Concerning Falsehoods Against The Reform Party Made by Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs MP Amrin Amin and Published Publicly on His Facebook Page
Published: 20th January 2017FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
It has recently come to Reform Party’s attention via an article on blogsite Mothership.sg, by author Jonathan Lim that the above mentioned PAP MP has defamed the Reform Party.
Mr Amin’s statements concerning the Reform Party’s involvement with Jafri Basron are false. Mr Amin had done no fact checking before going to publication and he leapt to assumptions in order to throw mud at the Reform Party and smear our good name. It is indeed unfortunate that Mr Amin’s falsehoods have been picked up by multiple blogs, websites and newsites and have been spread far and wide, aggravating the damage.
Although the MP made the remarks in 2016 they have only come to our attention now due to the recent publication as stated above. We always say a lie can go halfway round the world while the truth is still pulling its boots on. A false utterance by a PAP MP must surely travel faster and therefore further.
Although this is a serious issue, it must be noted that entirely without irony Jonathan Lim’s article in its headline refers to “Fake”, “entirely made up”, “some still duped”. Amrin Amin meanwhile refers to Pinocchio and telling lies.
When we put aside fake news whether propagated by Mothership.sg or Amrin Amin we come up with the facts. The simple facts in this matter are that the MP has shown himself to be easily duped and that whilst his nose is not as long as Pinocchio’s he must be giving that dumb wooden puppet some competition.
A simple fact check via a mechanism such as a Google search quickly throws up hundreds of references to Jafri Basron as a former Reform Party member. Had Mr Amin had the simple courtesy or intelligence to contact the Reform Party we could have checked his facts for him and informed him that Mr Basron had left Reform Party over five years previously. For avoidance of doubt, Mr Basron left the Reform Party in 2011. His continued membership with us was untenable and he left prior to the GE of that year and has not returned since. MP Amin seems to be the only person in Singaporean politics who does not know this.
Unless that is Mr Amin simply doesn’t care for facts and operates a policy of smear first, truth later. In which case we respectfully suggest he is long overdue a visit to Donkey Town.
However Mr Amin’s smear on the Reform Party when he asked why we were not helping out a Party member in his time of need throws up a much more serious matter. Amran Amin said (quote from his Facebook page) “Interesting you had to come to PAP Meet-the-People Session given your involvement with Reform Party. Of course you are welcome, but it’s interesting who you turn to for help.”
Interesting indeed! Earlier in his post Amin freely admits that he gave Mr Basron an EZ-link card for travel when Mr Basron said he had no money for transport. Further Mr Amin freely admits that he had no contact details for Mr Basron and was given a false number by him. When Amin called Mr Basron’s purported interviewer he found that there was no such interview scheduled.
The Reform Party would like to draw your attention to the headline of the article again “Some Still Duped”. It is deeply worrying that an MP of this status was so easily and comprehensively duped into handing over public money in a con. His failure to conduct the due diligence required is astounding considering he is a senior figure in the Ministry responsible for the police and homeland security. You are welcome.
Indeed to use Mr Amin’s own words, it is interesting who Jafri turned to for help, namely the famously out of touch PAP. The Reform Party is a safe pair of hands for members’ money and donations and concentrates its efforts on helping those who have been brought to their knees by the unjust policies of the Government of which Mr Amin is a member.
The foolish actions of Mr Amin at his MPS compounded by his rush to publish falsehoods without even basic fact checking , blinded by prejudice as he was, lead us to wonder whether he is a safe pair of hands. Meanwhile an amendment of his post to reflect the facts and truth and a simple apology published on his Facebook page and left there for six months, is in order.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Secretary General