Activist, news site told to correct posts on eviction
Claims of HDB eviction of woman are false, says MND; news site complies with order
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
An online account of a woman who was allegedly evicted from her Housing Board rental flat is not true, said the Ministry of National Development (MND) yesterday as Singapore's law against fake news was invoked on the matter.
Earlier this month, political activist Gilbert Goh put up a Facebook post on the eviction issue, while alternative news site The Independent Singapore (TISG) posted an article on its website and put up a post on Facebook about it.
Yesterday, MND said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong has told the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) Office to issue a correction notice against Mr Goh and TISG over this.
The correction direction requires Mr Goh and TISG to carry, in full, a correction notice at the top of their posts.
Their posts and article relate to an account about a woman, said to be a single mother known only as Lina, and her six children who were said to be evicted from their rented HDB flat for defaulting on rent payment.
The posts also claimed that the family was staying at her sister's house.
MND said both claims are false as HDB did not evict Lina from the flat. Instead, early this month, a man verified as her husband terminated the tenancy for the flat and returned the keys to HDB.
The family also did not have any overdue rent throughout the period of the last tenancy.
The ministry added that Lina and her husband bought a new flat from HDB which has been paid in full, and the family has moved into the new flat.
Mr Goh's Facebook post on Feb 19 is written in the first person, presumably from Lina, who asked for help. At the end of the post, Mr Goh said a visit to the family would be made to verify what she said.
TISG's Feb 21 article on Lina and her family is based on Mr Goh's account of his interactions with the woman.
MND said that when HDB staff visited Lina's family in its new flat last Saturday, the woman and her husband said it was their relative who had approached Mr Goh for help.
The family has been receiving assistance - including cash, vouchers, subsidies and food rations - from various government agencies and community partners.
The family has also received food rations and supermarket vouchers from its local grassroots organisation, said MND.
TISG put up a correction notice on its Facebook post and online article yesterday evening.
