Category: Politik

Accountant Questions Sylvia Lim’s And AHPETC’s Accounting Practices

As an Accountant, here’s my argument with you Sylvia Lim!

You said “We emphasise that AHPETC has ensured that payments made to FMSS are in line with and within the budget provided under the tender awarded.”

So that means when you awarded the contract, you MUST know that the Town Council will run into deficit, shouldn’t you ALERT your residents at some point in 2012-2014 and look for solution (which is to increase the TC rate again) instead of keeping quiet?

You have failed to understand the very basic of budgeting!

Next, you want to build a 1st world parliament, but you can’t even attract enough people to clean your town, have you asked yourself why?

And the only MA who bid must be your supporter, wouldn’t you be able to negotiate with them since you know their rate is going to almost “bankrupt” your beloved Town and affecting no one else but only your dear supporters?

What business logic is this?

$300k flat professional fees?? That’s $25k per month! Why do they need to factor this in their cost before bidding for the job?

Don’t you think 在情在理，you should be questioning them for your own people’s sake?

And lastly I sincerely hope the cleaners employed by FMSS are paid at least 50% above the market rate as compared to all cleaners employed by PAP TC’s MA, since your MA is charging in accordance to the comparison, almost 50% more than other MAs, technically they must have bid at this rate due to cost roll up which means their cost must be higher.

Don’t worry Sylvia Lim, MND’s letter will not be putting you in disadvantage position.

Your supporters have compared this to the like of our Ministers’ pay and Our CPF scheme, so you have successfully convinced your supporter that you are a good opposition to vote into parliament. They will continue to support you de!

Nothing will change their mind and simply we couldn’t be bothered to do that either.

We are only interested in the people sitting on the fence!

People who will ask, am I important if I am a resident of Aljunied?

Do I want to vote in someone who cannot even run a TC well!

So let’s leave it to the people in Singapore to judge whether have Workers’ Party run the TC well since GE2011!!!

Source: http://sghardtruth.com

September 1, 2015
Three-Cornered Fight Shaping Up In Macpherson SMC Between PAP, WP And NSP

In a surprise twist, the single-seat ward of MacPherson might be set for a three-cornered fight after all, after the National Solidarity Party (NSP)’s Cheo Chai Chen said he will throw his hat into the ring on Nomination Day morning.

Mr Cheo, 65, announced that he will stand in MacPherson when he arrived at Kong Hwa School to file his nomination papers.

This means that MacPherson will likely see a three-cornered fight between Mr Cheo, the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Tin Pei Ling, 31, and the Workers’ Party’s Bernard Chen, 29.

Mr Cheo was an MP for Nee Soon Central from 1991 to 1997 under the Singapore Democratic Party.

Ms Tin, the incumbent MP, came in for fierce criticism at the last election but appears to have turned the tide of public opinion in her favour.

Addressing her supporters before filing her nomination papers, Ms Tin said: “Today is the day. We will put up a tough fight. We will put up our best and 101 per cent. Thank you for fighting this with me. Every vote counts we are the best party to do this.”

The WP and the NSP have crossed swords over MacPherson in recent weeks, after both sides disagreed over who should contest in the single-member constituency.

The NSP made several U-turns in the lead-up to Nomination Day over whether or not it would contest MacPherson.

After initially agreeing to not contest the seat, the NSP then voted last month to field a council member there. The decision prompted acting secretary-general Hazel Poa to resign from the party.

The party then flip-flopped on that controversial decision again, when Mr Steve Chia announced on social media that he would not contest MacPherson SMC or any other constituency in the general election, threatening to throw the party – already seemingly troubled by factional splits – into disarray.

MacPherson was part of the Marine Parade GRC in the last election in 2011 and reportedly garnered the second-highest PAP vote share among the wards in that GRC.

Candidates will file their nomination papers between 11am and noon on Tuesday (Sept 1).

