SINGAPORE — The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has complied with the Government’s order to correct two Facebook posts and an article described as false, but said that it would appeal to Manpower Minister Josephine Teo to cancel the directives.

SDP vice-chairman John Tan said on Facebook on Sunday (Dec 15) that the party’s statements were based on media reports.

He also asked the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to take up the matter with national broadsheet The Straits Times (ST), as one of its posts was based on an ST report.

Rebutting SDP’s Facebook post on Sunday night, MOM maintained that the party’s statement was wrong and that its interpretation of the ST report was “fundamentally different” from what the report meant.

To challenge a minister’s decision, individuals or organisations can appeal, first to the Government and then the courts.

It was the third time the Government issued correction orders since Singapore’s fake-news law, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma), took effect on Oct 2.

Here is a rundown of SDP’s statements that the Government declared to be false, and SDP’s rebuttals to Manpower Minister Josephine Teo:

POST #1: RISING RETRENCHMENTS AMONG LOCAL WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS

What MOM had said: SDP’s sponsored Facebook post on Dec 2 and another Facebook post on Nov 30 contained links to a June 8 article on the party’s website titled “SDP population policy: Hire S’poreans first, retrench S’poreans last”.

The article contained the statement: “The SDP’s proposal comes amidst a rising proportion of Singaporean PMETs getting retrenched”.

Dismissing the statement as false, MOM said there has not been a rising trend of retrenchments among Singaporeans and permanent residents who are professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) since 2015.

The number of retrenched local PMETs declined from 6,460 in 2015 to 5,360 in 2018, the lowest since 2014.

What SDP says: The party replied to say that its statement was based on an ST report titled “PMETs make up rising share of retrenched locals”, published on March 15.

SDP quoted the ST report as saying: “Professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) made up about three in four or 76 per cent of the locals — Singaporeans and permanent residents — who were retrenched last year, the highest figure in at least a decade. It rose from 72 per cent in 2017 and is significantly higher than the share of PMETs in the resident workforce, which is about 57 per cent.”

The report, SDP added, included a graphic labelled “PMETs make up growing share of locals laid off”, with MOM stated as its source.

Mr Tan of SDP said: “As the said newspaper is a government-controlled newspaper, we have no reason to believe that it would publish fake news about the Government. As such, the MOM should take the matter up with the ST.”

Mr Tan added that in a report by Yahoo News Singapore on Oct 3, DBS Bank senior economist Irvin Seah had also been quoted as saying: “PMETs continue to form a much larger share of retrenched workers compared (with) their proportion in the workforce.”

MOM replies: What the ST report meant was that among the 7,070 retrenched Singaporeans and permanent residents in 2018, the number of PMETs among them had risen.

“This is fundamentally different from what the SDP says, which is that among Singapore PMETs (1,254,000 in 2018), the number getting retrenched has risen. SDP’s statement is wrong,” the ministry said.

MOM said that in a parliamentary response on April 1, it had explained that more locals were now employed in PMET jobs. As a result, in a retrenchment exercise, more among the locals affected could be PMETs.

“However, retrenchments have not been rising,” the ministry reiterated.

POSTS #2 AND #3: LOCAL PMET UNEMPLOYMENT UP; EMPLOYMENT DOWN

What MOM had said: The ministry said the number of local PMETs employed increased from 1.17 million in 2015 to 1.3 million in 2019.

As a proportion of the local workforce, the share of local PMETs has increased to 58 per cent in 2019, from 54 per cent in 2015.

What SDP says: Mr Tan said its statement was based on media reports.

For instance, it came after the Business Insider website published a report on June 13 stating: “Retrenchment in Q1 2019 is up from the previous quarter, and most of those who were retrenched were professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), a report by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has revealed.”

A Yahoo News Singapore report also said that in the second quarter of this year, the “number of PMETs who lost their jobs increased from 1,440 to 1,680, making them the bulk of those retrenched”.

The same report, Mr Tan said, also quoted Mr Irvin Seah as saying that the rate of PMETs re-entering the workforce after six months of retrenchment was “persistently much lower”.

Mr Tan said that the low re-entry numbers suggested that the “absolute numbers of unemployed and under-employed PMETs would have increased”.

He added: “Be that as it may, 2019 isn't over, yet you say that local PMET employment has risen for the year. This raises questions about your conclusion.”

SDP TO APPEAL DECISION

SDP said that it corrected the three posts as instructed by MOM, but maintained that Mrs Teo’s conclusions were disputable.

“Under Pofma, we have to comply with the order, but we will be applying to cancel the correction directions,” the party said.

MOM said in its response on Sunday night that it noted SDP’s intent to apply for a cancellation of the directives.

“We will consider the grounds of their application should it be submitted,” the ministry said.

When a Pofma directive is issued, appellants can ask the minister to change the decision in writing, or via email or www.pofmaoffice.gov.sg.

The minister can issue a notice of his decision within two working days to change or cancel the directive, or reject the application altogether. If no notice is given by the minister during this time, the application is refused.

If refused, appellants can file an originating summons and a supporting affidavit — containing evidence to support their appeal — with the court’s registrar within two weeks of the refusal.

MOM said that in this period of economic uncertainty, it is understandable that Singaporeans were concerned about jobs.

“MOM’s objective in pointing out false and misleading statements is to ensure that public debate on the important issue of jobs is based on accurate facts,” added the ministry.