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Tag: The Real Singapore

  • Government ‘Seriously Considering’ How To Deal With Fake News: Shanmugam

    Government ‘Seriously Considering’ How To Deal With Fake News: Shanmugam

    The Government is “seriously considering” how to address the fake news issue and will announce its position upon completion of a review, said Minister of Law K Shanmugam in Parliament on Monday (Apr 3).

    “Under our current law, there are limited remedies to deal with these falsehoods,” he acknowledged. “For example, it is an offence under the Telecommunications Act to transmit messages knowing it is false. But these remedies are ineffective. They were really looking at a time before this new age. The circulation of falsehoods can grow viral today very quickly, and so we need to do more.”

    Mr Shanmugam said fake news was a problem in Singapore, albeit not yet at a level seen globally where it has expressly interfered with both domestic political and international affairs.

    “We see the phenomenon hasn’t had that much impact yet, but you can predict the same sequence of actors – foreign countries, foreign agencies, people sitting outside of Singapore using it to either destabilise our society or… doing it to make money. Both are problematic,” he stated.

    He pointed to the defunct The Real Singapore (TRS) as a website that regularly generated fake news for profit, citing examples such as a 2015 piece which claimed a commotion between Thaipusam participants and police was sparked by complaints from a Filipino family.

    One of the co-founders of TRS has since set up the States Times Review website, which continues in a similar vein of publishing fake news from outside Singapore, said Mr Shanmugam.

    “Last August, the States Times Review claimed a near-zero turnout for former president SR Nathan’s funeral, and that kindergarten kids were forced to attend, in an attempt to paint him as an unpopular president,” said Mr Shanmugam.

    The whole purpose is to purvey falsehoods, mislead the public and render truth completely irrelevant, he said.

    Referring to the All Singapore Stuff website as another instance, Mr Shanmugam pointed to a fake story in November last year on how the rooftop of Punggol Waterway Terraces had collapsed.

    “The police, civil defence, all had to be mobilised and deployed to investigate the claim. Taxpayers pay the cost for all of this,” he explained. “Another post widely circulated on social media falsely claimed a childcare centre in River Valley made children sleep on the floor, eat rotten fruit… There was public outcry, but can you imagine the impact on the childcare operator?”

    “Hoaxes like these can have real world consequences,” Mr Shanmugam said. “If not quickly corrected, they can cause harm to Singaporeans, alarm to public, emergency resources will have to be diverted, and reputations of businesses and people can be completely, unreasonably, unfairly damaged. All because some nasty people seek to profit from this.”

    “There is a much more serious dimension to all of this,” he added. “Fake news today, we must assume can be used as an offensive weapon by foreign agencies and foreign governments… to get into the public mind, to destabilise the public, to psychologically weaken them.

    “That’s a very serious threat and it will be naive for us to believe that governments or state agencies don’t engage in this. There is enough evidence that they do.”

     

    Source: CNA

  • TRS Founder To Plead Guilty To Sedition Charges

    TRS Founder To Plead Guilty To Sedition Charges

    In a surprising turn of events, Yang Kaiheng, founder of socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS), indicated yesterday that he wished to plead guilty to the seven sedition charges he faces.

    Yang, 27, had originally claimed trial, denying he had posted inflammatory articles on the TRS website and Facebook page between 2013 and 2015. (See report…)

    During the trial, which went on for seven days in March and April, Yang claimed his involvement in TRS was for only a month in 2012 after helping to set it up.

    The trial was supposed to have resumed yesterday until his lawyer told the judge in chambers about his client’s intention to plead guilty.

    During the trial, Yang claimed that his wife, Ai Takagi, 23, an Australian national of Japanese descent, was responsible for the day-to-day business and editorial content of TRS.

    Between December 2013 and April 2015, TRS raked in almost half a million dollars in advertising revenue, the court heard.

    In April, Yang claimed that he and Takagi had been inspired to start TRS after their Facebook page, which petitioned for the removal of new Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling after the 2011 General Election, garnered about 60,000 likes.

    But during cross-examination, Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan asked how this was possible when the couple had not yet met during the 2011 GE period.

    DPP Kannan said he had a log of very personal and embarrassing WhatsApp messages that proved they had met only after the petition Facebook page was created.

    Yang’s lawyer tried to interject, but Yang then conceded: “It’s okay, Your Honour, I admit I am lying.”

    The next day, Yang again admitted to lying – this time for having falsely told the police he did not know that his friend, Mr Damien Koh, was involved in setting up TRS.

    Yang had met Mr Koh, who later quit TRS, during their University of Queensland days.