Source: www.straitstimes.com

September 1, 2015
No Surprises In Workers’ Party Line-Up For 10 Battlegrounds

A snapshot of the Workers’ Party (WP) line-ups in its 10 battlegrounds at the Sept 11 polls has emerged on Nomination Day, with the party pulling no surprises yet.

WP chief Low Thia Khiang, 58, chairman Sylvia Lim, 50, lawyer Pritam Singh, 39, and full-MPs Chen Show Mao, 54, and Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, 40, are set to be defending the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

The quintet have arrived on Tuesday (Sept 1) morning at the Raffles Institution, the nomination centre for the five-member constituency, along with Mr Koh Choong Yong, 42, a software engineer. He is likely again contesting the Sengkang West single-member constituency (SMC) like he did at the 2011 polls.

The WP’s Nee Soon GRC team will comprise: Singapore Cancer Society manager Kenneth Foo Seck Guan, 38, managing partner of private investment business Luke Koh, 41, lawyer Gurmit Singh, 55, and sales consultant Cheryl Denise Loh, 31. They have arrived at the nomination centre at Yishun Primary School.

Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong, 50, lawyer Terence Tan, 44, lawyer He Ting Ru, 32, bank wealth manager Dylan Ng, 40, and chocolate factory owner Firuz Khan, 48, could be contesting the Marine Parade GRC and have arrived at the Kong Hwa School.

Funeral services company executive Bernard Chen, 29, is set to be fielded in MacPherson SMC and is also at the same nomination centre.

The four potential WP candidates for the resurrected Jalan Besar GRC, medical social worker Frieda Chan Sio Phing, 39, polytechnic lecturer L. Somasundaram, 52, engineer Redzwan Hafidz Abdul Razak, 30, and businessman Adrian Sim Tian Hock, 43, have arrived at Bendemeer Primary School.

NCMP Gerald Giam, 37, National University of Singapore sociology professor Daniel Goh, 42; consultancy firm CEO Leon Perera, 44; former associate librarian Mohamed Fairoz Shariff, 36; shipping law firm partner Dennis Tan, 45, were at the Aljunied Town Council office in Kaki Bukit and have boarded a bus set for Fengshan Primary School.

It is the nomination centre for the East Coast GRC and Fengshan SMC. Mr Tan is likely to stand in the SMC as his team has split up with that of the other four WP candidates.

Also at the same nomination centre was Punggol East MP Lee Li Lian, 37, who will be defending the constituency she won in a 2013 by-election.

Hougang MP Png Eng Huat, 53, has also arrived at Poi Ching school, the nomination centre for the SMC that he won in a 2012 by-election.

Hougang is the stronghold of the WP, held by Mr Low from 1991 till he left in 2011 and won the first GRC for the opposition.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

September 1, 2015
Calvin Cheng: Remember Chiam See Tong, Do Not Vote For Backstabber Chee Soon Juan

Mr. Chiam See Tong has retired from electoral politics.

Mr. Chiam is a man respected even by his political rivals. He is a gentleman politician, who not only was never sued by the PAP, but even successfully sued PAP’s ministers.

Mr. Chiam had it very tough from Mr. Lee Kuan Yew but also won his respect; Mr. Lee said that Mr. Chiam was a good MP.

The respect was mutual and Mr. Chiam was given a special place during Mr. Lee’s funeral, even though he was an opposition leader.

In the end, it wasn’t the PAP who hurt Mr. Chiam the most.

It was his former protege Chee Soon Juan who broke his heart and robbed Mr. Chiam of the party SDP that he founded.

Mr. Chiam was the one who groomed Chee, helped him and supported him. Yet Chee back-stabbed him and destroyed his mentor and benefactor.

Nothing is more despicable.

Younger voters at Holland-Bukit Timah GRC must take note. They will not remember but should be aware.

Do you want a despicable man like Chee Soon Juan to be your MP?

