Tag: PAP

GM Of Ang Mo Kio Town Council Under Lee Hsien Loong Suspended, Facing CPIB Probe

Victor Wong, the general manager and secretary of Ang Mo Kio Town Council (AMKTC) has been removed from his duties and is under investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).

He works for CPG Facilities Management, the managing agent of the town council, was asked to go on leave by his company after the town council received a complaint about him in September, town council chairman Ang Hin Kee told The Straits Times on Thursday (Dec 29).

He added that the case had been referred to the CPIB and Mr Wong was removed from his positions at the town council last month.

Mr Ang, who is an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, said the town council received a complaint in September about Mr Wong concerning “the way he handles contracts and dealings in the town council”.

He added that the complaint “arose out of his dealings which relates to probable behaviour needing investigation done by CPIB”.

“Needless to say, the town council ourselves will render all the assistance needed to ensure zero tolerance for corruption,” said Mr Ang.

“There’s responsibility on the part of our contractors to do the job properly, if they do it inappropriately then we will take follow up actions with regards to getting them replaced (and) sending the case for investigation, making sure the necessary steps are taken.”

Mr Ang declined to reveal details about the case, citing ongoing investigations, but said that the town council constantly reminded its staff to declare any interests concerning tenders that the town council was awarding.

Staff from the managing agent were also reminded that “if there are declarations to be made, if there are interests to declare, the people involved (must) make those declarations”, he said.

He added that the MPs of the GRC had made it a point to personally check on projects performed by its contractors, “so not 100 per cent is done by the managing agent with no oversight”.

AMKTC is responsible for the housing estates in Ang Mo Kio GRC, which is helmed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 30, 2016
Heng Swee Keat Coy On Succession

His name has often surfaced as a front runner to take over when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong steps down. So when Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat had a stroke, it inevitably stoked discussion about his role in the future leadership team.

During an interview last Tuesday, Mr Heng declined to discuss who would lead Singapore next.

“That is a hypothetical question. I will not go into that,” he said when asked if he would accept the position if picked.

He, however, suggested that steering Singapore is about teamwork.

“A lot of it is really to make sure that we all pitch in and we all support one another, not just the fourth-generation leaders among ourselves, but also with all fellow members of the Cabinet and with the broader institutions in Singapore,” he said.

Succession planning took on a renewed urgency after PM Lee repeated several times his plans to retire some time after the next general election, which must be held by April 2021. Concerns were raised when Mr Heng had a stroke in May and PM Lee almost fainted when delivering this year’s National Day Rally speech in August.

Mr Heng said the younger ministers have been getting their feet wet in the various ministries they have been rotated through, part of the preparation to take over. “I think they have all done well.”

Mr Heng himself held the education portfolio before his current appointment, and was also put in charge of key assignments such as the 2013 feedback exercise Our Singapore Conversation, the SG50 celebrations last year, and the Committee on the Future Economy, tasked to come up with strategies to prepare the workforce and economy for upcoming challenges.

“It’s not just about your individual work, but it is how we connect with Singaporeans and how we do the right things to make sure we have the right policies that will enable us to navigate to a better future,” he said.

In the ruling People’s Action Party, each generation decides among itself who will lead its team. Both prime ministers after the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew – Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and PM Lee – had taken on the premiership with the support of their peers.

PM Lee said as much when he pointed out that the fourth prime minister will be chosen the same way. Just three years after taking over, he had said he would not anoint his successor.

Besides Mr Heng, others identified as core members of the next team include Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and labour chief Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin and Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.

Asked if the team had started discussing who should be PM, Mr Heng was tight-lipped. Breaking into a slight smile, he said firmly: “I shall not veer into this.” But ultimately, he said, what matters is the trust and confidence Singaporeans have in the team that will lead the country. “If we are united and cohesive and have a sense of direction, we can get there.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 18, 2016
Falling HDB Parts At Hougang And Circuit Road: Town Councils To Take Action

Probes into two recent cases of facade parts falling off Housing Board blocks have been completed, and the respective town councils are taking steps to avoid a recurrence.

In October, a cladding board made of calcium silicate fell off Block 51, Circuit Road. The next month, a plaster slab dislodged from Block 449, Hougang Avenue 10 and crashed to the ground.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said investigations showed that the cladding in the Circuit Road case had dislodged because of “wear and tear”.

After inspecting the block in question and 24 other blocks in the precinct, the professional engineer appointed by Marine Parade Town Council has recommended that similar calcium silicate cladding panels at all of these blocks be removed.

Those at the service duct areas will be replaced with new metal panels.

“We understand that Marine Parade Town Council will be progressively carrying out these rectification works as recommended by the PE to ensure public safety,” the BCA said.

Marine Parade Town Council told The Straits Times that it is currently working with its professional engineer and contractor to perform the necessary works.

During the inspection, some boards were found to have “loose connection of screws to the claddings”, said Marine Parade Town Council. These damaged boards have been removed, it said, adding that visual inspections were carried out on the other 24 blocks.

In the Hougang case, a professional engineer appointed by Ang Mo Kio Town Council inspected and found all existing plaster surfaces at the incident block “in satisfactory condition”, the BCA said.

