張莉媚部長在新加坡報業俱樂部 2025 頒獎典禮上的致辭

Good evening. I am very glad to be joining you here for the new, expanded version of the Singapore Press Club Awards. My heartiest congratulations to all the recipients!

I last joined you three years ago, when the Club turned 50. At the time, I had encouraged all of you to “Go Forward” – to innovate and better serve your audiences, experiment with new content, and achieve excellence through your work.

Tonight, I hope to share my reflections in two areas which have given me much reason to be comforted that your continuing efforts are bearing fruit.

The first has to do with what we saw during the General Election.

We can debate about how high the stakes were. But from my perspective, having interacted regularly with my international counterparts, I knew that the outcome would signal to them whether after 60 years of independence, Singapore could continue to defy the odds and remain exceptional in a changed world.

Several of these international counterparts were also kind enough to warn me about their own experiences. They had seen the elections in their own countries being turned topsy turvy by rampant misinformation and deepfakes used on a wide scale.

Today, it is easy and cheap for anyone to use a smartphone and readily available software to generate hyper-realistic videos or audio clips. Candidates in an election can be shown saying something they never said. Entire events that never took place can be conjured up, like magic.

We saw one such example recently. An AI-generated video showed a journalist introducing a cable car attraction in Malaysia and scenes of people queuing up at the ticket counter. But it was so realistic!

This resulted in some very disappointed makciks and pakciks who actually drove to the fictional tourist attraction. It makes one wonder: if such misleading tactics had been used in an election, could the consequences have been more dire?

Last year, in India’s general elections, manipulated videos of well-known Bollywood celebrities went viral. They appeared to be criticising government policies and endorsing rival parties. Whoever put them out clearly aimed to distort public sentiment and muddy the political discourse.

Closer to home, during the Indonesian presidential race, a doctored audio clip circulated widely. It falsely portrayed a tense exchange between a candidate and a senior party leader over poll numbers and debate performances. The aim? To stir discord within the party and undermine the public’s support of the party.

Last year, a study found that more than 6 in 10 of Singaporeans were worried about the potential impact of deepfakes on our elections. They were right to be concerned. After all, a recent survey conducted by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore found that only 1 in 4 people in Singapore could distinguish between deepfakes and legitimate videos.

As a diverse and open society, Singapore will always be susceptible to the dangers of misinformation, especially during elections.

During the 2020 General Election, there were falsehoods regarding projected population figures and COVID-19 testing of migrant workers. These lies could easily have eroded public trust in our institutions.

During the 2023 Presidential Election, there was a false claim that the government could trace how individuals voted and penalise them based on their choices. It was a serious allegation that risked undermining public confidence in the integrity of our electoral process.

Such attempts at misinformation could be addressed to some extent with the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, or POFMA, which came into force in 2019.

I say “to some extent” for two reasons.

Firstly, POFMA does not generally remove a falsehood from access by audiences; it is still accessible alongside the correction notice, and people can continue to believe in the falsehood in spite of it being called out.

Secondly, as the saying goes, “a lie has travelled halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes”. We are realistic that a factual correction does not reach everyone who had seen the falsehood.

With AI-generated misinformation like deepfakes, a compressed election timeline posed much greater risks. The window for action would be extremely narrow. We therefore needed to be absolutely clear what was permitted and what was not, and who was accountable for validating the suspected content.

New safeguards were introduced when we amended our election laws in October last year. The Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) (Amendment) Act, or ELIONA, prohibits digitally generated or manipulated election-related content that realistically misrepresents a candidate’s speech or actions during the election period.

Because the stakes were high, much weight was placed on the candidate’s own declaration of whether the content was true or false. The candidate would also be held accountable – a wrongful declaration could have led to the result of his successful election being voided. In other words, he could lose his seat.

Thankfully, in this last election, Singaporeans did not experience a surge in egregious misinformation or malicious synthetic content. By and large, AI-generated content was used for entertainment: memes, parody videos, and light-hearted voiceovers.

I can highlight some other heartening observations:

There was heightened public awareness of the dangers and many users actively questioned suspicious content. Even though there were some misunderstandings on policy issues or candidates’ personal matters, clarifications were made promptly.

But I should say that POFMA, the ELIONA Act, and our suite of regulatory tools will continue to be essential in safeguarding Singaporeans against information threats. But laws alone are not enough to push back against misinformation.

We must instead try and prevent the “original sin”, that is, the erosion of trust in institutions and cracks in our infrastructure of fact paving the way for the dominance of rogue actors in our news media and information landscape. We already see this happening elsewhere – the information space is becoming overwhelmingly muddied, and truth becomes indistinguishable from falsehoods.

This is why Governments in many countries have stepped in to support public service media. In the same way, we have done so to ensure Singaporeans have continued access to trusted news sources, and to uphold the integrity of our infospace.

