Category: Politik

Day 1 – Roy Ngerng Vs Lee Hsien Loong

Thinking it over, I think yesterday’s six hours in court can be summarised like this:

Mr Ngerng:
“I am sorry if what I said hurt you, I never intended to hurt you. I’m sorry that you took it badly. You really shouldn’t have. You’re the PM, you’re a big man and I’m just a poor blogger trying to get answers on questions of immense public interest. Anyway, please point out which line hurt you? This one? That one? How do you know I was talking about you anyway? I never named you. How do you know people read my posts anyway? And what’s wrong with you? Couldn’t you just have told me nicely that you were hurt? Now, you sue me and want to bankrupt me, an unemployed man and who had offered a princely sum of $10,000 to you, more than what most people earn… Why are you so afraid of me that you want me to shut up? I am not shutting up. Never. In any case, since you now know that I never intended to hurt you – that is, you got me all wrong – can I have a second chance and we settle everything out of court can?’’

And the PM:
“You said sorry so many times but I’m quite sure you’re not. Because you keep repeating what I thought the court had already settled: That you defamed me. Do you seriously think that $5,000 or $10,000 will make up for what you did to me, the Prime Minister of Singapore? I would have been okay with a sorry but you’re too much…I’ve been watching you and now you’ve stepped out of line. Don’t wriggle out of it by asking me about this line or that line. The whole thing was offensive. As for whether people read you or not, there’s this thing called Google. Clearly you hate me and you want to make some political capital from putting me on the stand. This is so people will think you’re a champion. But it’s really back down to this: You defamed me and the question is: How much should you pay me?”

Source: Bertha Henson

July 2, 2015
MND: AHPETC’s Accounts Exacerbate Concerns

A day after the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) submitted its overdue financial statements and report for FY2013, the Ministry of National Development (MND) issued a response, saying that the documents reinforced its concerns about the town council’s state of financial affairs.

The MND, noting that the statement and report — submitted on Tuesday (June 30) — were 10 months late and that AHPETC required repeated reminders, said it will study the report. But it pointed out the auditors engaged by AHPETC had disclaimers of opinion in their report — the third consecutive year the town council has received qualified statements from its independent auditors.

Audit Alliance, the auditors appointed by AHPETC, had flagged eight areas of concern, some of them similar to issues raised by the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) in its report on AHPETC accounts for FY12/13.

The auditors found that there was no segregation of duty between the person certifying invoices from FM Solution and Services (FMSS) for Managing Agent services, and the person approving related payment vouchers. AHPETC’s deputy general manager, who is a shareholder and director of FMSS, certified 12 invoices received from FMSS for Managing Agent services totalling S$2.1 million, and approved the related payment vouchers. The total value of related party transactions increased to S$8.5 million in FY13, from S$6.8 million in FY12.

The auditor also found that in the case of three tenders called, the Managing Agent failed to declare whether the specifications gave preference to any particular tenderer.

There was also no documentation on whether the tender specifications were approved by the Tenders and Contracts Committee of the town council.

AHPETC also breached the Town Council Financial Rules by failing to make transfers into the bank account of the sinking funds as required. Its transfers were up to 15 months late and errors were discovered in the computation only after the AGO audit.

And it paid for town improvement expenses out of its sinking fund, which is not allowed under the Town Councils Act.

The auditor also said it could not verify whether certain items in the accounts were accurate, such as the FY13 opening balance, and the completeness of the town council’s liabilities as at March 31 2014.

All town councils must submit their audited financial statements, auditors’ reports and annual reports to the MND by August 31 each year. These are then tabled to Parliament and a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the town council’s auditor is also forwarded to the Auditor-General.

The MND noted that AHPETC went from an annual operating surplus of S$1.1 million in FY11 to a deficit of S$1.53 million in FY12 and a deficit of S$2.01 million in FY13. The town council also previously understated the annual operating deficit in FY12 by half.

“AHPETC’s financial position has consistently deteriorated between FY11 and FY13, even though the (town council) received full government grants from MND during these three years,” the MND said. “AHPETC’s latest financial statements and reports reinforce MND’s existing concern about the (town council’s) state of financial affairs.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 2, 2015
Davinder Singh: Case To Seek ‘Strong Damages’ From Roy Ngerng

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s lawyer made the case for substantial damages to be awarded today (July 1), asking the court to express “in the strongest terms” its indignation at blogger Roy Ngerng’s conduct in defaming their client.

