| schema:text
| - Fact Check: Jack Ma never said 2020 is the year of just staying alive
If a post going viral on social media is to be believed, English teacher-turned-billionaire Jack Ma of Alibaba Group has said that 2020 is not the year of thinking about your dreams or plans, but just to ensure that you stay alive.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
The Alibaba Group has officially denied that Jack Ma issued such a statement. There is no record of Ma saying something like that.
There is no doubt that coronavirus has instilled the fear of a deadly infection in everyone’s mind. But is the situation that grim that even the world’s biggest business tycoons are despondent and now thinking only in terms of life and death?
If a post going viral on social media is to be believed, English teacher-turned-billionaire Jack Ma of Alibaba Group has said that 2020 is not the year of thinking about your dreams or plans, but just to ensure that you stay alive. The so-called quote, along with Ma’s picture, is being widely shared on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral quote has nothing to do with Ma. There is no record that the Chinese business magnate has said something like that.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
The quote, viral on Facebook and Twitter, reads: “For people in business, 2020 is really just a year for staying alive. Don’t even talk about your dreams or plans. Just make sure you stay alive. If you can stay alive, then you would have made a profit already.” It is attributed to “Jack Ma, Alibaba Group”.
Former Indian MP Shahid Siddiqui and Pakistan-based political party PTI’s central information secretary Ahmed Jawad were among people who fell for the viral claim and shared it.
AFWA probe
Searching Google using keywords from the statement attributed to Ma, we found that the same claim was being shared in some other countries too. A fact-check organisation from Indonesia has debunked it through an official quote from Alibaba Group.
Dian Safitri, Alibaba Group’s director of corporate affairs for Indonesia, clarified to Indonesian fact-checker “TempFakta Cek Team” that the quote about 2020 being just a year for staying alive did not come from Ma. Dian said, “There is no record that Jack Ma ever delivered the message.”
Jack Ma on Covid-19
Searching the Internet for any statement from Ma on the coronavirus crisis, we came across a tweet by Alibaba Group where he can be seen speaking about the need for international cooperation in fighting the pandemic.
Last month, while attending a webinar with medical practitioners from Africa and China, Ma had said, “The virus does not distinguish between race and people. The virus does not need a passport. The virus tells us no matter how strong a country appears to be, we are all weak and fragile in front of this disaster.”
One can listen to his full statement here.
Jack Ma joined Twitter in March
Jack Ma joined Twitter only on March 16. In his first tweet, he posted pictures of the first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the United States from Shanghai.
The first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the US is taking off from Shanghai. All the best to our friends in America. pic.twitter.com/LTn26gvlOl — Jack Ma (@JackMa) March 16, 2020
The Jack Ma Foundation is shipping medical supplies to more than 150 countries. The donations for this cause are being made jointly by Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation.
Viral quote attributed to Ratan Tata too
The same quote was earlier attributed to industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata too. It went so viral that Tata himself issued a denial. Aaj Tak had also debunked the claim.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)