    Yang told the court: “I was being investigated for sedition during my interview. I didn’t want to implicate my friend. I was sure he had nothing to do with sedition in the TRS site.”

    Yang turned up at the State Courts yesterday wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and knee-length bermuda shorts.

    He is expected to be back in court tomorrow.

    If convicted of each charge under the Sedition Act, he faces up to three years’ jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

    Takagi pleaded guilty to sedition in March after also initially claiming trial and was jailed 10 months.

    Now about five months pregnant,, she began serving her sentence on April 22.

    HIS CHARGES

    Yang Kaiheng is accused of seven counts of sedition:

    • An article falsely asserting that a Filipino family caused an incident between the police and participants at last year’s Thaipusam procession.
    • A similar Facebook post.
    • An article alleging that a Filipino employee bribed a colleague to delete traces of his misdeeds to ensure that only his countrymen were hired by the company.
    • An article portraying women from China as home-wreckers whose main motive was “trying to hook” Singaporean men.
    • An article that had an editor’s note warning companies about hiring foreigners over Singaporeans.
    • An article claiming that Filipino managers working here would give preferential treatment to subordinates of the same nationality at the expense of Singaporeans.
    • Copied an article from Stomp about an elderly woman who told her grandson to urinate into a bottle on an MRT train, then doctored the article to say she was a Chinese national who allegedly had an accent and posted it on TRS.

    An eighth charge of failing to produce documents to the police for investigations has been stood down.

    TIMELINE OF CASE

    2012

    The Real Singapore (TRS) is set up.

    February 2015

    TRS publishes an article on Feb 4 alleging that a Filipino family’s complaint over noise from drummers led to a scuffle during the Thaipusam procession on Feb 3. The police receive reports about an “insensitive article” online the next day. The authorities arrest Yang Kaiheng and Ai Takagi in Singapore that month.

    April 2015

    Yang and Takagi are charged with sedition and failing to produce documents to the police.

    May 2015

    The Media Development Authority suspends TRS’ operating licence and orders that it be taken down.

    August 2015

    Yang and Takagi open two ramen stalls in two National University of Singapore foodcourts.

    October 2015

    They get married.

    January 2016

    They open a third ramen stall at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.

    March 2016

    Yang claims trial while his wife pleads guilty. Takagi is sentenced to 10 months’ jail.

    April 2016

    During Yang’s trial, he admits to lying on two different occasions before the trial is adjourned to June. Takagi begins her sentence on April 22.

    June 2016

    Yang indicates he wishes to plead guilty.

  • Kenneth Jeyaretnam: How Not To Get Charged With Sedition

    Kenneth Jeyaretnam: How Not To Get Charged With Sedition

    The  editors of the The Real Singapore, Ai Takagi and Yang Kaiheng, have been charged with sedition for stirring up ill will between Singaporeans and foreigners. Takagi has already pleaded guilty to four counts whilst her husband is claiming trial.

    Many  of us Singaporeans are still unsure what sedition actually is even when we know it’s a law left over on the statute books from the British colonial oppression. The common law understanding of sedition is of a political crime or speech threatening to overthrow the State by unlawful means. Singapore’s Sedition Act departs from common law understanding in several distinct ways one of which includes “the promotion of  feelings of ill will or hostility between races or classes…”   Whilst the alleged editors of TRS mostly upset the feelings of PRC Chinese and Filipinos, this expansion of the Sedition Act is more often used to protect the sensibilities of Malays who are largely Muslim. This stems from Article 152 of the Constitution which protects our Malay Singaporeans as the indigenous people of Singapore and Islam as their religion.

    It is important to remember that the Right to Free Speech  which is  guaranteed to us by Article 14  of the Constitution does not exist as a stand alone right in Singapore. Free Speech is not in fact free but is restricted by eight grounds one of which is Sedition. For bloggers  and netizens in our beloved Republic not knowing the definitions can be rather risky. When you cross the  blurry line you can end up facing criminal and/or civil charges. Sedition carries a maximum fine of S$5,000 and up to 3 years in jail.

    Luckily I  can now shed some light on the mystery of Sedition Singapore style. Hopefully  this will keep you all safe whilst you post rabid thoughts on Facebook, Twitter  or WordPress at one 0′ clock in the morning.  Here is my foolproof guide to staying out of jail. You are welcome!

    KJ’s guide to staying out of prison for offences including but not limited to Sedition

    1. Post a disclaimer.  It can be a lie or insincere such as “Everything I say is untrue and I’m just making fun of races and ethnic minorities or Singaporeans with darker skin so I’m not an actual racist ok ah?”   Choose your own words. Try to reference satire. That’s a fail safe  ‘get out of jail even for racists’ card.