“Based on the PE’s investigation report, the fallen plaster had dislodged as it had deteriorated due to exposure to weather over time.

“We understand that Ang Mo Kio Town Council will be repairing the affected area and stepping up checks on the surrounding blocks.”

The latest investigations come amid a string of incidents in which facade parts have fallen off HDB blocks.

In September, a concrete sunshade dislodged from Block 201E, Tampines Street 23, and fell on another sunshade below it.

After a probe, the BCA said last week (Dec 4) that the sunshade, about 5m long, had no reinforcement bars on the side that fell.

In relation to the Tampines case, the BCA said it is presently further investigating to “determine whether there were contraventions to the building regulations when the sunshades were built”.

It added: “Building owners are responsible for the maintenance of their buildings, including facade elements and any exterior features. They should carry out regular checks and maintenance of the facade of their building including all such exterior features.”

While no one was hurt in any of these incidents, the BCA is carrying out a review on building facade safety here.

Source: The Straits Times

December 12, 2016
Chee Soon Juan: Lee Hsien Loong’s Unstatesman-Like Behaviour Ruining Relations With China

It is clear that Singapore’s relations with China has deteriorated in recent years and LHL’s utterances have not helped. The couple of wisecracks he made – saying that all the Chinese people need to do was to turn on the tap if they wanted pork soup after pig carcasses were found in the rivers or get free smokes simply by opening windows because of the smog – were, to put it mildly, eyebrow-raising.

Such humour, while one might expect from a stand-up comic, has to be off limits to a head of government. Does this even need to be pointed out?

To make matters worse, Lee made these injudicious remarks in front of an American audience, a country that China sees as its intense rival, and drew much laughter. How do you think we would react if another country’s leader made some jokes about Singapore?

And when matters came to a head regarding the South China Sea, Lee presumed to lecture China on the rule of law, forgetting his own abuse of the rule of law in Singapore. And when frustrated over the demise of the TPP, he lashed out that China was no more the middle kingdom. The tone-deafness defied belief.

Would not such views have been better expressed behind the scenes? Did the jokes contribute to an already aggravated atmosphere?

No one determines who we trade and build alliances with. Singaporeans will not be dictated to by any foreign power and we will meet any such challenge with united resoluteness.

But when our prime minister deprecates other countries, he must be called out. To remain silent or, worse, call for unintelligent loyalty to him on such occasions is to endanger our country’s interests and jeopardise our people’s well-being.

As PM, Lee must realise that what he says on the international stage impacts greatly on ordinary Singaporeans. Unstatesman-like remarks that harm our country’s international relations must stop.

Source: Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全

December 11, 2016
Singapore Entrepreneur Asad Jumabhoy: Singaporeans Should Stop Complaining And Start Competing

Entrepreneur Asad Jumabhoy is a member of the once-powerful Jumabhoy family whose name is synonymous with Scotts Holdings, one of Singapore’s pioneer property giants. Years of family feuds including one between Asad’s brothers weakened the family business and by the late 1990s, Asad decided to go his own way.

One of the first things he started as CEO of his Scotts Group was Asia Tax Free Shopping, a GST tax refund platform. Over the years, he’s been able to adapt and zero in on opportunities.

His latest project is UTU, a cross-border loyalty and reward points platform for consumers – a project he is working on with his son.

He goes “On the Record” with Bharati Jagdish about this, about staying competitive, and how he feels about the problems that plagued the Jumabhoy family business. But first, whether he felt a sense of apprehension in stepping out of his family business to go his own way.

STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT FOREIGNERS AND COMPETE

Jumabhoy: I think it has to do with education and skills level. If you turn around and say, “I’m as good as the foreigner that comes in. I’m probably better-educated. I’m happy to compete.” it’s fine.

It’s a question of getting our local men and women to say the same thing. You’re good enough to compete, so compete. Stop complaining. Let anybody come. You want to work or you don’t want to work? You want to work hard or you don’t want to work hard? You want to get somewhere in this world or you don’t? It’s up to you.

Don’t come and tell me foreign guys came in and took my job. Improve your skills. I see so many kids today come from every kind of background, well-of backgrounds and not well-off backgrounds. They’re knocking themselves out learning. It’s really a question on how much you’re willing to put out and how hard you’re willing to work.

Bharati: Of course some might say no matter how hard I work, I’ll never really be able to compete because the foreigner doesn’t have to deal with the high cost of living that I do and therefore is willing to accept a lower salary than me, so he becomes a more attractive employee.

Jumabhoy: That’s market practice. Every time you interfere with market pricing, you end up in a mess. It’s not just Singapore, every country. If you put currency controls for example, you’ll get a problem somewhere else. All these things are interconnected. It’s been proven and it’s very painful to prove, but the market economy is a good allocator of resources.

If you have a feeling that your talent is worth more than what you’re being paid, go do something else. Go start your own business. If the market is saying, “Asad, I’m not willing to pay you so much for this job.” then I have two choices: either I change my job and change my focus or I stick with this and accept my position.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

December 11, 2016