Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), which had appointed an independent panel to help recover improper payments, is taking several of its town councillors to court.
They include Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang; the town council’s chairman, Mr Pritam Singh; and its vice-chairman, Ms Sylvia Lim.
The Straits Times understands that the legal action was initiated as part of the work of a panel tasked with looking into improper payments made by AHTC.
Ms Lim confirmed that the three WP MPs were served with a statement of claim against them by AHTC on Tuesday (July 25) evening.
“We will respond further shortly, after we have studied the claim,” she told ST.
The independent panel has the power to commence legal action on behalf of the town council for overpayments and payments without proper certification of work being done, among others. This can include mediation, arbitration and other court proceedings.
The panel’s other powers include making demands and coming to settlements on behalf of AHTC.
The Housing Board had asked AHTC to appoint a third party to recover the improper payments made from town council funds.
The independent panel appointed in February is chaired by senior counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, and comprises senior counsel N. Sreenivasan and KPMG managing partner Ong Pang Thye.
A pre-trial conference date of Aug 31 has been listed.
Besides this case, AHTC also filed another writ of summons in the High Court against FMSS last Friday.
This was in relation to an arbitration case over a financial dispute emerging from the lapses at the town council.
In light of the current saga involving the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), and the arrest of Zainuddin Nordin, the last Government-appointed president of the association, it is timely to revisit Sylvia Lim’s rally speech during the 2015 General Election.
Ms Lim, who is the Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC and chairman of the opposition Workers’ Party, spoke of how the ruling People’s Action Party “infiltrates every aspect of life” here in Singapore, including sports.
“The PAP wants Singaporeans to be dependent on them. But there is more than enough talent in the private sector to drive things,” Ms Lim said in her speech in Jalan Besar. “In fact, Singapore may be able to achieve better results if the PAP would get out of certain areas.”
She then cited the example of the FAS and how it had been headed by political appointees who were invariably PAP MPs, even as the standards and performance of Singapore football “nosedived”.
Here is the extract of her speech (watch from 4.20 minutes onwards):
Thirdly, the WP differs from the PAP because we do not think that the government should infiltrate every aspect of life. The PAP obviously thinks that they should control everything.
The PAP places government representatives in all areas of Singapore life, including sports, business and professional groups.
The PAP wants Singaporeans to be dependent on them. But there is more than enough talent in the private sector to drive things. In fact, Singapore may be able to achieve better results if the PAP would get out of certain areas.
Let’s take sports. Since we are in Jalan Besar GRC, let’s talk about football!
In the early days of Singapore’s nationhood, the Singapore football team was a force to be reckoned with on the international stage. Can you imagine that in 1966, Singapore was 4th in the Asian Games, behind only Burma, Iran and Japan? 4th in the whole of Asia, not just South East Asia!
In the 1970s, the whole nation was rivetted behind our “Boys in Blue” in their quest to win the Malaysia Cup. Everyone had football fever, not just the usual soccer fans, but even grandmothers and housewives too. I remember as a young child, diligently cutting out newspaper articles and pictures of our footballers, and keeping my own scrap book. We fought so hard and mightily, and had bitter disappointments. But finally, in 1977, Singapore beat Penang 3-2 to become Malaysia Cup champions. And I am so proud that the man who headed home the winning goal is here with us tonight, as my personal driver!
In those days, the Football Association of Singapore was headed by people who were not politicians. They were passionate about the game, and relied on their own networks to bring in coaches and technical expertise. They even poured in their own money at times to achieve their dreams.
Where is Singapore soccer today?
According to the rankings by football’s world governing body, FIFA, Singapore dropped from no. 70 in the world in 1993 to a new low this year of 157. We are classified by FIFA as one of the “worst movers” down the rankings. What went wrong?
The FAS Constitution states that all council members shall first be appointed by a government minister before being confirmed by election. For the last 20 years, the Minister has placed a PAP MP in charge of the football association. Looking at how our rankings have nose-dived over the last 20 years, is this policy working? The Sports Minister should be committing hara kiri!
I am not belittling the efforts of our current footballers and coaches. It’s the structure I’m questioning.
Now FIFA has been critically looking at the structure of FAS, as it believes officials of football associations should be freely elected. Just 2 days ago, on September 1st, FIFA told our FAS to put their internal elections on hold over possible government interference.
