SINGAPORE —  The founder of alternative news website Wake Up, Singapore (WUSG) was on Monday (Aug 26) fined for defaming KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) for publishing a false story about a woman suffering a miscarriage at the hospital. 

Ma Su Nandar Htwe, a 28-year-old Myanmar citizen and Singapore permanent resident who sent WUSG the story purportedly about herself, was also fined for fabricating the miscarriage story and submitting it to WUSG with the intent of having it published. 

Both pleaded guilty to one charge of defamation each. The WUSG founder and sole operator at the material time, Ariffin Iskandar Sha  Ali Akbar, 27, was fined S$8,000 while the woman was fined S$10,000. 

If Ariffin does not pay the fine he faces 20 days' jail in lieu, while Su faces 25 days' jail in lieu if she does not pay.

Court documents stated that the woman fabricated the story about having a miscarriage at KKH and admitted that she did this because she was “bored” and “wanted drama”. 

THE WOMAN’S FABRICATED STORY

On March 21 2022, at 5.46pm, Su messaged WUSG’s Instagram account and shared with the platform the following story: 

• Sometime in February of 2022, while she was 20 weeks’ pregnant, she tested positive for Covid-19. She visited multiple hospitals to seek treatment for abdominal pains and her Covid-19 symptoms, but all turned her away and directed her to go to KKH. 
• She arrived at KKH on the same day at about 2pm. At about 5pm, she started experiencing bleeding from her vagina. She was seen by a doctor only at around 6pm. 
• The doctor told her “no need ultrasound, the baby is probably dead, this is too much bleeding”. 
• She then “expelled out” her baby on the hospital bed and lost consciousness. 
• When she regained consciousness, she asked for the body of her baby to give it a proper burial. However, she was informed by KKH that the foetus had been disposed of as medical waste. 
• When she went to see her gynaecologist about a week after the incident, she discovered that her placenta had not been properly removed at KKH and was “literally rotting inside”. 
• She had to go through a day surgery to remove the remains of the placenta. 

Court documents stated that everything in the story was fabricated save for the fact that Su was pregnant when she visited KKH on Feb 28, 2022 to seek treatment for Covid-19 and abdominal pains. 

She was discharged from KKH on the same day in good health. She delivered her baby safely on July 6, 2022.

WHAT WUSG AND KKH DID

After Ariffin received Su's messages on March 21, he responded on the same day and asked her for any medical documents that could support her claims. Su sent a scanned copy of a medical receipt from KKH dated Feb 28, 2022.

On March 23, 2022 at 8.32pm, Ariffin sent an email to KKH. The email informed KKH that WUSG intended to run the story and asked if KKH wished to respond.

Court documents stated that Ariffin did not wait for KKH to respond to his email before proceeding to publish the story. 

He published the story on the website, WUSG’s Instagram and Facebook pages. The story was published under the title: “The baby is probably dead” – Woman shares a harrowing account of her miscarriage at KKH A&E. 

Shortly after WUSG published the story, it was picked up and published by other local news outlets. 

After the story was published, KKH performed internal investigations. Court documents stated that KKH noted major discrepancies between Su’s account and what was documented in their medical records.

Ms Ong Sau Fong, the senior manager of KKH’s office of patient experience, called Su on March 24, 2022. 

During this phone call, Su stated that her legal team had advised her not to speak about this matter. The woman also stated that her legal team would contact KKH soon. 

On March 25, 2022, between 8.52am and 10.02am, Ms Ong called Su four times to follow up on their conversation from the day before. Su did not answer any of the calls. 

On March 25, 2022 at 10.07am, Su sent Ms Ong an email instructing Ms Ong to stop “bombarding” her with calls. In the email, she told Ms Ong to set up a date and time for a call, or to communicate via email.

An hour and a half later, Su sent Ms Ong another email stating that she did not care what KKH did in relation to her case but did not wish to communicate with KKH any further. 

Su also scolded KKH for the supposed “lack of compassion” among its staff. Su also stood by the account that was shared on WUSG, telling KKH “what happened to me has happened and I shared my account exactly as how I remembered”. 

WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARDS

Ariffin remained in contact with Su between March 23, 2022 and March 25, 2022. He continued exchanging text messages with Su via WUSG’s Instagram account. 

He was aware that Su was communicating with KKH.

On 25 March, 2022 at 1.50pm, Ms Ong made a police report and Ariffin was made aware of it through reports by local news outlets. 

At around 3pm, Ariffin used WUSG’s Instagram account to message Su to inform her that KKH had filed a police report. 

At around 4pm, Ariffin proceeded to remove the story and its subsequent update from WUSG’s various channels. 

He then messaged Su and asked her: “Is everything okay?”

At this point, Su admitted to Ariffin that her account of events as described was untrue, and asked him to remove the story and all related posts from WUSG’s platforms. 

Su also informed Ariffin that “I sent you things in the heat of the moment because I was also agonising over the loss of a previous miscarriage which was handled by KKH”. 

Court documents stated that this further claim made by Su was investigated, and was found to be another fabrication.

The woman did not have any previous miscarriage that was handled by KKH. 

After being informed by Su that everything he was told by her was a fabrication, at 4.59pm on the same day, Ariffin emailed KKH privately from his administrator email. 

In the email, Ariffin apologised to KKH for publishing the story, which he had discovered was untrue. He also asked to be put in touch with the investigation officer handling the police report lodged by KKH.

Later at 5.09pm, Ariffin published a retraction of the story on the WUSG Facebook page and apologised to KKH.

The next day, Ariffin published an article on WUSG’s various channels that set out the timeline of events, including the exchange between Ariffin and the woman. 

In the article, he explained that Su had deceived him and issued an apology for publishing the story. 

On March 27, 2022, the Ministry of Health issued a correction direction about the story that was published under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 

Ariffin then published a correction on WUSG’s various channels.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sheldon Sim sought a fine of S$8,000 to S$9,000 for Ariffin and S$9,000 to S$10,000 for Ma Su Nandar Htwe.

District Judge Shawn Ho said their actions "weakened public trust in Singapore’s healthcare system".

To make matters worse, they did so during a time of "heightened concern" given the Covid- 19 pandemic, when front liners and healthcare professionals were putting themselves on the line, he said. 

Those found defaming another can be jailed for up to two years, or fined, or both.