POFMA order issued to blogger Leong Sze Hian for claiming “no income means-test is applicable to HDB grants for resale flats”

SINGAPORE: Blogger Leong Sze Hian was issued a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) for a post he published on Facebook last Wednesday (Aug 21) regarding housing grants disbursed to eligible first-time home buyers of resale flats.

The correction direction was issued after instructions from the Ministry for National Development (MND), according to a Monday morning (Aug 26) statement.

It said Mr Leong’s post contains a false and misleading statement about the aforementioned housing grants. As with everyone else issued such an order, the blogger will be required to post a notice against his original post, with a link to the government’s clarification on the matter.

A quick check on the Facebook account where Mr Leong posted about housing grants showed that he has since complied with the POFMA order. Corrections on the post have been published by the government here.

Mr Leong had claimed in his post that no income means-test is applicable to HDB grants for resale flats.

“This statement is false,” MND wrote, adding that HDB’s resale grants for first-timer families comprise the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG), CPF Housing Grant (CPF HG) and the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG).

According to the ministry, the EHG and the CPF HG are means-tested. It further explained that the EHG is progressively tiered to provide lower-income buyers greater support.

Additionally, because of the recent enhancements, first-timer families may receive as much as S$120,000.

Furthermore, MND added that first-time buyers of resale flats with a monthly household income of not more than S$14,000 may qualify for the CPF HG.

They can receive S$80,000 for the purchase of two to four-room resale flats or S$50,000 for purchases of resale flats with five rooms or more.

“HDB’s housing grants provide direct and targeted support to first-time home buyers to afford their homes, with more support for lower-to-middle income households,” the ministry added.

This is not the first time a ministry has corrected Mr Leong, a financial advisor and blogger.

Early in 2022, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) issued a correction regarding something Mr Leong had written. MOM published a report on the ‘Factually’ website about the blogger’s “inaccurate statements about the labour market.”

Furthermore, in 2018, he was also sued by then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for defamation. /TISG

Read also: MOM corrects blogger Leong Sze Hian on unemployment, PMET stats