Tag: Singaporeans

Parliament To Debate Lapses Highlighted in AGO’s Audit Of WP’s AHPETC

Parliament will sit today, with the Auditor-General’s report on the audit of the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), as well as the calculation of public transport fares on the agenda.

A total of 45 questions were submitted by Members of Parliament for this sitting: Thirty-three questions for oral answer and 12 for written answer.

Minister of National Development Khaw Boon Wan will move a motion on the Auditor-General’s report on the AHPETC, which flagged major lapses in “governance and compliance”.

The Ministry of National Development will call for a stronger legislative framework for town councils, in order to hold those responsible for their good management to proper account, and will also call on all Town Councils to uphold high standards of accounting, reporting and corporate governance to safeguard residents’ interest.

The Members of Parliament have also submitted questions on a wide range of topics, covering childcare centres, public transport fees, the Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme and the rental or sale of HDB flats, among others.

The State Lands (Amendment) Bill and the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill will be introduced during this Parliament sitting. The second reading for the Deep Seabed Mining Bill will also be deliberated.

The report by the Auditor-General following its audit of the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) revealed that key individuals running the town council also have stakes in companies it hired to manage its estates.

Experts have said that in cases where there are such conflicts of interests, a possible solution may be to have an independent body overseeing some of the town council’s management processes, such as when it calls for tenders.

Lapses in the management of related party transactions were among the findings in the Auditor-General’s report that was released on Monday (Feb 9).

The Auditor-General’s report found that AHPETC had hired two managing agents to carry out estate maintenance services. One of these was FM Solutions and Services Management (FMSS), which was first set up in May 2011.

FMSS’ managing director, general manager and two deputy general managers are shareholders in the company. They are also on the management board of the AHPETC – holding the position of secretary, general manager and deputy general managers.

AHPETC’s secretary also owns FM Solutions and Integrated Services (FMSI), a sole proprietorship. FMSI was engaged as a managing agent to manage precincts under the Hougang Town Council from April 2011 to June 2012.

Among the lapses highlighted in the Auditor-General’s report, it was found that a fee of S$1.28 million paid to the two companies for services during the financial year of 2012 to 2013 was not recorded in its financial statements.

Invoices made to the two companies were also issued and signed by the town council’s general manager and secretary, who were acting in their capacity as director of FMSS and owner of FMSI respectively.

The report said the town councils did not adequately manage the conflicts of interests that arose.

Associate Professor Mak Yuen Tee, who is with the National University of Singapore Business School, said: “The minimum is to declare and make people aware that you have those conflicts, to then not be involved on both sides of the transactions. In other words, you should not be verifying the payments and then approving the payments.

“Ideally, you want a situation where you are not sitting on both sides – either you step off the town council or you do not get involved with the managing agent.”

A possible alternative is to have an independent body overseeing some of the management processes like tenders for projects where there might be potential conflicts of interests.

Assoc Prof Mak added: “If you need estate management services, one issue would be what are the available options out there. If you call a tender, are you able to get different organisations to participate in the tender?

“I am involved in organisations where we call tenders and sometimes you do not have enough options and you end up selecting from a list of one. Ideally, you do not want that to happen but sometimes it will. If that happens and you end up in a related party situation, then that is where you need to take steps to mitigate that by involving people who are independent to review and to approve.”

Another solution is to develop or adopt a framework that can help the town council improve its management processes and manage risks.

Mr Sidney Lim, managing director of Protiviti Singapore, a company that deals with corporate governance, said: “The framework essentially looks at the three different risks that organisations face – the compliance risk, operational risk and reporting risk. And what is in the framework is a series of processes as well as components to help them manage and improve on corporate governance.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

February 12, 2015
Indian Nationals Jailed For Their Role in 2013 Little India Riots

Two more Indian nationals in Singapore were sent behind bars Tuesday for their involvement in the December 2013 riots in the Little India area of this city state, media reported.

Rajendran Mohan, 26, and Sathiyamoorthy Sivaraman, 27, were respectively awarded 27-month and 25-month jail sentences for their involvement in rioting, Today Online reported.

Mohan pleaded guilty Tuesday while co-accused Sivaraman pleaded guilty in September last year.

Mohan committed an offence of mischief against a motorbus.

Rajendran joined a group of at least five others in committing violence against a motorbus on the road, by throwing objects such as a plastic crate at it, and inserting lighted objects in the fuel inlet.