    2. Tell the truth.  (Best used to prevent charges of defamation) This is a method that seems to work for me as I’ve never been sued no matter how unpalatable the questions I ask. I’m not a racist or Foreigner-hater either  which helps, although I continue to question our open door immigration policies or suggest fairer deals for Singaporean citizens.

    3. Join a Political Party and not necessarily the PAP. Obviously being a high up in the PAP or grassroots or a founding father of the Nation brings its own ‘get out of jail card’. Yet, most Singaporeans think they are safe staying under the radar by blogging as individuals or not actually joining a Party. This was the big mistake of the so-called Marxist conspirators in 1987. By failing to join the Workers Party they lost the protection of legitimate political expression and left themselves open to claims that they were in fact secret Communists. (Note this does not keep you safe in Malaysia)

    4.

    “TRS made $500k from ads in 17 months”. 

    Be careful not to make any money. I can reveal that the best  way not to cross the sedition line is to avoid making any money or attracting a large number of views. So do not monetise your blog. Whatever you do, do not advertise on your blog or ask for donations because it’s clear from the reports that what is really eating the Government is the amount of money the alleged editors of TRS  made. The State Times headline today on page 8 is that,  “TRS made $500k from ads in 17 months“.  The report also adds “But, in fact, it was a big cash cow that raked in almost half a million dollars in advertising revenue for its owners in just 17 months.”   

    One wonders whether their actual crime was in running a profitable business? While I find TRS’s stoking of xenophobia distasteful, it is unfortunately one of the things that comes with a free media. In the US and the UK several newspapers make a living by stirring up xenophobia, such as the Daily Mail. They may not uphold the highest standards of journalistic ethics but as long as they do not cross the line into advocating violence they have a right to report. UK readers have a right to complain to an independent Press Complaints Commission which can order that the newspaper publish a retraction or make redress. But no one disputes their right to make money from journalism or their right to appeal to the prejudices of their readers in an effort to make money.

    In Singapore’s case of course double standards apply. What really exercises the PAP Government is seeing that an independent media not be allowed to develop in Singapore. The best way to stop that happening  is to cut off a publication’s source of funding, particularly advertising. TRS’s huge numbers of views (134 million page views in its last year) make the State online media look bad by comparison despite the monopoly that they enjoy. Ultimately if TRS was not shut down and made and example of they would threaten the financial viability of the Government media. I suspect TRS’s popularity in terms of views was stealing readers directly from STOMP.

    The campaign to shut down TRS has direct analogies to the way LKY waged war against the foreign media in the 1980s. He said that if they carried reports critical of him or his Government that he would ensure that they earned no advertising revenue in Singapore. Newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Economist were sold in Singapore without adverts when they fell foul of LKY.  Western Governments spinelessly failed to defend their newspapers against what amounted to an illegal  trade restriction  in breach of World Trade Organisation rules. In time the newspapers kowtowed and self censored eventually not carrying anything too critical of the PAP or the Lee dynasty. LKY was absolutely right of course. The perfect way to control overseas media or any critical voice is to hit them in their pockets.

    The PAP in essence run Singapore like  a Communist state although this is heavily disguised and often misunderstood.  Most of the economy  including the Media is controlled by the Government. Even private businesses are often dependent on contracts to supply Government-owned companies or on subsidies paid for by the taxpayer. Almost all land is ultimately owned by the Government making the Government  the Landlord of most businesses.  If you tow the line or better still support the PAP enthusiastically then you will be allowed to make money. If you fail to play the game you will soon find yourself in trouble for breaching vague and ill-defined regulations or sued into bankruptcy using oppressive defamation laws.

    Those laws that may be breached are  vaguely defined in the first place and interpreted by judges  who in turn are appointed by the people suing, the very definition of conflict of interest.  The PAP has extracted money by milking the  citizen cash cow, hobbling her, failing to provide adequate health care and then housing the Cash Cow in a very basic yet severely overcrowded barn. By these means the PAP has built up our supposedly huge reserves which are a very useful tool indeed when it comes to buying friends and influencing people abroad.

    cash-cow

    The DPP has accused the TRS duo of fabricating stories yet the State media do this all the time.  Stomp, owned by the State Times, frequently runs similar stories to TRS yet they are allowed to get away with appalling standards of journalism. The Finance Minister and the Government fabricate figures in the Budget where vast sums of money are unaccounted for. Money is allocated to funds which then disappear with no accountability.

