Wake Up Singapore founder and contributor fined for defaming KKH in false miscarriage story

SINGAPORE: The founder of alternative news site Wake Up Singapore (WUSG) and a woman who sent the site messages fabricating an account of a miscarriage at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) were fined by a court on Monday (Aug 26).
Ma Su Nandar Htwe, a 28-year-old Myanmar national and Singapore permanent resident, was fined S$10,000 (US$7,670).
The founder and administrator of WUSG, 27-year-old Singaporean Ariffin Iskandar Sha Ali Akbar, was fined S$8,000.
The pair pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal defamation.
The woman submitted the fake story as “she wanted drama as she was bored”, court documents stated.
When the ruse was uncovered, the woman told the WUSG founder that she sent him “things in the heat of the moment” after a previous miscarriage at KKH.
This turned out to be a lie as well.
The woman had sent the fake story to WUSG’s Instagram account on Mar 21, 2022.
In her messages, she said she tested positive for COVID-19 in February 2022 when she was 20 weeks pregnant.
She said she visited multiple hospitals to seek treatment for abdominal pains and COVID-19 symptoms but was directed to KKH.
She claimed that she arrived at KKH at 2pm that day and started bleeding at about 5pm. 
She claimed she was only seen by a doctor at around 6pm and was told: “No need ultrasound, the baby is probably dead, this is too much bleeding.”
The woman claimed in her story that she “expelled out” her baby on the hospital bed and lost consciousness.
When she came to, she claimed she asked for the baby’s body to give it a proper burial but was told by the hospital that the foetus “had been disposed of as medical waste”.
The court heard that the story was fabricated except for the fact that the woman was pregnant when she visited KKH on Feb 28, 2022, to seek treatment for COVID-19 and abdominal pains.
She was discharged that same day in good health and delivered her baby safely in July 2022.
After receiving the woman’s messages, Ariffin, who was the sole operator of WUSG at the time, responded that same day asking for medical documents to support her account.
The woman sent him a scanned copy of a medical receipt from KKH dated Feb 28, 2022.
Ariffin sent an email to KKH on Mar 23, 2022, saying WUSG intended to run the story and asking if the hospital wished to respond.
Without waiting for a response, Ariffin published the fabricated story that same day on WUSG’s website as well as its Instagram and Facebook pages.
The article was titled: “‘The baby is probably dead’ – Woman shares a harrowing account of her miscarriage at KKH A&E”.
After this was published, the story was picked up and published by other local news outlets.
KKH conducted investigations and deduced that the patient in question was Ma Su Nandar Htwe, but noted major discrepancies between her account and what was documented in its medical records.
A senior manager with the hospital’s Office of Patient Experience called Ma Su Nandar Htwe on Mar 24, 2022.
Ma Su Nandar Htwe said her legal team had advised her not to speak about this and said her team would reach out to KKH soon.
She ignored four calls from the KKH manager and later sent her an email to stop “bombarding” her with calls.
In another email, Ma Su Nandar Htwe said she did not care what KKH did in relation to her case, but that she did not wish to communicate with KKH any further.
She also scolded KKH for the “lack of compassion” among its employees and stood by her account, saying: “What happened to me has happened and I shared my account exactly as how I remembered.”
Meanwhile, Ariffin remained in contact with Ma Su Nandar Htwe. After KKH lodged a police report on Mar 25, 2022, he removed the story from WUSG and its platforms before asking Ma Su Nandar Htwe if everything was “okay”.
She admitted that the account was untrue and asked him to remove the story and all related posts.
She said: “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.”
However, this was also investigated and found to be another fabrication.
After realising that the story was fake, Ariffin emailed KKH privately and apologised for publishing the story.
He asked to be put in touch with the investigation officer handling the police report and published a retraction of the story, issuing an apology to KKH.
Ariffin published another article on Mar 26, 2022, setting out the timeline of events, explaining the deception and issuing an apology.
The Ministry of Health handed WUSG a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act on Mar 27, 2022. 
Ariffin complied with the order by posting correction notices on WUSG’s pages.
The prosecution 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.
Defence lawyers for Ariffin, Mr Eugene Thuraisingam, Mr Ng Yuan Siang and Mr Gino Hardial Singh, left the quantum to the court “in a show of sincere remorse” by their client.
They highlighted Ariffin’s very early plea of guilt and the remedial steps he had taken to cooperate with the police.
The defence lawyer for Ma Su Nandar Htwe, Ms Jacintha Gopal from JG Law Chambers, said her client likely was suffering from perinatal depression and had an increased risk of developing pre-eclampsia.
The two terms refer to depression during pregnancy and after birth, as well as high blood pressure during pregnancy.
While court documents stated that her client was “bored”, the lawyer said this was “too simplistic”.
She said her client had tested positive for COVID-19 while pregnant and went to various hospitals including KKH.
“That experience at KKH that day was quite frustrating for her,” said Ms Jacintha.
She added that her client had also read an article about another pregnant woman who waited two hours at the National University Hospital and suffered a miscarriage.
“She was traumatised by this article,” said the lawyer.
She sought a fine of S$5,000 to S$6,000 instead, saying her client knows what she did was wrong but wants to move on with her life as a young mother.
In response, the prosecutor said the woman was never formally diagnosed with those conditions.
District Judge Shawn Ho also questioned Ms Jacintha on the trauma other pregnant women might feel if they read her client’s fabricated story.
The lawyer replied that her client was not in the position to think of it that way at the time as she was in a vulnerable and unstable state.
“She likes to read and write, so I think that’s her way of expressing all the changes, by writing out this story to kind of express herself,” said Ms Jacintha.
The judge replied: “A lot of us read and write to express ourselves, but to seek to publish such a fabricated story where other people will read it, including pregnant women …”
He trailed off, and the lawyer responded that her client was “very remorseful” and really regretted what she did.
In sentencing, Judge Ho said it was “irresponsible” for the pair to do what they did.
Ma Su Nandar Htwe’s actions diverted time and resources at a critical time in Singapore’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
The judge added that “it was lie upon lie” in her case, and that wanting drama as she was bored was “an utterly frivolous reason”.
If she cannot pay the fine, she will have to serve 25 days’ jail in default. The in-default jail term for Ariffin is 20 days.
The penalties for criminal defamation are a jail term of up to two years, a fine, or both.
The hospital told CNA that it was thankful for the resolution of the case.
“KKH values the dedication and commitment of our people,” said chief executive Professor Alex Sia on Tuesday.
“We steadfastly uphold truth and integrity as we continue to foster a culture of trust and compassion.”