SINGAPORE — A 27-year-old woman was charged on Monday (May 6) for her involvement in the publication of an online article about a purported miscarriage at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH).

Ma Su Nandar Htwe, a Myanmar national who is a Singapore permanent resident, was charged with defamation for her alleged role in an online article published on alternative news site Wake Up Singapore’s website and social media channels.

Court documents showed that she had defamed KKH by making an “imputation” concerning the hospital.

Ma allegedly sent Instagram text messages to Wake Up Singapore’s Instagram account, detailing a “fabricated account” of how she suffered a miscarriage at KKH in February 2022, with the intent of getting the alternative news site to publish her story on its pages.

She appeared in court on Monday with her lawyer, who asked for time to make representations. No indication of plea was taken. 

She will return to court on May 24.

If found guilty of defamation, she could face a jail term of up to two years or a fine, or both.

Ma is the second person charged for defamation in relation to this case.

On April 24, Ariffin Iskandar Sha Ali Akbar, 26, the administrator of Wake Up Singapore, was charged with defamation under the Penal Code. 

His case will also be heard in court again on May 24.

WHAT HAPPENED

On March 25 in 2022, KKH filed a police report pertaining to an article published on Wake Up Singapore’s website and its Facebook and Instagram accounts.

The article was titled “The baby is probably dead – Woman shares a harrowing account of her miscarriage at KKH A&E”.

It alleged that the hospital’s mismanagement of healthcare services resulted in a female patient suffering a miscarriage.

The article claimed that the woman who had abdominal pains waited four hours for Covid-19 treatment at KKH’s accident and emergency (A&E) department on Feb 28 that year.

In a press release on Sunday, the Singapore Police Force said that it had consulted the Attorney-General’s Chambers after receiving KKH’s police report, and was authorised to investigate the matter.

“Investigations found that the 27-year-old woman had purportedly sent messages from her Instagram account to the Instagram account of (Wake Up Singapore), detailing how she had suffered a miscarriage at KKH,” the police said.

Further investigations found that the allegations made by the woman were untrue, they added.

WAKE UP SINGAPORE APOLOGISED, ISSUED CORRECTION NOTICE

On March 25 in 2022, Wake Up Singapore issued an apology on its platforms for publishing the woman’s claims.

After finding out that the hospital had filed a police report, Wake Up Singapore said that it informed the woman involved, who then revealed that the information she had provided was false.

The publication was also issued a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) that month.

The Ministry of Health said at the time that KKH had identified the patient and found that the woman had been seen by a doctor within an hour of her arrival at the hospital in February 2022. She did not suffer any miscarriage.

“Notwithstanding (Wake Up Singapore’s) apology, the allegations are serious and have been circulated to various other platforms. This could lead to the erosion of public trust in the credibility and professionalism of our healthcare system and institutions,” the ministry said then.

Speaking to TODAY before he was charged in April, Ariffin said that the publication had fully cooperated during the course of investigations, “acted swiftly” to inform readers and apologised publicly and privately, on top of complying with the Pofma order issued in 2022.

“Although we were lied to and misled with some documents, there were things that we could have done better. 

“We take full responsibility for the incident and we have since put in place measures to ensure that such an event does not reoccur.

“Wake Up Singapore is a volunteer-run independent platform and we will continue to strive to do better.”