Our long-term goal remains unchanged, and that is to nurture a resilient information ecosystem – one where truth can stand on its own, and public trust is anchored in an informed, engaged and discerning citizenry.

We are fortunate that Singapore’s public service media remain trusted institutions.

According to the Reuters Digital News Report, they are the most trusted by Singaporeans, ST at 75% and CNA at 74%.

These are outstanding achievements, especially when compared against the global average trust in media, which stands at just around 40%.

Retaining this trust will not be easy. A key challenge is the continued ability of public service media to engage audiences and be relevant to them.

Audiences today have an abundance of choice. Why should they pay attention to public service media?

This brings me to my second reflection this evening. To keep pace with technology and the changing preferences of audiences, media outlets must invest in new capabilities, adopt new processes, and create new products.

SPH Media developed Studio+65, an in-house multimedia facility that allows for virtual production, audiovisual storytelling and digital content creation.

Mediacorp has also deployed AI in newsrooms, automated translation, and subtitling capabilities, enabling them to deliver content efficiently and inclusively.

These new capabilities were fully deployed in their coverage of GE2025, allowing the newsrooms to provide wide and comprehensive coverage across traditional and newer formats, keeping citizens of all races and ages informed and engaged.

Both Mediacorp and SPH Media provided comprehensive coverage, and livestreaming of all rallies and key GE events, and brought relevant news to audiences in real time.

Journalists and producers also experimented with new forms of reporting to engage audiences. When I saw the list of tonight's winners, I was heartened that they included worthy winners. So I asked the organisers to allow me to cite some winners as examples. The organisers agreed, as these awards are not quite like the Oscars where surprise is a major element.

One example is ST’s data and graphic journalist Charlene Chua who used interactive graphics, scroll-based narratives and machine learning tools to create engaging real-time GE infographics that were smart, sleek, and seamless to scroll through.

But apart from adopting new technology, content is still key. Information is the currency of the industry, and your insight is what sets you apart from the rest. This is also your mission and duty to your audiences.

It is therefore important to continue developing the right talent and instincts to provide quality journalistic content to Singaporeans. I am heartened to see that we have talented young journalists, going the distance to reflect the topical concerns of Singaporeans.

Charmaine Tan, a Mediacorp producer and one of our Young Journalist Award recipients, crowdsourced geospatial data on rat sightings in Singapore as part of her research. She then used that to create a visually compelling two-part series on CNA Talking Point.

The series not only shed light on the challenges of eradicating rodents but also rallied Singaporeans in tackling this issue together.

Our more experienced journalists also boldly innovated and found new ways of bringing important stories to their audiences.

Stephanie Yeo, Senior Correspondent at The Straits Times, has won the Abbott Health Journalism Award for her well-researched reports on women’s health issues, which few Asian women are comfortable discussing.

Stephanie’s reporting has helped raised women’s awareness of these problems – such as endometriosis and menopause – and the options available for treatment.

Like Singapore, our public service media entities have defied the odds and avoided the fates of many of your international counterparts. Not only have they stood the test of time, but they have also kept the trust of Singaporeans, and have remained the most widely reached media sources in Singapore.

They also fly the Singapore flag high internationally.

Earlier in May, Mediacorp was crowned Broadcaster of the Year at the Berlin World Media Festivals, besides sweeping 47 other awards.

SPH Media also bagged 9 awards at the WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards Asia 2025.

These global accolades would not have been possible without the professionalism, passion and commitment of journalists past and present.

Tonight, we also recognise the media veterans who have shaped the industry and are being inducted to the Hall of Fame.

In particular, I would like to pay tribute to a few distinguished leaders who are no longer with us, but whose legacies live on:

Mr Chin Kah Chong, former Singapore Bureau Chief of the Pan-Asia Newspaper Alliance.

Mr N T R Singam, former Night Editor of The Straits Times; and

Mr Felix Soh, former Deputy Editor and pioneer Digital Editor of The Straits Times.

I also want to thank the Singapore Press Club, for

being a steadfast advocate for media professionals, and

always identifying emerging and important areas of media work that deserve our recognition and care.

All of you, generation after generation, have played an important role in fostering a thriving and vibrant media ecosystem in Singapore.

I think it is fair to say that journalism has never been an easy job, and it has become only harder in recent decades. But you have soldiered on with a tireless commitment to excellence. Your dedication to the craft has been instrumental in upholding truth and trust in Singapore’s information space – shaping an informed audience and a stronger Singapore.

In closing and this being SG60, let me share with you again what Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said last week about the importance of our media entities in Singapore's nation-building: “ Now, more than ever, Singapore needs trusted media – to help us navigate a more complex world, to discern fact from falsehood, and to build common ground in an age of rapid change and complexity.”

On behalf of all Singaporeans, thank you to all the members of our media for choosing to serving Singaporeans through your professionalism, passion and purpose.

Congratulations once again to everyone being honoured tonight!

I wish you an enjoyable evening.