IMDA challenges Kenneth Jeyaretnam's claims RP not given due notice for broadcast recording

This general election, the Reform Party (RP) is fielding its biggest contingent in Ang Mo Kio GRC, directly taking on an incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP) team helmed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong himself. 

But you would not have known that from their Constituency Political Broadcast last Friday (July 3), when only two of the five-member team appeared on camera to speak. 

RP’s Charles Yeo and Noraini Yunus were the only ones in the studio to fill up the allocated 15 minutes of airtime. Being in the hot seat seemed to have put Yeo in particular on the spot, doing his best to deliver the speech in both English and Mandarin. It turned him into an overnight meme. 

The three other running mates were plainly absent. RP chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam was serving a stay-home notice following his return from the UK, while Darren Soh — who was supposed to deliver the Mandarin message — had fallen ill before the recording. 

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Party chairman Andy Zhu was not able to attend as well, and according to Jeyaretnam, this was because the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) had not given RP enough time to make arrangements and preparations. 

“We received an email from [IMDA] the day before [filming] — in fact around the afternoon that day — telling us to come report to [IMDA] by 10am the next day,” Jeyaretnam spoke in a video uploaded on Facebook on Saturday (July 4). 

“Most of the Reform Party candidates tend to be ordinary Singaporeans, not the elite kind. Sometimes we find it hard to get out of obligations at short notice. One of our candidates had something on that meant he was only available from 4pm onwards.” 

Jeyaretnam maintained that emails were sent to IMDA, requesting to push forward the time of filming so other party members could participate. According to him, IMDA denied his requests. 

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According to IMDA, however, the RP secretary-general’s assertions are not true. In a statement released today (July 6), IMDA said that the opposition party was notified well ahead of time about the recording schedule for their broadcast. 

“Before Nomination Day, all political parties were briefed on 26 June. This included the format and recording schedules, which were planned for 2-4 July. Parties were informed that recording slots would be confirmed after Nomination Day. Representatives from RP were present and no concerns were raised,” noted IMDA. 

“After Nomination Day, IMDA sent the recording schedules to all political parties on 1 July. IMDA also contacted RP’s representatives via email and phone call. RP representatives acknowledged receipt. No queries or concerns were raised.” 

It was only about half an hour before RP’s recording slot on July 2 that the party emailed a request for postponement, even though Yeo and Noraini were already present on location, IMDA affirmed. 

”It was not possible to reschedule, as postponement would impact the recording for other parties and candidates.” 

Jeyaretnam had also claimed that IMDA said no to him making his speech from a remote location. This was also untrue, the statutory board contended. 

“It is not true that Mr Jeyeratnam was not allowed to record a CPB because he was serving a Stay Home Notice. IMDA never received any request to do so.” 

ilyas@asiaone.com