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CNA
a day ago
- General
- CNA
Fine for blogger who claimed in video that Josephine Teo made offensive remarks against Malays
SINGAPORE: A blogger posted a video on TikTok claiming that Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo had made offensive remarks against Malays. Manmeet Singh Bahadar Singh did so after he received a link from an unknown person to a WordPress blog with the alleged offensive content. Singh, 57, then posted a commentary about the content without verifying its authenticity. He removed it once he realised that he had been "led on" by the unknown person, his lawyers S S Dhillon and Jasjeet Singh Harjindar Singh told the court. Singh was fined S$6,000 (US$4,700) on Friday (Jun 6) after he pleaded guilty to one charge of knowingly committing an act which promoted disharmony between different racial groups. Singh is a blogger who posts about socio-political issues on TikTok, among other social media platforms. He has been previously featured in the media as former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian's bodyguard. HOW THE OFFENCE HAPPENED Before he posted the offending content on TikTok on Aug 12, 2024, he received a link to a WordPress blog post via WhatsApp from an unknown person. The blog post alleged that Mrs Teo, when asked about racial progress during an interview with Chinese media on Singapore's 59-year development, had made an offensive remark against Malays. Singh felt angry and offended. On the morning of Aug 12, 2024, he posted a video on his TikTok account with a visible representation bearing the words "Minister Josephine Teo blurted 'Malays are i*****' in a Chinese interview". He then repeated the blog post's allegations. Singh did not verify the authenticity of the claims on the blog post before making his video. In the video, Singh repeats the allegations and tells viewers to "go look it up". He then adds, "I have been voicing out for, you know, against racial discrimination in Singapore. And look what happened now? My prediction's right!" He finishes the video with the phrase "bring them down", according to court documents. At the time of the offences, Singh's TikTok account had around 9,054 followers. The video was available long enough for Mrs Teo's colleagues and a reporter to ask the minister about it. Around four hours after the video was published, Mrs Teo told her press secretary about it. The press secretary then downloaded a copy of the video and lodged a police report. Later that day, Singh suspected the allegations were false and removed the TikTok video by 1.40pm. He then posted another video in which he apologised to Mrs Teo, noting that his previous allegation was probably false. By 3pm, however, TikTok removed this video. Subsequently, Mrs Teo posted on social media platforms to state that the allegations were false. The blog post that sparked the offences was not available as of 6.30pm on Aug 12, 2024. Singh was arrested on Feb 4, 2025 and released on bail the next day. In mitigation, Mr Dhillon told the court the circumstances under which his client had been "led on" by the unknown person who sent him the blog post. Singh was on his way to work as a warehouse assistant when this person texted him and included the link to the offensive blog post. This person then encouraged Singh to do "what you need to do", said Mr Dhillon. "At the time, Manmeet had just alighted from his bus and was walking to his then-workplace, which was about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop. "Manmeet felt angry and offended and elected to take a snapshot of the blog post on his phone and proceeded to record a video of himself commenting on the alleged statement on his phone whilst walking," Mr Dhillon and Mr Singh said. Singh then went about his work. As he was working, he started having second thoughts about his post, as he had a growing suspicion that its contents were fake. However, as Singh's work involved sensitive information, he did not have access to his phone until lunch. "To his surprise and shock, he realised that the unknown person who had sent him the WhatsApp message that morning had deleted his account as well as the said message," the defence lawyers said. "This confirmed Manmeet's suspicions that he had been falsely led on." Singh immediately removed his video and published an apology video on his TikTok account. Unbeknownst to him, TikTok removed this video by 3pm. He subsequently posted a second video to apologise. The defence lawyers said that Singh was "racked with guilt" over his actions. "Manmeet is not in the business of making his videos for profit or clout. His content is akin to an extension of himself and his views, which he shares because he feels responsible to raise awareness," said the lawyers. Singh has since "deliberately steered clear of associating with other politicians to avoid controversy", the lawyers said. He also actively vets his news sources. The defence asked for a S$2,000 fine for Singh.
Crypto Insight
15-05-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
Kazakhstan to become ‘Central Asia's crypto hub' with reforms: Minister
Kazakhstan has the potential to become a leading crypto hub in Central Asia if regulatory restrictions are eased, according to Kanysh Tuleushin, the country's first vice minister of digital development, innovation and aerospace industry. In a recent op-ed for the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper, Tuleushin said digital mining and smart policy shifts could position Kazakhstan as a regional leader in blockchain innovation. 'If all restrictions were lifted and digital asset trading was allowed across Kazakhstan, the impact could be significant,' he wrote. 'Kazakhstan might become Central Asia's crypto hub,' Tuleushin added, suggesting that broader legalization and taxation could add hundreds of billions of the country's tenge currency to the national budget. He called for nationwide crypto rules, transparent exchanges and legal crypto ATMs. Crypto miners could modernize Kazakhstan Tuleushin said crypto mining firms could play a key role in modernizing the nation's energy infrastructure. He noted that, similar to the United States, miners in Kazakhstan could help balance the power grid by consuming surplus energy. Through the 70/30 energy initiative, foreign investors fund thermal power upgrades, with 70% of the generated capacity going to the national grid and 30% allocated to miners. He also proposed utilizing associated petroleum gas from oil fields to power data centers, reducing emissions while generating revenue for oil producers. Kazakhstan's crypto mining sector has already contributed $34.6 million in taxes over the past three years. As of 2023, the government registered 415,000 mining machines, issued 84 licenses, and accredited five mining pools, Tuleushin said. Crypto trading on the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) exchange surged from $324 million in 2023 to $1.4 billion in 2024. From 2025, miners will be required to sell 75% of their mined assets via AIFC platforms. Kazakhstan struggles with unregulated crypto trades Despite progress, crypto transactions remain largely unregulated outside the AIFC, with an estimated $4.1 billion in turnover in 2023, 91.5% of which took place beyond government oversight. Authorities shut down 36 illegal exchanges in 2024, freezing $4.8 million in assets and disrupting two Ponzi schemes. The country is also building an in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital tenge. Development began in February 2023, with an initial launch set for 2025. Aside from Kazakhstan, other Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have also taken a friendly approach toward the digital asset industry. On May 7, Binance signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kyrgyzstan's National Agency for Investments to introduce crypto payment infrastructure and blockchain education in the country. Source:
