SINGAPORE: A man who had received a correction direction two days ago was issued with another one on Sunday (Aug 20), this time for making false claims over Central Provident Fund (CPF) policies.
The man, who goes by the username "dr.ishhaq.jay", falsely claimed in a TikTok post on Aug 12 that no one among low and middle income CPF members who utilised their CPF funds to repay their Housing Board (HDB) loan has met either the basic retirement sum or full retirement sum in their CPF accounts, said the Ministry of Manpower in a news release.
Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) Office to issue the correction direction to the man, and a targeted correction direction to TikTok over the post.
The man will be required to create a new TikTok post containing a correction notice which states that the TikTok post contains a false statement of fact, and provide a link to the government’s clarification.
TikTok, on the other hand, will be required to communicate a correction notice to all end-users in Singapore who had accessed the post.
CNA understands that TikTok is taking action to comply with the directive, by inserting a notice on dr.ishhaq.jay's video, including a link to the government’s clarification, and is also taking action to send inbox notifications to users that have seen the content.
A check by CNA on Sunday afternoon showed that user dr.ishhaq.jay has yet to put up a new TikTok post containing the required correction notice.
On Aug 18, the same TikTok user was issued a correction direction after he falsely claimed that the government can trace votes and penalise voters based on their votes. He has since put up a correction notice for that particular post.
OTHER FALSE CLAIMS
An article published on the government's fact-checking website Factually also elaborated on why dr.ishhaq.jay's claims were false.
"Based on CPF Board’s data, almost 7 in 10 active CPF members have set aside their cohort's basic retirement sum at age 55 in 2022," it said.
"This proportion includes members earning below the median income for those aged 55 years old in 2022 who have used their CPF savings to repay housing loans.
"We expect the proportion of active CPF members who are able to set aside their cohort’s basic retirement sum at age 55 to increase to about 8 in 10 in 2027."
The article also made several other clarifications.
For example, user dr.ishhaq.jay claimed that members will have to start paying cash for their monthly HDB loan repayment when they reach 55, as CPF money in their ordinary account would all be transferred to their retirement account at that point.
However, the article explained that when a CPF member turns 55, money from the member’s special account is transferred to their retirement account, up to the full retirement sum. If there is a shortfall to the full retirement sum, only the money from the ordinary account needed to make up the shortfall is transferred to the retirement account.
CPF members can apply before age 55 to have all or part of their ordinary account money retained in their ordinary account to pay for their housing loan, the article said.
If they do so, this money will not be transferred to the retirement account even if there is a shortfall to the full retirement sum, it added.
"Any inflows to members’ ordinary account after they turn 55 can also be used for housing."