SINGAPORE – A TikTok user who has racked up multiple correction notices over the years was issued another one on Sept 7.

This time, it was over false claims about a government-funded initiative to

groom future leaders of the Chinese community.

The Pofma Office , which administers the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, has been instructed by Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo to issue the correction direction under Singapore’s fake news law.

In a since-deleted post that had originally been put up on Aug 26, Mr Jay Ish’haq Rajoo claimed that National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat had announced that the Government would provide money and resources to attract mainland Chinese to Singapore and nurture them for leadership roles.

Mr Jay also claimed the Government is using its money and resources to nurture only leaders who are Chinese.

These claims cause “serious misunderstandings and erode public confidence in the Government’s commitment to serve the interests of Singapore and Singaporeans, regardless of race, language or religion”, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) in a statement on Sept 7 .

It added that the correction direction was issued to protect public trust and ensure that accurate facts are put up. Mr Jay will also be required to publish a correction notice on his TikTok account.

As at the evening of Sept 7 , he had already put up the notice, although it is unclear when the original video had been taken down.

In its statement, MCCY said the course, jointly developed by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations and the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, would be open to only Singaporeans.

Eligible candidates must be nominated by local Chinese clans and business groups.

They should also be active in the Chinese community while demonstrating a passion to serve, which are qualities that Mr Chee, who is chairman of the Chinese Community Liaison Group, outlined when he announced the initiative in August.

MCCY added that such leadership programmes are available for other races, as well as for Singaporeans at large, ranging from the Tunas Bersama M3 Programme by Yayasan Mendak i and the Singapore Indian Development Association Young Leaders Programme to others like the National Youth Council’s Our Singapore Leadership Programme.

This is not the first time Mr Jay’s social media posts have been issued correction notices.

In August 2023, he received

three in the span of less than one week

after posting videos making claims about voter secrecy, CPF policies and HDB flat affordability.

The 59-year-old was found to have published four videos on TikTok that contained falsehoods between July and August 2023 , the Pofma Office had said in a statement in July 2024 when it issued him a

two-year conditional warning

.

It said he had failed to comply fully and did not put up the required notices by the stipulated deadline.

Mr Jay had also changed his TikTok account handle, which made the notices inaccessible to viewers.

The 24-month conditional warning was for offences under Sections 7 and 15 of the fake news law. Section 7 covers the communication of false statements of fact, while Section 15 covers non-compliance with Pofma directions.

If Mr Jay reoffends during this period, he could be prosecuted for the original crime.

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