I had a hunch something was brewing on Saturday afternoon when I noticed IMDA and MHA staff snooping around my LinkedIn profile and my website traffic started ticking up. Call it a sixth sense—or just the result of years of being watched.
Then, on Sunday afternoon, a journalist from Channel News Asia reached out, asking for my thoughts on a POFMA and whether I planned to comply with the targeted correction direction. A POFMA, you say? Funny, because I hadn’t received any such love letter.
When I clarified that no POFMA had graced my inbox, they helpfully explained that the targeted correction direction was sent to LinkedIn, not to little old me.
Now, let me be clear: I oppose the death penalty, not because it's trendy, but because I don't believe it works as a deterrent. And, as the Parti Liyani case showed us, witnesses can be a tad creative with the truth when it suits them. You can’t un-hang a wrongfully convicted person, after all. So, when I shared a TJC article about a recent execution—without adding my own commentary, mind you—I figured they knew more about the incident than I did. Turns out, the article allegedly contained a few inaccuracies, leading to a POFMA slap on TJC’s wrist. Being the cooperative soul that I am, I gladly included a link to the POFMA direction, even though it wasn’t technically addressed to me.
The infamous post, which was about as exciting as a grocery list—plain text, no flashy graphics—got all of one like. But I suspect that our dear SG trolls, who seem to stalk my posts with great dedication, reported it right after TJC got their POFMA. These trolls, of course, are always anonymous, have zero connections, and sport names like "PARMA HAM."
Still, the POFMA, along with my sudden fame in the press, led to a surge in website visitors. It seems people are now curious about my musings on conflicts of interest, cover-ups, and fraud in Singapore. This brush with notoriety has even earned me a mention on FM89.3 this morning. So, what began as the sharing of an article, turned into an unexpected PR triumph, as shown by the flood of views on my website and messages to me —courtesy of a POFMA that I never actually received!
The Transformative Justice Collective deserve a right of reply. I shared the POFMA Direction and it would be wrong of me not to share the response.
“There’s only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” ~ Oscar Wilde
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Update
It's not surprising that the infamous Singapore trolls crawl out of their caves to celebrate a POFMA direction that I have NOT been sent, and to make me more famous. But at least their other victims get a break, so it's a benefit provided to others too!
Thankfully I have pretty thick skin, but I do wonder what example these adults/parents are setting, and the impact their actions could have on children in Singapore. It was timely that I just came across a comment on Facebook that made me feel sad about how the confidence of children and their willingness to speak up are being eroded by the fear of being reported by those they might offend - "snitches".
Will children grow up learning to either become informants, seeking favor from those in power and causing trouble for those they dislike, or remain silent out of fear of being bullied?
I've already seen this behavior in adults/parents such as those above, and unfortunately, the children of bullies or informants often grow up believing this behavior is "normal." POFMA is only one such weapon... some resort to writing to authorities, making false police reports, writing to victim's employers, spouses, children or even churches in an attempt to bully others.
And let's not forget the experience of Parti Liyani which almost ended with her serving a jail sentence based on falsified evidence provided to authorities by a family member of her former employer.
History has shown us the devastating consequences of this kind of behavior and the leaders who allowed it to thrive.
What are we doing to children?
More work of the Singapore trolls can be found here. They too should benefit from the POFMA Direction I never actually received, by bringing attention to just a small selection of their despicable work. Their online bullying might have benefited their thirst to strike terror and fear in their victims, but it has had a devastating impact on several of their victims and family members.
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