Remember Mr. Chiam See Tong when you cast your vote.

Source: Calvin Cheng

September 1, 2015
Workers’ Party – 2nd Open Letter To Residents Of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town

Dear Residents,

In my First Open Letter to you in June 2015, I explained three main points concerning various allegations made against Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC). These were:

1. AHPETC does not and cannot reserve contracts for “friends” due to the public tender process;

2. The alleged “overpayment” by AHPETC to its former Managing Agent (MA), when compared to rates paid by PAP TCs in 2014, was an exaggeration, looking at the rates paid by PAP TCs in 2011, 2012 and 2013 according to data provided by the Ministry of National Development (MND);

3. The MA rates that AHPETC agreed to pay its MA in 2012 were arrived at taking into account the MA rate paid by the PAP management of Aljunied TC to its former MA.

If you missed the first open letter, you can read it online at http://www.ahpetc.sg/sylvia-lims-open-letter-to-residents/.

In this Second Open Letter, I would like to clarify and reassure all residents that AHPETC places your interests at the heart of its work and continues to make improvements to its financial management.

This letter will cover the issue of Conflicts of Interest and AHPETC’s financial position.

1.      Conflict of Interest and Related Party Transactions

There have been allegations concerning related party transactions between AHPETC and its former MA, FM Solutions & Services Pte Ltd (FMSS).

First, there is no longer any issue, as AHPETC is now directly managed and does not outsource its work to an MA. The previous MA contract expired on 14 July 2015, and there were no bidders to take over the MA services after 14 July 2015.

Since 15 July 2015, AHPETC has been self-managed. This means that AHPETC is now directly hiring staff to handle estate, finance, administration and other tasks, instead of outsourcing the work to an MA.

Under direct management, AHPETC’s contractors continue to deliver services under the existing contracts, now supervised by TC’s directly hired staff.

Second, there was never any conflict of interest whatsoever between the Workers’ Party (WP) or any of its Members of Parliament (MPs) and FMSS. Neither WP nor any of its MPs or members has any interest in the business of FMSS. None of the directors and shareholders of FMSS is a member of WP.

Third, there have been accusations that when the MA was working at AHPETC, the husband and wife team who owned FMSS could freely sign payments to themselves. This is not true. When WP took over in 2011, one of the first decisions made by the new Aljunied-Hougang Town Council was to require any cheques to the MA, no matter how small the amount, to require the counter-signature of AHPETC Chairman and Vice-Chairmen who have no interest in the MA’s business.

2.      Financial Position of AHPETC

Some people have accused AHPETC of bankruptcy and running huge deficits that are not sustainable, and also warned residents of other towns not to vote for WP so as not to subsidise AHPETC. These allegations are misguided.

AHPETC filed its audited accounts for FY 14/15, on time, by 31 August 2015. Though these accounts show AHPETC in annual deficit, this is because AHPETC has still NOT received its annual S&CC operating grant of $7.2 million from the government, which would normally have been paid to all Town Councils in April 2014.   Taking into account the $7.2 million in grant which AHPETC expects to receive, AHPETC’s annual income and expenditure statement would show an annual surplus of $1.7 million.

The past operating deficit was largely the outcome of higher tender price for various service contracts and start-up costs.

The current positive position came about through a combination of steps taken by AHPETC. These included lowering its utilities costs by using contestable energy, reducing its general and administrative expenditure, and increasing its revenue.

Throughout the difficult initial years, AHPETC management believed that it could improve the TC’s financial position, and the latest audit shows that it has. We expect to further consolidate and improve AHPETC’s financial position going forward.

We have done our best to serve residents, and I would like to express appreciation to our staff for their contribution to the progress we have made and to our residents for their support and understanding.

SYLVIA LIM
CHAIRMAN
ALJUNIED-HOUGANG-PUNGGOL EAST TOWN COUNCIL

August 2015

Source: www.wp.sg

September 1, 2015