Rilek1Corner

Tag: Tony Tan

  • SDP Urges President Tony Tan To Revoke Lucien Wong’s Appointment As AG

    SDP Urges President Tony Tan To Revoke Lucien Wong’s Appointment As AG

    The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has refused to look into Dr Lee Wei Ling’s and Lee Hsien Yang’s allegations that PM Lee Hsien Loong had abused his powers and made false statements in Parliament.

    In its reply to the SDP on 21 July 2017, the AGC said that it “does not undertake investigations into the matters alleged in the letter. The persons who are the subjects of any criminal offence alleged to have been committed may lodge a police report.”

    This is a curious, if not altogether hypocritical, stance. The AGC recently indicated that it would “look into” Mr Li Shengwu’s private Facebook posting which criticised the judicial system even though there was no mention that anyone had made a police report against Mr Li.

    Surely, if the AGC could “look into” private Facebook messages, it can look into the serious accusations of the abuse of power by the Prime Minister.

    Also, in 1997, then AG Chan Sek Keong had investigated the matter of Mr Goh Chok Tong and other ministers entering polling stations on voting day even though they were clearly not authorised to do so.

    As in the 1997 incident, the “persons who are the subjects” of the alleged offence are the people of Singapore. If AG Chan – despite his inane answer that Mr Goh and company had not committed an offence as they were inside the polling station and not waiting outside it – could investigate the incident, surely AG Lucien Wong can investigate the present matter.

    The added problem, of course, is that AG Wong was the PM’s personal lawyer prior to his appointment. This crucial fact was not disclosed to the public at the time the appointment was made.

    Given the situation, the SDP has written to President Tony Tan to revoke Mr Lucien Wong’s appointment. Under Section 22(1) of the Constitution, the President is empowered to do so.

    Mr Lucien Wong was sworn in as AG on 16 January 2017. However, the fact that Mr Wong was the PM’s personal lawyer was revealed to the public only in June 2017. The President may not have been aware of this fact or its full implications.

    The association of Mr Wong with PM Lee prior to his becoming the AG has created an acute conflict of interest which cannot be ignored. It is important that President Tan does the right thing in the interest of the people of Singapore and revoke Mr Lucien Wong’s appointment as AG.

    Any further delay or refusal to act will cause even greater erosion of confidence in our public institutions.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • SDP: We Repeatedly Warned About UBS Investment

    SDP: We Repeatedly Warned About UBS Investment

     

    The recent announcement that the GIC stood to lose in excess of $5.6 billion comes as no surprise. The Swiss bank had been plagued with problems and the SDP had warned on at least five separate occasions against the GIC investing in it.

    1. As early as 2009, the SDP warned:

    “Either Dr Tony Tan (who was the GIC’s executive director then) knew about the developments and problems that UBS was facing and chose to ignore them, or he had no clue that trouble was brewing in and around the bank. Which is worse?” (link)

    2. We repeated the warning one month later:

    “The GIC put in US$10 billion into UBS which later announced a US$19 billion write-down. UBS admitted to helping to defraud the US Government and was made to pay substantial amounts in fines. Is this how our best and brightest in the Government practice due diligence?” (link)

    3. Dr Chee Soon Juan cautioned a third time that year:

    “The latest revelation is that Citi, UBS, Merrill and Barclays had all invested in the Bernie Madoff scam. Mr Madoff ran the biggest Ponzi scheme in corporate history and duped his investors to part with nearly US$50 billion of their money. In fact UBS is being sued in France by a wealth management company for its involvement in the Madoff madness.” (link)

    4. When UBS got into further financial trouble in 2010, the SDP again sounded the alarm:

    “But instead of learning from its mistakes, Mr Ng Kok Song (then GIC’s Chief Investment Officer) doubled down and said in 2009 he that he still had ‘confidence’ in the ‘long-term prospects’ of the investment. This confidence seems quite misguided.” (link)

    5. In 2011 during the Presidential Election, we raised the matter yet again:

    “Either (candidate) Dr Tony Tan knew about the developments and problems that UBS was facing and chose to proceed by putting money into it anyway, or he had no clue that trouble was brewing in and around the bank. Whichever it is, the incident does not back up Dr Tan’s boast that he is the experienced guardian with the ability to, in his words, see ‘the dark clouds over the horizon coming on.’” (link)

    These warnings, however, fell on deaf ears as the GIC continued to pour money into the troubled bank only to belatedly cut its losses 10 years later.

