Tag: Singaporeans

Debt Collectors Arrested For Unlawful Assembly And Causing Nuisance At Funan DigitaLife Mall

Seven men aged between 35 and 48 were arrested for their suspected involvement in a case of unlawful assembly.

On Jan 15 at about 1.20pm, police were informed that a group of debt collectors were causing nuisance at Food Junction at Funan DigitaLife Mall, the Singapore Police Force said in a news release on Friday (Feb 13).

Preliminary investigations revealed that the debt collectors were demanding a loan repayment from one of the stall owners. It is believed that their actions prevented customers from patronising that particular food stall, police said.

The suspects were arrested between 10am on Thursday (Feb 12) and 3.30pm on Friday at various locations around Singapore. Computers, laptops and company documents were also seized as case exhibits.

All seven suspects will be charged in court on Saturday. If found guilty, they may be jailed for a term of up to two years, or fined, or both.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

February 14, 2015
Pritam Singh: Managing Agent’s Staff Not Privy To Tender Process

The couple who own FMSS Solutions and Services (FMSS), the company appointed as Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council’s (AHPETC) managing agent, may hold top appointments in the town council, but they are not involved in its tender decision-making processes, Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament (MP) Pritam Singh said today (Feb 13), as he addressed the conflict of interest raised in the Auditor-General Office’s (AGO) audit of the beleaguered Workers’ Party-run town council.

The AGO’s audit report had highlighted AHPETC’s failure to properly disclose and assess safeguards to address the potential conflicts before it entered into agreements with FMSS.

Mr Singh, who is also the vice-chair of AHPETC, said: (The) “decision-making to award the tender in such a case would … be the sole remit of the Tender and Contracts Committee.”

None of the staff at FMSS is privy to the evaluation or the decision-making process, he said. The secretary of the town council, Mr Danny Loh, and the general manager, Ms How Weng Fan, were not involved in this process, which Mr Singh stressed was conducted in “strict adherence” to the Town Council Financial Rules.

Today, Mr Singh and his WP colleagues, Hougang MP Png Eng Huat and Punggol East MP Lee Li Lian, took turns to address some of the lapses flagged by the AGO and tried to assure the House that AHPETC was already setting things right.

For instance, the town council had, in May 2013, paid back in full about S$18.6 million owed to the Housing and Development Board (HDB) for lift upgrading work, Mr Singh said.

He added that those expenses were not recorded in the town council’s books in the earlier years because it had a dispute with the HDB over the amount that should be recognised.

The AHPETC also “duly reversed” several incorrectly stated figures in its books, said Mr Singh, including a S$110,375 figure it believed it should have received from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore — an error that was corrected last May.

After the 2011 General Election, staff of the previous managing agent in Aljunied GRC, then a PAP ward, resigned.

As they were familiar with the handling of financial documents, their resignation meant the town council lost “a lot of institutional knowledge”, Mr Singh explained.

He acknowledged that the handover of records from the previous town council management could have been better managed, but added that proper handover procedures were now in place.

To strengthen internal controls, closed-circuit television cameras have also been set up to monitor the town council’s reception area to detect unauthorised access to its mail, said Ms Lee.

All cheques received are scanned and saved on a central server and those not banked in by the end of each day are placed in a safe, she added.

Mr Png said AHPETC has made “incremental improvements” to its computer system over the years. Contrary to the AGO’s findings, he asserted, AHPETC has a “live and up-to-date” system to track every financial transaction in a resident’s account, including arrears in service and conservancy charges.

Dismissing the insinuation in media reports that AHPETC’s secretary and the general manager, both owners of its managing agent, were pocketing monies paid to the town council,

Mr Singh reiterated that the recurring payments were necessary “to keep (the) town running, (or) else rubbish will pile up three-storeys high and lives will be endangered if residents are trapped in the lifts with no rescue effort carried out in the shortest possible time”.

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 14, 2015
Thaipusam Shows Sensitivities Of Race And Religious Issues Remain

There have been recent instances where individuals had refused to heed attempts by police officers to keep the peace during the Thaipusam foot procession, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said today (Feb 13), in setting out why it imposes restrictions, including on the playing of musical instruments, for the religious event.

In 2013, nine people were arrested after they ignored advice to stop shouting secret society slogans and playing drums within the procession route, it said in a press statement. This year, one person was arrested for possessing offensive weapons, apart from the three men who are being investigated for disorderly behaviour and assaulting a police officer, it added.

In a separate statement, the Hindu Endowments Board (HEB) also said it had received complaints over the years of “disamenities and disorderly behaviour that impede the progress of devotees in the procession and detract from the spiritual experience”.

The arrests at the Thaipusam procession this year have been in the spotlight recently, with a woman accusing police officers of pushing her at the event and a petition being started for the Hindu festival to be reinstated as a public holiday. The petition has garnered more than 19,500 signatures.

