Singapore Embassy Calls Social Media Claims About Indonesian Figures 'Disinformation'

The Singapore embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, is pushing back against false claims spread on social media. The posts said that two well-known Indonesian men visited the home of Singapore's ambassador on October 18, 2026. The embassy called the claims 'clearly disinformation' and said it would work with Indonesia's government to deal with the problem. Both men named in the posts also denied the story was true.

The two men named in the posts are Dino Patti Djalal, a former deputy foreign minister of Indonesia, and Saiful Mujani, a well-known political researcher. Social media posts claimed the two had visited the home of Singapore's ambassador, Kwok Fook Seng, on the evening of October 18. Some posts even included video footage shot near the Singapore embassy in Jakarta. The embassy said on October 25 that none of this happened.

The false claims appeared just days after Dino had spoken out about a separate issue. He had questioned accusations made by a former Indonesian trade minister, who claimed that Singapore's big investment companies had pressured a global financial group to lower Indonesia's stock market rating. The goal, according to those accusations, was to let foreign investors buy Indonesian assets at lower prices. Dino said those accusations had no basis in fact.

Dino proved he was not in Jakarta on the date mentioned in the posts. He said he was in Perth, Australia, from October 18 to 20, attending a climate change event run by a group called Global Citizen. He even met the President of Timor-Leste during that trip and did not return to Indonesia until the evening of October 20. 'The news is 100 per cent fictitious, totally fabricated,' he wrote in an Instagram post on October 25.

Dino also said he had not visited the Singapore ambassador's home in Jakarta for years. He added that he had no connection to Saiful and had never dealt with him. Dino believed the fake posts were designed to make him look unpatriotic and to suggest he had improper ties to Singapore. He suspected that multiple social media accounts were spreading the false story in a planned, coordinated way.

Dino said he planned to raise the issue with Indonesia's Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid. He warned that disinformation like this could be used to scare people who speak out in public. He wanted the spread of false information to be taken seriously by the government. The Singapore embassy said it would work with Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs to address the fake claims.

Saiful also firmly denied the story on October 25, speaking to Metro TV. He said he had never spoken to or met Dino, and had never spoken to or met Singapore's ambassador anywhere. He was surprised that the claims had spread so widely across social media. Saiful said he might look into where the false claims came from and could take legal action if needed.