(Mothership seems to have a special privilege: it was not required to put up a correction notice nor inform readers of the misleading article, especially the headline.)
From: POFMAoffice Info (POFMAoffice) <Info>
Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2021 at 5:25 PM
Subject: [Case No.: CAS-733666-V4X5T5] Misleading Mothership article sought to sensationalise ‘successful’ CPF scheme
To: phillipang63 <phillipang63>
Cc: POFMAoffice Info (POFMAoffice) <Info>
Dear Mr Ang
We refer to your email dated 25 July 2021 on a Mothership article titled “Nearly 400,000 S’poreans have at least S$500,000 in CPF accounts, 100 are aged 35 & below”, sharing your concerns over how ‘CPF members’ are referenced.
Thank you for the time taken to share your feedback with us.
The Government takes a multi-pronged approach to combat online falsehoods, including public education, fact-checking and legislative measures. Members of the public who wish to report online falsehoods can inform the relevant Ministry/Ministries in charge of the relevant subject area(s). Ministries would be best placed to assess if a statement is a falsehood and whether it is in the public interest to act.
In this case, we have shared your concerns with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for their review as CPF matters fall under its purview.
For more information on the POFMA, please visit POFMA Office’s website at www.pofmaoffice.gov.sg.
ABIGAIL GOH (Ms)
EXECUTIVE
CONTACT CENTRE
EInfo
From: Phillip Ang <phillipang63>
Sent: Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:48 pm
To: IMDA CE (IMDA) <IMDA_CE>
Subject: Misleading Mothership article sought to sensationalise ‘successful’ CPF scheme
Attn:
Mr Lew Chuen Hong
Executive Director
POFMA Office
Dear Mr Lew
I refer to Mothership’s “Nearly 400,000 S’poreans have at least S$500,000 in CPF accounts, 100 are aged 35 & below“.
The data was taken from the CPF 2020 Annual Report (pg 102, edited table below).
The “Nearly 400,000 S’poreans” is not factual; foreigners and PRs are included in “All CPF Members”.
The total number of “All CPF Members” is 4.05 million (see table above) vs 3.52 million Singaporeans.
Other factual inaccuracies:
– “Of these nearly 400,000 Singaporeans, 100 are younger than 35 — with 90 between the ages of 30 and 35, and 10 aged 25 to 30″.
– “The age group with the most number of Singaporeans owning at least S$500,000 (92,880) was between 51 and 55″.
The article appears to be an attempt at sensationalising our ‘successful’ CPF scheme.
Please confirm if any POFMA correction notice will be issued to Mothership.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Regards
Phillip Ang
HP: 9383XXXX