    Takagi and Yang  who presumably ran a business for profit are accused of “pocketing” money yet the Government, not supposed to be a for profit business, does that. If this case was really about stopping the stirring up of ill will between different races then LKY would have been convicted long ago for his comments about Malays, Indians, Muslims, Africans and whites. What it is really  happening here is that no one who criticises the Government or the Lee family can be allowed to make a living in Singapore. There is a direct line running from  the suing of  foreign newspapers in the 1970’s to the bankruptcy of my late father JBJ , the persecution of Doctor Simon Shorvon and the recent action against Roy Ngerng and  Amos Yee and all others who dare to offer an alternative to the PAP/Lee family hegemony.

     

    Source: https://sonofadud.com

  • Former The Real Singapore Editors Open Ramen Stall In NUS

    Former The Real Singapore Editors Open Ramen Stall In NUS

    The two editors of former sociopolitical website The Real Singapore (TRS) are back in business – this time in the food and beverage industry.

    The Straits Times understands that Yang Kaiheng, 26, and Ai Takagi, 22, are running ramen stalls in two food courts at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

    Named the Takagi Ramen Shop (TRS), both outlets opened at the end of August and are located in the canteens of Prince George’s Park Residences and the university’s Bukit Timah Campus, near the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

    A check on Takagi Ramen Shop’s social media accounts revealed that both stalls sell several variations of the popular Japanese-style noodles, including tonkotsu (pork broth) and miso ramen.

    Prices range between $4.50 and $6.50.

    The shop carries the tagline “Ramen for the Average Singaporean” and aspires to “bring authentic and quality Japanese ramen to Singapore food courts”.

    Ms Kweh Leng Kiam, managing director of Pines Food Delight Pte Ltd, which manages both food courts, said that Yang’s mother first approached the company to rent the spaces at the end of June.

    “I was told her daughter-in-law’s (Takagi) family owned a chain of ramen shops in Australia,” Ms Kweh, 48, told The Straits Times.

    “After trying their ramen, I was impressed by the taste and quality of the ingredients that they used, and decided to give them the contract.

    “It was only afterwards that I found out about their background, but it’s not a problem for me. They are making an honest living at the moment.”

    Netizens on local forum Hardwarezone claimed to have spotted the pair cooking and helping out at both stalls.

    Ms Kweh clarified that Takagi does not actually work there, but visits occasionally. Yang and his mother are in charge of running the business, she said.

    Fourth-year NUS medical student Joey Soh, who had previously checked out the TRS stall at Prince George’s Park Residences, said it was quite popular with students and that there was a steady line of customers during his visit.

    But having had to wait in line for 15 minutes for a bowl, he was disappointed with the quality. “It was not worth the wait – the broth was quite tasteless,” said the 24-year-old.

    Yang, a Singaporean student, and his girlfriend Takagi, a Japanese-Australian law student from the University of Queensland, werecharged in April with seven counts of sedition for publishing articles that allegedly promoted ill will and hostility between difference races or classes in Singapore.

    The maximum punishment under the Sedition Act is a $5,000 fine and three years’ jail on each charge.

    The next pre-trial conference for the couple’s case is scheduled on Oct 1.

    They are also facing a copyright infringement suit from Singapore Press Holdings, which alleges that content from its newspapers were reproduced on the TRS website without permission.

    The site first came under the investigation of the police in February, over an article about an incident that occurred during the Hindu festival of Thaipusam on Feb 3.

    Yang and Takagi were arrested on Feb 6 under the Sedition Act.

    The Real Singapore’s operating licence was subsequently suspended by the Media Development Authority (MDA) at the beginning of May, and it was forced to shut down.

    In its explanation for the unprecedented move, MDA said TRS had published material that was “objectionable on the grounds of public interest, public order and national harmony”.

    It also noted that falsehoods were inserted in the site’s articles to make them more inflammatory, in a move it believed was deliberately used to increase traffic and advertising revenue.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Yaacob Ibrahim: MDA Right To Shut Down The Real Singapore

    Yaacob Ibrahim: MDA Right To Shut Down The Real Singapore

    Minister for Communications and Information Dr Yaacob Ibrahim said the Media Development Authority (MDA) did the right thing when it shut down The Real Singapore (TRS) website.

    Speaking on the sidelines of a community event on Sunday (May 10), Dr Yaacob added that the Singapore Government is not against the internet, but it is important to preserve racial and religious harmony.

    Two of the website’s editors have been charged with publishing seditious articles on TRS and TRS Facebook page.

    Dr Yaacob said: “Since 1996, we’ve only had 27 interventions. We have never shut down a site. We do this very, very carefully but once you cross the line, and in this case, they have, and we have enough evidence to show that all the materials are very egregious and can cause a lot of racial unhappiness, we have to move. I am confident that MDA has done the right thing.”

    He added: “It is aboveboard, you can see all the evidence we have put forward in terms of the materials in which they have published.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com