The case stands out for the “depth and intensity” of Mr Ngerng’s malice towards Mr Lee and his resolve to damage Mr Lee’s reputation,
said Mr Davinder Singh in his opening statement tendered to court today at the start of a three-day hearing on how much the blogger has to pay in damages. “The case for a very high award of damages, including aggravated damages, is compelling.”

A High Court ruled in November last year that Mr Ngerng had defamed Mr Lee in a May 2014 blog posting alleging misappropriation of money paid by Singaporeans to the Central Provident Fund. Today, citing a previous defamation case where the Singapore Democratic Party was ordered to pay Mr Lee Kuan Yew S$280,000 in general and aggravated damages — he was then Minister Mentor in the Prime Minister’s Office and also the chairman of the GIC — Mr Singh said: “In this instance, the Plaintiff was defamed in his capacity as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore and the Chairman of GIC, and this should therefore warrant a higher award of damages.

“The maintenance of the standing of the Plaintiff as the Prime Minister of Singapore and as Chairman of GIC is critical, and the public perception of his integrity will affect his effectiveness to govern and oversee GIC.”

Mr Singh also said: “From the very first, the Defendant set out to wound. He knowingly and maliciously published a false and vicious libel towards the Plaintiff to inflict maximum injury. He then cynically capitalised on, and continues to exploit, that libel and the ensuing lawsuit to promote himself as a champion of free speech.”

For instance, the 34-year-old blogger would have pulled the offending article from his blog if he was contrite,
he said. Instead, he posted the letter of demand sent to him on his blog to draw more attention to the article, and wrote an accompanying article to “style himself as a martyr”.

In his affidavit to the court,
Mr Lee said Mr Ngerng made a “very serious and grave allegation”, which has “caused me distress and embarrassment”. He added that Mr Ngerng has “opportunistically used the libel in a calculated and cynical manner” to promote himself and cause further distress and injury to him.

But Mr Ngerng is seeking the court to either award no damages, or award minimal or nominal general damages and/or not award any aggravated damages. In his court statement, Mr Ngerng, who paid S$29,000 in total costs to Mr Lee for the legal proceedings up to the summary judgment issued against him, said his case can be analysed in two other ways beyond the legal or technical factors affecting the assessment of damages he has to pay.

The first relates to “the consequences of damages to free speech and democracy”, he said. The second is at the “socio-legal level”, where “we consider whether Singapore should move towards a more graceful society when its citizens share the same concerns with the Government in the welfare of Singaporeans and betterment of Singapore”.

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 2, 2015
Did The People’s Association Reserve Tickets To Own Members Only?

“The idea was good but shame it ended up as an ugly spat between the haves and the haves-not,” said one person.

He was referring to the much anticipated SG50 barbeque (BBQ) organised by the Australian High Commission here in Singapore.

The island-wide event by the Australians, to celebrate the two countries’ bilateral ties and to show solidarity in celebration of S’pore’s 50^th year as an independent state, would see the bbq take place at 50 locations in Singapore.

The event also coincided with the visit of Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbot.

All seemed to go well, with many looking forward to being among those who would get to taste the 10,000 steaks which would be dished out on Sunday, 28 June.

PM Abbot and his Singapore counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, themselves were at the BBQ in Bishan Park on Sunday.

It was, as believed, a free non-ticketed event.

However, on the day of the event itself, the Australia in Singapore Facebook page dropped a bombshell – tickets would be required to participate in the feast.

It said:

“This is IT. Tonight’s the night of our long awaited ’50 BBQs’!”

“Many locations are ticketed by the People’s Association to ensure there’s enough food for all. But we’ve been told some spare coupons are set aside for those who just show up. We can’t wait to cook for you.”

Questions soon started to be raised about the ticket requirement.

“Hi mates, pls clarify on confusing sudden PA tickets issue,” Cp Tan posted on the page.

“We don’t even know where to get the tickets because it wasn’t stated we need to get the tickets,” Jey Yeo said. “And now, like you said, tickets are all taken.”

Candy Foowitu posted: “Turned up early only to be disappointed later on when they started distributing the food when our group were asked to produce tickets? Why wasn’t this announced earlier that those ticketless residents from neighbouring estates were only entitled to leftovers from 8.30pm onwards? Disappointing.”