He also tried, in futility, to topple the bus by kicking and pushing it, before cajoling others in the unlawful assembly to join him, a district court heard.

Rajendran was arrested at the scene and his acts identified through footage captured by the CCTV camera mounted on the side of the bus.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Santhra Aiyyasamy said Rajendran had a clear intention to burn the bus and persistent disregard for authority.

The maximum penalty for rioting is a jail term of seven years and caning.

The riots were sparked off after an Indian, Sakthivel Kumaravel, was run over by a bus in Little India. This was the worst outbreak of violence in the country in more than four decades.

A total of 23 emergency vehicles were damaged, more than 50 officers were hurt and 25 people were charged in the riots.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

February 11, 2015
Fifty Shades Of Grey Obtains R21 Classification In Singapore

Fans who have been eagerly awaiting the status of “Fifty Shades of Grey” in Singapore can now breathe a sigh of relief as the movie has finally been given a rating of R21.

The Media Development Authority (MDA), the country’s media regulating body, had stated the film contains “Mature Theme and Sexual Scenes” and only those aged 21 and above are permitted to watch the film.

Explaining their justification of the film’s rating on their site, MDA reported that, “Given the film’s focus on a complex relationship, which is underpinned by an exploration of sexual practices, the film is more appropriate under a R21 rating where the Classification Guidelines permit “stronger and more explicit portrayal and exploration of mature themes.”

In the same report, more details about the film’s content are revealed with expected nudity.

“In one of the stronger scenes, the male protagonist undresses the woman and whips her with a belt as a form of punishment. The whipping is not enacted on screen with the impact conveyed through the woman’s pained expression. In another fairly prolonged scene, the male protagonist handcuffs the woman to a metal structure and hits her with a leather crop before tying her hands to a bed post and thrusting against her from behind. Female upper body nudity and sexual thrusting can also be seen in the sexual scenes.”

It also seems that film is not as visually graphic as depicted in the books, as most of the sadomasochistic acts in the film are depicted in a sensuous manner through film’s focus on facial expressions rather than the act itself.

“Overall, the sexual scenes are treated in a sensuous manner. While mild bondage and whipping are depicted, the scenes focus on the characters’ sexual arousal through their facial expressions and do not depict the sadomasochistic aspect of these acts.”

Recently, the movie received an 18 rating from the British Board of Film Classification, a considerably stricter rating compared to the R rating from Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last month.

The movie was also recently banned in Malaysia after the local censorship board deemed its content unsuitable for Malaysian audiences.

Some of the more recent R21 movies that were shown in Singapore include last year’s South Korean erotic thriller film “Obsessed” and David Fincher’s “Gone Girl”, and there are two R21 movies currently showing, South Korean noir action film “Gangnam Blues” and Jennifer Lopez-starrer “The Boy Next Door”.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” will be released in Singapore this 12 February 2015.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

February 11, 2015
AGO Finds Governance Lapses In WP-Run AHPETC

The financial affairs of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) will be in the spotlight in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 12), after the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) issued a report finding lapses in governance and compliance by the town council.

These lapses, detailed in the report issued today (Feb 9), include failing to transfer monies into sinking fund bank accounts as required by the Town Councils Financial Rules, and inadequately managing conflicts of interest when it came to procuring services for the Workers’ Party-run town council.

The Auditor-General also found that there was no proper system for monitoring service and conservancy charges arrears, and internal controls were poor, which could lead to wrong payments for goods and services. The town council also does not have a proper system for record management and accounting, which led to it being unable to provide relevant documents for audits. As such, its financial statements did not accurately reflect its state of affairs and transactions, the Auditor-General found.

“Unless the weaknesses are addressed, there can be no assurance that AHPETC’s financial statements are accurate and reliable and that public funds are properly spent, accounted for and managed,” the report stated.

The Auditor-General was last year directed to conduct an audit of the AHPETC’s accounts for FY2012-13, after independent auditors said they were unable to express an opinion on the town council’s financial statements for the second consecutive year. The auditors, Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton, said they could not determine if items worth more than S$22 million were valid or accurate.

A copy of the Auditor-General’s report was submited to Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan last Friday (Feb 6). A copy was also given to AHPETC the next day.

In a joint statement, the Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Finance said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan will move a motion on the AGO report when Parliament sits on Thursday.

For the full report, click here.

Below are some examples of the lapses.

Lapses in management of sinking funds

– Under Town Councils Financial Rules, town councils must make the necessary transfers to sinking fund bank accounts within a month of the end of each financial year (FY) quarter. These funds are separately maintained for improvement and long-term maintenance of properties.

