FB post claiming WP MPs only hold MPS twice a month taken down after Kenneth Tiong called it out - Singapore News
· The IndependentSINGAPORE: On Thursday (July 2), Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Kenneth Tiong posted about “Falsehoods about the WP,” noting that a Facebook page, Singapore Matters, had alleged that his fellow Aljunied MPs, WP chief Pritam Singh and Gerald Giam, were only holding Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) twice a month.
“This is false. The truth is simple: all three of us hold MPS four times a month, across two locations, so that we can better serve the estates under our care,” he wrote.
Mr Tiong also posted the MPS schedules at Eunos with Mr Singh, at Bedok Reservoir-Punggol with Mr Giam, and at Serangoon with himself.
He also noted that no sessions are held on public holidays or on the fifth Monday or Wednesday of the month, which holds for other WP MPs as well.
“Residents deserve accurate information. We serve our residents faithfully, week after week,” he added.
Mr Tiong shared a screenshot of the post from Singapore Matters, which has since been taken down. In it, readers were enjoined not to attack “PAP MPs and Ministers lest it backfires on you.”
After alleging that Messrs Singh, Giam, and Tiong only hold MPS twice a month, it expressed the hope that WP supporters “also know that WP MPs are part-time MPs since they had also frequently attacked PAP MPs for not being full time MPs.”
In comments on Mr Tiong’s post, netizens pointed out that Singapore Matters is known to post content that favours the ruling People’s Action Party and has been critical of the opposition.
Singapore Matters’ post with falsehoods taken down
According to timestamps, Singapore Matters announced that it had taken down the post Mr Tiong referred to less than an hour after the WP MP called it out, though he is not mentioned by name.
Addressing readers, the people behind the FB page said that they took down the post after they were alerted that WP MPs do indeed hold MPS four times monthly, though they take place in different locations.
Adding that the page would put up a new post “to correct the error” the next day, Singapore Matters also wrote, “Your close attention is most welcome.”
On Friday, the page put up an updated post, apologising for the mistake, although the WP, about whom false information was posted, was not addressed in the apology. Singapore Matters explained that the post with the falsehood had come about because a netizen had called a PAP MP “lazy” for not having MPS on months with five Mondays, but fell short of explaining why this would lead to posting an allegation about the WP MPs that was later revealed to be an error. /TISG
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