S’pore minister debunks fake news of his collapse at UN summit

SiNGAPORe: Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan shot down a fake news article that reported he had collapsed at the ongoing United Nations summit by posting a Facebook message saying he was “fine” in New York.

News site glonews360.com had published an online article headlined: “Breaking: Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs collapses, UN Summit 2017 cut short”.

It said that he collapsed suddenly, a few minutes after a meeting commenced, and excused himself.

The false article also claimed that UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said Dr Balakrishnan was “in a critical condition”.

Balakrishnan took to Facebook to refute the fake news yesterday.

“I am fine in New York and looking forward to delivering my speech at the UN later today,” he wrote. “Thank you all for your concern.” People commenting on Balakrishnan’s Facebook post expressed relief that the news of his collapse was not true. The 56-year-old is in New York this week for the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly.

Among the people he has met were former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and SecretaryGeneral of the Permanent Court of Arbitration Hugo Hans Siblesz.

This is not the first time the site has published fake news.

In June, it ran a report saying comedian Hossan Leong had died in a car crash in Malaysia, prompting him to refute the claims. — The Straits Times/Asia News Network