Workers’ Party (WP) member Jackson Au has criticised what he described as a glaring lack of scrutiny from mainstream media and regulators, after a false social media post misquoting WP candidate Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar surfaced just before Cooling-Off Day.
The post, published on 1 May 2025 by pro-PAP Facebook page Singapore Matters, claimed that Alia had said the “Israel-Palestine conflict is more important than bread and butter issues.” The post featured her image alongside the fabricated quote.
AFP’s fact-checking service debunked the claim on 5 May, confirming that the quote was never made during Alia’s campaign events.
Despite this, Au noted that regulatory bodies and major media outlets had not issued any public statements addressing the post.
Singapore Matters issued a clarification on 20 May, admitting that the post was based on a video with subtitles that were not verbatim.
The page described its update as a “long overdue” clarification and stated that it removed the post after internal review.
According to the clarification, the video used in the original post reflected “the general sentiment” of Alia’s speech, but the exact phrasing was inaccurate.
“In keeping with our editorial standards, the post was removed,” the page stated, adding that it believes in transparency with readers.
They reiterated that Alia’s candidate introduction video highlighted an incident involving the portrayal of the Israel-Palestine conflict in schools as a key reason she decided to enter politics.
AFP traced the misquote to a rally speech on 24 April.
The full video was uploaded by the WP to YouTube on 25 April.
In that speech, Alia had said: “We meet our MPs to discuss bread and butter issues, yes, but we would also like to meet our MPs to discuss the effects of certain laws or the government’s positions on certain global issues.”
She questioned the Ministry of Education’s decision to introduce a course on the Israel-Palestine conflict in schools without parental consultation, but at no point claimed the issue was more important than domestic concerns.
Au calls it a “sorry, not sorry” response
The timing of the post drew particular concern.
Au noted that the misinformation was released just hours before Cooling-Off Day, when political responses and clarifications are restricted.
This, he argued, left Alia with no opportunity to defend herself publicly.
Au described Singapore Matters’ clarification as a “sorry, not sorry” statement, sarcastically referring to it as a NOCA — “Note of Clarification and Accountability”.
He contrasted the delayed correction with the swift action typically taken against opposition politicians or independent platforms found to have breached campaign or speech regulations.
“This response stands in stark contrast to the swift and decisive correction orders we’ve seen meted out to other online platforms or opposition politicians,” Au said.
He also raised the possibility that the incident may fall under the scope of the Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) (Amendment) Bill, or ELIONA, which was passed in October 2024.
The legislation is aimed at curbing disinformation and digitally manipulated content during elections.
“If indeed it is, then it should be a major news story in its own right,” said Au, adding that the lack of attention from mainstream outlets and government authorities was troubling.
Au acknowledged that online media sites such as Mothership and The Online Citizen had covered the story after Polling Day.
However, he expressed disappointment that no official agency or mainstream outlet had addressed the disinformation publicly.
He noted that neither the Elections Department (ELD) nor media regulators had issued a public warning or reminder about the dangers of online disinformation under ELIONA.
“No one has sought to speak truth to power and call this out for what it is: fake news,” Au stated.
Who is behind Singapore Matters and SG Matters?
Singapore Matters is widely viewed as a pro-government social media platform. Its content regularly highlights the achievements of the PAP while criticising opposition parties.
Earlier, TOC wrote to the ELD seeking clarification on whether the dissemination of misinformation by Singapore Matters—particularly so close to polling day—would be investigated under existing electoral regulations. In response, the ELD stated only that the matter had been referred to the relevant department.
According to domain registration records, the website sgmatters.sg is registered to an individual named Realm Chua.
Tips received by TOC suggest that Realm Chua may be an alias used by Facebook user Cai Zhiwen.
A Reddit discussion thread also highlighted that a person by the name Realm Chua is currently employed at NTUC.
Separately, a check on Cai’s Threads account shows that he is using the handle “realmczw”, which may further suggest that Realm Chua and Cai Zhiwen are the same individual.
TOC has since contacted Cai via his Facebook page to clarify whether he is responsible for managing Singapore Matters and SG Matters, and whether he is affiliated with NTUC. As of now, no response has been received.
Au and Alia were part of the WP team that contested in Punggol GRC against the People’s Action Party (PAP) slate led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong during the 3 May poll. Their teammates included Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh and Alexis Dang.
The PAP team won the contest with 55.17% of the vote, defeating the WP team, which garnered 44.83%.
The post Jackson Au slams ELD and media silence over false quote targeting Siti Alia before Cooling-Off Day appeared first on The Online Citizen.
