment. She ran a story about Alec Tok, a member who left to join SDP because they promised him an SMC, claiming that he left because I was forcing him to retrospectively conform to a set of Central Executive Committee (CEC) protocols he had never seen. When I proved to Tessa that Alec Tok had in fact helped to draft the CEC protocols, she just amended the original article but left two versions on the internet. She also said that the Straits Times would not put any notice up apologising and saying they had amended the article. With POFMA it is at least theoretically possible to use the Government’s own weapon of repression against them, hopefully hoisting them with their own petard, so to speak.
Lee Hsien Loong and his minions want to ensure that young Singaporeans and new citizens are kept unaware of JBJ’s special place in Singapore’s history and his breaking of the PAP’s monopoly back in 1981.That rewriting of history began with LHL’s condolence letter to me and my brother, where he accused my father of having “sought by all means to demolish the PAP and our system of government.” Ironically POFMA has become a weapon to prevent this.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Secretary General, Reform Party
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