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This is why it is better to err on the side of caution.
Singapore has gone into a frenzied mode following an 18 March afternoon update from the Prime Minister’s Office that Lee Kuan Yew has “deteriorated further”.
By early evening, as the nation awaited with bated breath news regarding the grim condition of the former Prime Minister, crowds of reporters and curious public had camped out at the lobby of Singapore General Hospital.
Dozens still camped out at Singapore General Hospital for news of Lee Kuan Yew pic.twitter.com/rACVuM2cTg
— Chua Chin Hon (@chinhon) March 18, 2015
With local and foreign reporters on awaiting for news @ Singapore general hospital #GetWellSoonLKY pic.twitter.com/GHSqp5EFCx
— Amir Yusof (@miryusof) March 18, 2015
The appearance of Lee Kuan Yew’s eldest grandchild at the hospital further drove in the seriousness of the situation, and a sign of his imminent passing.
Some however took advantage of the tense climate to provoke trouble. An image of a doctored statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) website was circulated on social media. It was an announcement of Lee Kuan Yew’s death.
But a closer look at the image confirms that it is nothing but a hoax — the URL indicates “…passing-mrs-lee-kuan-yew” while at the bottom it indicates that the page was last updated last year.
The hoax, however, led international news outlets like CNN and CCTV to publish reports about his death.
CCTV reported on Lee Kuan Yew’s ‘death’ on TV. pic.twitter.com/V7PWZNlbn9
— Eddy Chua (@KStheKopite) March 18, 2015
AFP falls victim of fake #LKY death news, http://t.co/8GE4sMZmUa pic.twitter.com/G3keljI8ob
— edde (@Edourdoo) March 18, 2015
They have since retracted their reports. According to Channel NewsAsia, the Prime Minister’s Office will be lodging a police report over the fake statement. As of writing, the PMO website is still down for maintenance.
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