MOM Statement On SDP's Response To New Correction Direction Issued Under POFMA on 8 Oct 21

1.In a statement issued by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on 9 October 2021, it claimed that the Court of Appeal (CA) had noted that “because a Minister declares that a statement is false, does not necessarily make it so”. The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has clarified this point in a statement issued on 9 October 2021 (https://www.agc.gov.sg/resources/databases/newsitem/agc-media-statement-court-judgment-in-pofma-appeals-ca-47-and-52-of-2020). The Government has always taken the position that the Courts have the power to ultimately decide the facts.

2. The CA had also ruled that the SDP put up false statements on PMET employment. As mentioned in our statement on 8 October 2021 (https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2021/1008-media-statement-on-ca-judgement-on-sdp-pofma-appeal), three Correction Directions (CDs) were issued to the SDP for falsehoods. The CA confirmed two of the CDs. The CA allowed a part of the SDP’s appeal with respect to the third CD in relation to the subject statement “Local PMET employment has gone down”. This is because the CA had found that the term “Local PMET employment” will be understood as referring only to Singapore citizen PMETs, rather than both Singapore citizens and permanent residents.

3. As MOM had stated on 8 October 2021, even if we only consider the employment of Singapore citizens in PMET jobs, SDP’s statement that such employment has gone down is still completely false. A new CD has been issued to SDP.

4. We hope that the SDP will hereafter stop misleading Singaporeans with false statements.