– For FY2012/13, AHPETC only transferred S$1.5 million to the sinking fund in Feb 2013. It transferred another S$2.74 million in Jan 2014, but this was still less that what was required under the rules. Following the AGO’s query, AHPETC transferred another S$1.2 million in June 2014.

Lapses in governance of related party transactions

– AHPETC’s key officers had ownership interests in two companies engaged by the town council for estate services — FM Solutions & Integrated Services (FMSI) and FM Solutions & Services (FMSS)

– FMSI’s sole proprietor is AHPETC’s secretary Danny Loh Chong Meng. He is also one of FMSS’ directors and shareholders, together with his wife AHPETC general manager How Weng Fan and deputy general managers Yeo Soon Fei and Johnson Lieow Chong Sern

– On two occasions for contracts worth S$5.2 million and S$20.7 million, no evidence was found to show that there were proper disclosures of the interests of the related parties, the conflicts of interest, and an assessment of safeguards, before AHPETC entered into agreements with FMSS.

Lapses in management of conservancy and service charge arrears

– AHPETC’s conservancy and service charges arrears report submitted to Ministry of National Development for March 2013 showed 4,379 units with arrears of three months or more. But its report submitted to its Finance and Investment Committee showed 17,502 units in arrears for three months or more as of March 31 2013.

Lapses in internal controls and procurement

– On one occasion, AHPETC awarded a contract amounting to S$88,346 without calling a tender. The cost later increased to S$101,641 due to changes in scope of work and this was only approved by the AHPETC chairman, although it should have been approved by the town council under the Town Councils Financial Rules

– Waivers of quotation for purchases were approved by AHPETC deputy general manager, but no documentation was provided to show that he was delegated the authority to do so

Inadequacies in record management and accounting system

– AHPETC could not find the accounting documents for April to July 2011, resulting in its auditor being unable to issue an audit opinion for the town council’s FY2011/12 financial statements

– AHPETC did not record lift upgrading programme expenses in the financial statements for the years in which the expenses were incurred. As a result, there were understatements of about S$240,000 and S$8.14 million in FY2010/11 and FY2011/12 respectively. There was also overstatement of S$8.38 million in FY2012/13.

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 10, 2015
In Solidarity With Singaporean Indians – Make Thaipusam A Public Holiday!

There has been a lot of talk recently about making Thaipusam – an annual Hindu festival event celebrated by the Tamil community here – a public holiday.

We have four races here and though Deepavali is celebrated as a public holiday, Thaipusam which is an important Hindu day in the Tamil community calender is not officially gazetted as a public holiday yet.

In Singapore, every major race is given two days of religious or cultural holiday. The Chinese have Chinese New Year (CNY), which lasts for two days. Malays, who are predominantly Muslim, are given holidays for Hari Raya Haji and Hari Raya Puasa. Indians are given Deepavali and Vesak Day. Hence, Thaipusam could not be made a holiday for Indian Hindu.

Vesak Day which is a Buddhist religion is strangely been gazetted as a Indian holiday though very few Indians celebrate.

17,000 signatures were collected to date to petition online for Thaipusam to be made a public holiday here:-

https://www.change.org/p/mdm-halimah-yacob-make-thaipusam-a-religious-holiday-in-singapore

There is also this recent controversy whereby three Indians were arrested for disorderly behaviour during the recent Thaipusam when the police was called upon to enforce a ancient 1973 law which disallows the use of musical instruments for kavadi carriers.

In response to the arrest, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K Shanmugam made an effort to explain why musical instruments were disallowed during the Thaipusam’s foot procession, citing the 1964 riots as the main reason for imposing such an ancient law.

We hope that with the recent arrest, the government will look closely into allowing musical instruments to be played during Thaipusam foot procession under limited conditions.

This event hopes to unite all Singaporeans to support our smallest minority race to petition for Thaipusam to be made a public holiday – as only 9% of the population is make up of Indians.

We agree with the online petition statement that –

Thaipusam should be made a holiday in Singapore from 2016 in the interest of fairness to all races in Singapore.

Let us come together and speak with one voice – though we have 4 races but we are first Singaporeans!

Singaporeans supporting Singaporeans.

Gilbert Goh
Event Organiser

Editor’s note: We will co-operate with NParks and the police to ensure that the event will be carried out smoothly.

Source: Gilbert Goh

February 10, 2015