'Without any regard for the truth': Shanmugam refutes TOC Asia's insinuation he tipped off AsiaOne about Leon Perera's ex-driver

Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam took to his social media to call out The Online Citizen Asia (TOCA) for making a "false post" on Wednesday (July 19) evening, which contained several false allegations against him and AsiaOne.

TOCA published an article on Wednesday insinuating that "the establishment" was involved in AsiaOne's interview with Leon Perera's ex-driver, due to how quickly the article was published after the video of Perera holding hands with fellow Workers' Party member Nicole Seah was circulated on Monday. 

The unnamed writer of the TOCA article also made several other allegations regarding an AsiaOne employee, Edmund Chua, who heads AsiaOne’s Consumer Insights and Analytics Office.

The writer claimed that Chua had been in contact with Perera's driver for over a year.

This is even though AsiaOne had, in a reply to an email from TOCA chief editor Terry Xu on Wednesday said that Chua is neither involved in its editorial operations nor the story in question.

The TOCA post also said that Chua has been working with the Chong Pang Grassroots Organisation since 2008, an entity headed by Shanmugam.

Chua has confirmed that he had been a volunteer there, and does not work at the organisation.

Shanmugam also said in his Facebook post that he did not tip Chua off to contact Perera's driver, as he had "no such information". 

In the post, the TOCA writer also said that Shanmugam visited AsiaOne's office "just days before" the leaked video of Perera and Nicole Seah appeared on July 17.

However, Shanmugam's visit to AsiaOne's office took place on June 13 — a month before that video surfaced. 

He explained that the visits were part of his "regular engagement with a broad section of society".

"I wasn't even in Singapore for a week, until the evening of July 17," he wrote, adding that he also visited Mothership's office on June 22. 

"TOCA continues to publish recklessly, without any regard for the truth." 

        View this post on Instagram                      

A post shared by K Shanmugam (@kshanmugam_)

AsiaOne's statement 

In light of the allegations, AsiaOne issued a statement on Wednesday addressing TOCA's "scurrilous piece" on its article and video of Leon Perera's ex-driver.

In its statement, AsiaOne said that it is "completely untrue" to claim that Chua had any contact with Perera's ex-driver, or was in any way involved in arranging the interview - a fact that was "made clear" to TOCA. 

AsiaOne also pointed out that the said ex-driver was first interviewed by 8World News on July 17. AsiaOne then proceeded to conduct ground enquiries and found the contact through its efforts on July 18 and interviewed him.

"Any suggestion that we received any information from any person from the Government on this matter is false. The TOCA piece is an insult to the men and women who dedicate their professionalism to journalism," said the company. 

"It is unfortunate that TOCA publishes untruths despite the facts being made clear to it."

TOCA also alleged that a Minister had made a visit to AsiaOne's new office just days before the leaked video emerged. This is also false, said the company. 

"The TOCA article is cleverly worded to make insinuations while trying not to be libellous. Nevertheless, we have asked our lawyers to advise us," said the company.

TOCA is a Taiwan-based online platform. 

Back in 2021, The Online Citizen (TOC) and its social media accounts went offline after the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) suspended its licence for repeatedly failing to declare all of its funding sources.

The licence was cancelled by IMDA in October 2021.

TOC later reactivated its website and social media accounts last September, with Xu saying he is "relocating" to Taiwan. 

In April this year, Xu was fined $18,000 for contempt of court for reposting an open letter by an Australian citizen who questioned the equity of Singapore's justice system.

Xu also shared the article on TOC's Facebook page, and the post was removed earlier this year.

editor@asiaone.com

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