Some who attended the event on Sunday confirmed that tickets were required.

Davis Yin: “Seriously, the Aussie BBQ event was poorly organised!! I was looking forward to enjoy my Aussie BBQ dinner with a friend. But in the end, an event staff told me that a ticket is required to claim the food. The website stated that the Aussie BBQ event is opened to the public. Well, I was rejected and turned away because I didn’t have a ticket to claim my food.

“Frankly, you all wasted my time by going down to Bishan Park. I demand an explanation!!!”

“All are just inaccurate information passed down,” Junn Chin Teo said. “I was rejected right in the face at Bishan Park. Seriously waste my bloody time. You’re welcome.”

Soon, the anger was directed at the People’s Association, as criticisms and questions started to flow in on the Australia in Singapore page.

Some asked if the People’s Association had reserved the tickets for their own members, such as grassroots members, with none issued to the public.

Some complained that there were no public announcements of where to collect the tickets.

“A fantastic initiative undermined by the ruthlessly mechanical PA machine rejecting all non invitees,” Nicky Hamster Goh said.

Aileen Lee: “It’s 28 June 6:35pm, we dropped by Bukit Batok East Community and were surprised that ticket was required to attend. We were told by volunteers.. tixs were free but all given away by Tuesday! My kids are very disappointed.”

Richard Toh: “Same same ticket only thing at Bishan Pk at 7.30pm. Asked 3 separate Teck Gee T shirt wearing “officials” and they said no tickets available as they are given to “Grassroots members only”.”

“PA, you should clearly state its for your selected members AND NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC,” he said.

Tan Wan Qi: “Don’t understand why the sudden PA intervention, turning such awesome event as if their own event. We went down at 7.30pm with our family as well to Bishan Park, only to be turned away by the grassroots members. Feels terrible.”

Jonathan Goh: “Isnt this a walk in event? Why must it be ticketed, the CC near me didnt even publicise anything about this event.”

Dudu Kenny Xie: “I when over to punggol hardcourt. And those PA members rejected us to be participate. I even asked the lady in charge. Basically just brushed off us and she continue entertaining their dearest MP Ms Penny Low.”

Khor Fujie: “I emailed one of the CC(Admiralty) for information of the event and tickets distribution. I only got the reply yesterday that the tickets were out. No prior notifications/information given to residents on their FB page, but yet the tickets were out. Were the tickets being circulated internally to PA members only?”

Tina Hashim said:

Another person posted:

The incident is also being discussed at the Hardware Zone forum.

The Online Citizen (TOC) will be contacting the People’s Association for clarification on the allegations that it had reserved the tickets for its own members.

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

June 29, 2015
Dr Yacob Ibrahim: Quality Of Life Of Singaporean Malays Have Improved

SINGAPORE: The quality of life for the Malay-Muslim community in Singapore has “improved tremendously” compared to 50 years ago, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Dr Yaacob Ibrahim said on Friday (Jun 26).

“Malays are now homeowners, we have a better educated population, wealth has been increasing in the Malay-Muslim community and we collected more ‘zakat’ last year compared to previous years,” he said to reporters at a Mendaki house visit.

“By and large, the state of affairs of the Malay-Muslim community here is quite good.”

Dr Yaacob, who is also the Minister of Communications and Information, was responding to comments made by former Malaysian law minister Zaid Ibrahim in his blog.

On Wednesday, Mr Zaid wrote that he couldn’t “wait for Malays (in Malaysia) to be like Singaporean Malays”, saying that the latter enjoyed a “clean and transparent system of government and a good and fair housing policy, on top of reaping the benefits of the modern advanced economy that is Singapore”.

Mr Zaid said he meant for the post to clarify a tweet he had posted earlier, responding to former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s criticism of current PM Najib Razak.

“I think the most important thing for me as a member of the Malay-Muslim community is to be thankful for what we have in Singapore,” Dr Yaacob said.

While the community does have its challenges, the important thing is to figure out how to go forward, he added.

“We need to preserve what we have and maintain the standards that we have lived by to ensure that the succeeding generations can also enjoy a higher quality of life, for themselves and for their children,” he said, citing values such as meritocracy and the absence of corruption.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 27, 2015