It is embarrassing that it takes an international body to highlight a problem that has been simmering for so long. It is time for Singaporeans to take charge of what we care about. Let our passion take us to greatness. We have done it before, and we can do it again!
Power has made the PAP more and more arrogant. They think they can tell us who should represent us – not just in Parliament, but also in sports, and even in business groups and the professions. They want to control every aspect of life. If we become totally dependent on the PAP, how can Singapore be a dynamic nation?
This election, we must bring the power back to the people. Send a strong message to the PAP that Singaporeans want to be free from their arrogance, their control, and their threats.
Deputy Attorney-General-designate Hri Kumar Nair is no longer a member of the People’s Action Party (PAP), the party said on Friday (Feb 17) in response to TODAY’s queries, although it declined to say when Mr Nair had resigned.
Mr Nair’s appointment, which will take effect next month, was announced on Thursday.
It marks the first time an ex-lawmaker will take on the State’s prosecutorial function.
As a lawyer, Mr Nair, 50, acted in a wide range of litigation and arbitration matters.
He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2008. He became Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in 2006 and later headed the Government Parliamentary Committees for Home Affairs and Law.
He served two terms before quitting politics just before the 2015 General Election, citing his wife’s diagnosis of lymphoma in 2012, which made him relook his priorities.
Lawyers and legal academics dismissed concerns about partisanship as insignificant.
However, lawyer Sylvia Lim, who is also chairman of the opposition Workers’ Party — which has been criticised by Mr Nair on several occasions, including over the financial management lapses by the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council — called the appointment “not ideal”.
She added: “It is critical that persons entrusted with vast prosecutorial discretion act in the public interest, and not for partisan political gain … Whether my concerns prove to be founded or otherwise — remains to be seen”.
Mr Nair could not be reached for comments. During his term as an MP, Mr Nair spoke on several issues and had several run-ins with the WP, including over the financial management lapses by the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council.
PMO has announced that Mr Hri Kumar, former PAP MP, will be appointed Deputy Attorney-General with effect from March 2017.
I was asked by a local paper whether I had any concerns about partisanship, given that Mr Kumar was such a strong critic of AHPETC, our WP-run Town Council.
I gave my response as follows (which I was just told would not be published due to lack of space):
“It is critical that persons entrusted with vast prosecutorial discretion act in the public interest, and not for partisan political gain. The appointment of a former PAP MP to such a post is not ideal. Whether my concerns prove to be founded or otherwise – remains to be seen”.
The People’s Association (PA) came under Ms Sylvia Lim’s scrutiny in Parliament on Wednesday (April 13), with the Workers’ Party chairman questioning its “ever-increasing” budget and whether it had drifted from its mandate, which includes fostering social cohesion.
Speaking on the first day of the debate on the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s (MCCY) budget, Ms Lim said it was understandable that the PA’s FY2015 budget was much larger than usual because of the SG50 activities that were organised and the building of facilities for residents.
However, the Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC questioned its budget for FY2016, which stands at nearly S$900 million.
“(It is) still very high… This is a significant 34-per-cent increase from FY2014. How is the high expenditure justified?” Ms Lim asked.
Turning to the PA’s mandate, Ms Lim said she believes that some of the association’s activities have deviated from its objectives, which include “fostering cohesion and bonding, and … promoting group participation that transcends sectional loyalties”.
“An unhealthy culture seems to have developed within some quarters of the PA, who see its role to include advancing the ruling party politically and undermining the work of Opposition MPs,” Ms Lim said.
She pointed to the mobilisation of PA activists to campaign for the ruling People’s Action Party’s candidates during elections as “just one aspect”.
Ms Lim said that when MPs from the Workers’ Party try to advance their residents’ welfare through infrastructural projects, they learn that government bodies, such as the Ministry of National Development (MND) and the Housing and Development Board, recognise only PA organisations — such as Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCCs) and Residents’ Committees – as the “proper channels”.
Citing an occasion when she was seeking information from the MND on plans for private-estate upgrading projects in her ward, Ms Lim said: “The ministry referred me to the CCC. I then wrote several times to the CCC, but it seems that my letters do not even merit a reply.”
A total of 24 MPs and four Nominated Members of Parliament rose to speak on the MCCY’s budget on issues ranging from helping the Malay-Muslim workforce retrain and stay economically relevant, nurturing homegrown athletes, to promoting corporate giving and volunteerism.
The debate on the ministry’s budget continues on Thursday.