Cabinet ministers have come out to speak on the matter, with Second Home Affairs Minister S Iswaran urging calm over the incident, and Law and Foreign Minister K Shanmugam saying Hindus are given a special privilege not enjoyed by others, instead of being discriminated against.

Today, the MHA said the reactions to the incident in this year’s Thaipusam “show that race and religion continue to be sensitive issues”.

Noting that there have been misrepresentations and rumours circulating around relating to the Thaipusam procession, the MHA said today: “If such activities are deemed to incite enmity between different communities and races, the police will investigate and take firm action against anyone responsible for such offences.”

Investigations are ongoing on allegations that have surfaced after the arrests this year and on the woman’s allegation, it added.

The HEB also said it did not believe conditions for Thaipusam need to be tightened and that it had never asked the authorities to do so, contrary to misperception by some.

Separately, the Manpower Ministry said any move to reinstate any one festival as a public holiday will invite competing claims.

“Balancing the wishes of each community will not be a simple matter,” said its divisional director of workplace policy and strategy division Alvin Lim.

Although it is “impractical” to make all important festivals of all faiths public holidays, he encouraged employers to show understanding and flexibility in allowing workers to observe their respective religious festivals.

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 14, 2015
Khaw Boon Wan Chides AHPETC For Unacceptable Behaviour

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan today (Feb 12) rebuked the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), saying their behaviour is “unacceptable”.

He was speaking in Parliament on the Auditor-General’s audit on the town council, which had flagged several major lapses in “governance and compliance”. The report is “a sad commentary on the state of affairs at AHPETC, he said, adding that MND will take action.

POOR PATTERN OF BEHAVIOUR

Mr Khaw said the AHPETC exercised a lack of transparency, and failed to disclose things on time or submit required reports, adding that they “came up with yet another excuse”, when the ministry gave them reminders. Financial reports aside, he said the town council’s FY2013 cyclical maintenance works report – which informs MND of any delays in replacing major infrastructure – was also late for more than six months and was incomplete and inaccurate, he said.

This is serious as it potentially impacts on public health and safety, he said. “Why are reports from AHPETC always outstanding?”

Secondly, the town council appointed a related party, FMSS as its managing agent, he said. The owners are husband and wife – with the former becoming AHPETC’s secretary while the latter became its general manager.

He asked: “Why did AHPETC not disclose these related party transactions and take steps to prevent the risk of abuse when the companies it gave contracts to were owned by its key officers?”

He also said that FMSS was paid “abnormally high fees”, some 20 per cent higher than the previous managing agent that ran Aljunied and 50 per cent more than a comparable town council. The supposed “up-scaled and developed financial system” it had embarked on could not even track and make simple monthly arrears reports, as AHPETC said it had to resort to manual counting, he noted.

Mr Khaw also called out AHPETC’s Members of Parliament, pointing out that they have been “side-stepping and avoiding responsibility”. “I do expect them to exercise close supervision, and when problems arise or issues are highlighted, to step up and take responsibility, to look into them quickly and address them squarely,” he said.

“Unfortunately, throughout this AHPETC saga, we have found the MPs running the AHPETC to be evasive, unresponsive and misleading,” he said. “In response to legitimate queries from auditors, my MND officials, and their own residents and the media, they stone-walled, deflected the queries, made false or dishonest claims, raised irrelevant excuses and sought to confuse the public with a flurry of red-herrings.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 12, 2015
Motorcyclists Dies After Accident Flungs Him Onto MRT Tracks Between Khatib And Yio Chu Kang MRT

A 29-year-old motorcyclist died after he was flung onto the MRT tracks between Khatib and Yio Chu Kang stations early on Thursday morning following a traffic accident on the Lentor flyover.

SMRT spokesman Patrick Nathan said its staff helped the authorities to access the North-South Line train tracks to recover the body. The accident had occurred along a stretch of the flyover that spans the tracks.

Police had received a call at about 12.58am, and its spokesman said the motorcyclist pronounced dead at scene. Investigations ongoing.

SMRT staff also replaced some damaged third rail covers that were dislodged from the incident.

Mr Nathan said the MRT line was “thoroughly checked to ensure serviceability before the start of service”.

In 2003, a car ended up on the same stretch of track between Yishun and Khatib stations after crashing through the fence. Technician Loh Hwee Peng, then 23, was driving his brother’s Mercedes E200 when he lost control of it, causing the car to veer and land on the track. The incident forced a train carrying hundreds of commuters to come to a screeching halt, but not before flattening the front of the car.

Mr Loh was not injured as he scrambled out of the car, and was helped to safety by passers-by.Two men suffered minor injuries. The accident disrupted train services for more than three hours and cost SMRT between $100,000 and $150,000 in damage and lost revenue.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

February 12, 2015