GE2020: SDP's Paul Tambyah responds to Pofma directions, says he never said there was a unilateral action by MOM
PHOTO: Internet screengrab
PUBLISHED ONJuly 06, 2020 5:40 AMByKwok Kar PengDr Paul Tambyah — chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) — has responded to the recent correctional directions issued to several publications with regard to excerpts they carried on his statements.
Yesterday (July 5), the alternate authority for the Minister for Manpower (MOM) instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) office to issue the correctional directions to the National University Of Singapore Society (NUSS), CNA, The Online Citizen Asia (TOC) and New Naratif.
It stated that the platforms had carried false statements made by Dr Tambyah regarding a circular issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on the testing of migrant workers for Covid-19.
At a Bukit Panjang walkabout today, Dr Tambyah told reporters: "In the first place, as I've predicted, those were statements I never made. I never said there was an unilateral action by MOM.
"What I said was that the circular came from MOM, and that is there in black and white. There are thousands of copies of their circulars out there, anybody can look at it. It was sent out by MOM, it was not sent out by MOM and MOH (Ministry Of Health), in contrast to the Pofma statement which was sent out by both MOM and MOH.
"So I find it very interesting that a policy statement is only sent out by MOM, whereas some trivial dispute about a statement of events that happened a few months ago is sent out by both MOM and MOH."
Dr Tambyah had attended the NUSS Pre-General Election Forum 2020 on July 3, where he allegedly said the MOM's email advisory to employers on the testing of migrant workers was made without the advice of public health medical professionals.
He also claimed that MOM's advisory stated that employers would lose their work pass privileges if they sent their workers for Covid-19 testing and that MOM actively discouraged the testing of workers.
However, in a joint statement by MOM and the Ministry of Health (MOH) on July 5, they refuted his statements and said that it was false. It said: "The medical management of migrant workers was guided by the Ministry of Health and its medical professionals, based on the prevailing scientific evidence and local situation."
Dr Tambyah is contesting in Bukit Panjang SMC against the People's Action Party's Liang Eng Hwa.
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