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POFMA Correction Order Issued to Science Fiction Author & Goh Meng Seng

2021-11-30 , 9:47 am

When it comes to falsehoods, the government is on the ball.

And on 29 Nov 2021, two more individuals have issued notices by the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) office:

A science fiction writer, Mr Cheah Kit Sun, for his blog post and opposition politician Mr Goh Meng Seng for sharing his post on Facebook.

Cheah Kit Sun: New COVID-19 Vaccines Are More Dangerous

On 20 Oct 2021, Mr Cheah wrote a blog post titled “Do Not Participate In A Society that Rejects You”.

Within the post, he talked about how there’s a “vaccine segregation” in Singapore whereby the unvaccinated are second-class citizens.

He encourages everyone who does not want to take the vaccine to “walk away” and to be prepared to be “painted an enemy” by the Government.

However, there was one part of the post that caught the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s attention.

He wrote about how the new COVID-19 vaccines using mRNA technology caused more deaths and heavy injuries compared to “all vaccines combined in the past 10 years”.

Data from the United States Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) was used to substantiate his claims.

MOH: The Benefits Of The New COVID-19 Vaccines Far Outweigh The Risks

Here is the ministry’s response to his claims:

“These claims are false. Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in Singapore are safe.”

According to MOH, no deaths in Singapore, so far, has been attributed to the vaccines.

The vaccines in use here in Singapore is vetted by a panel of experts and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

The data Mr Cheah used also does not support his claims, the ministry added.

For one, we can all agree that the COVID-19 vaccine was given to a huge portion of people in many countries, including the US.

This means, the ministry pointed out, that a “larger amount of COVID-19 vaccines” were given to US citizens in 2021″. Compare this to the “substantially fewer” vaccines given out in any given year and you’ll get skewed results.

Secondly, a lot more is put into surveilling and reporting adverse events from taking the COVID-19 vaccines.

It’s just like cruel and unfair employers have always existed, but we’re hearing more about them because of social media.

And thirdly, the VAERS’s data is compiled from reports made by “any member of the public”.

There is a chance that the data “lacks details and sometimes contains errors”.

Might Have Serious Health Consequences

MOH decided to take action via the POFMA office because it “falsely exaggerate the dangers of Covid-19 vaccines and to discourage people from taking them.”

Should people believe in it, it could lead to serious health consequences for the unvaccinated.

As of the time of writing, Mr Cheah has already put up the required correction notice on his original post.

He has also written a response to POFMA’s actions, elaborating on the VAERS’s data.

This time, however, he was careful to share links and a bit of context but didn’t go into any details.

You can see his response post here.

Goh Meng Seng Also Published POFMA Correction Notices

If you’re hoping to see a re-enactment of TOC, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

Mr Goh has also shared the required correction notices on his Facebook page.

This includes the original post:

As well as a post pinned to the top:

Previously, Mr Goh had accused the government of lying about studying the efficacy of Chinese Medicine Lianhua Qingwen on COVID-19.

He had reportedly found the study recorded in the World Health Organisation (WHO) and “an American database”.

“MOH claimed that there is no scientific evidence that Lianhua Qingwen products are safe and effective against Covid-19. However, MOH has actually sponsored a study on Lianhua Qingwen efficacy on treating mild Covid-19 infections!”

He questioned why the government has not released the findings of the study.

MOH, however, refute his claim, calling it a “serious, baseless accusation”.

They clarified that while the idea to carry out the study existed, it was not carried out after the principal investigator for the study withdrew her application.

Apparently, they could not find a suitable site to carry out the study.

You can read more about that here.