    The recklessness and incompetence of this government has resulted in a massive loss of billions of dollars of the people’s money. As Chairman of the GIC, PM Lee Hsien Loong cannot remain silent on this matter.

    A public inquiry is wholly appropriate and necessary at this juncture.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • President Rejects Plea For Clemency By Death-Row Inmate

    President Rejects Plea For Clemency By Death-Row Inmate

    The President has just replied :

    That he will not direct a constitutional court to be convened under Article 100 of the constitution.

    Be that as it may , he can still cancel the Warrant of Execution on the advice of the Cabinet.

     

    Source: Ravi MRavi

  • 3 Things SAF Can Do With The Returned Terrexes

    3 Things SAF Can Do With The Returned Terrexes

    Finally, the PRC government is returning our Terrexes to us. They had so much time with the Terrexes that they probably copied every inch of it and are already manufacturing battalion-sized Terrexes somewhere in China now.

    So what do we do with the Terrexes? Here are our suggestions:

    1. Deploy the Terrexes to ferry people in times of another inevitable MRT disruption. More specifically, they could ferry the very old and very young to their next destinations. Have you seen the crunch that people get themselves into when trying to get on the bridging bus services? With the Terrexes, no one will dare get in their way.Disruption 1Disruption 2
    2. Set them up to provide joy-rides at the Istana, at every public holiday open house. The Istana is sprawling. The children will love the adventure.Open House
    3. Display them in the Army Museum. The best way to learn and progress is to learn from mistakes made in history.Army Museum

     

    Any better ideas?

     

    Rilek1Corner

     

  • 45 Singaporean Students Graduate From Al-Azhar University

    45 Singaporean Students Graduate From Al-Azhar University

    CAIRO: As religious extremist groups increasingly turn to social media to entice youths to join their ranks, young Singaporeans who graduated from the prominent Al-Azhar University in Egypt on Tuesday (Nov 1) said they see themselves as having a unique position to address and refute these extremist views.

    “As a graduate of Al-Azhar university, I feel that yes, I do have a role to play and in teaching, in educating the masses that Islam is not an extreme religion,” said class valedictorian Nur Diyana Zait, who said she planned to pursue a career in education after graduating, “to educate young children, to continue to inspire and also to empower women”.

    “I dream to spread the true teachings of Islam and give the best idea of Islam, and to share whatever I have learnt here,” added 25-year-old Aufa Muhammad Sidqee, who studied philosophy and Islamic Creed, and also plans to go into teaching once he returns to Singapore.

    Mr Aufa and Ms Diyana graduated on Tuesday night, in a ceremony where Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam, who is on a state visit to Egypt, was the guest of honour.

    There are 45 Singapore students graduating from Al-Azhar University this year – one of the centres of Islamic learning in the world, and described by some as the “Oxford of Islamic studies” – with degrees in Islamic law, theology or Arabic language and literature.

    Singaporean students at the graduation ceremony. (Photo: Kenneth Lim)

    “You now represent the next generation of leaders for the Muslim community,” Dr Tan told the students at a reception after the ceremony, where he wished them continued success in their endeavours.

    The President added that he was confident the students would “continue to promote racial and religious harmony in Singapore”, something he described as “precious and should be treasured.”

    Many of Singapore’s Muslim leaders graduated from Al Azhar, including former and current Muftis. The university accredits the certificates of four madrasahs in Singapore, and has awarded scholarships to Singaporean students over the past decade. While most Singaporean Al-Azhar graduates become religious teachers in madrasahs, others have joined non-governmental organisations or worked as translators in foreign embassies.

    “They (the graduating students) have an important role to play,” said Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim, who also attended the graduation ceremony. “They will be operating in Singapore (and) they command a certain respect in our community.

    “They should use that respect wisely, to help guide the community towards the outcome that we want, which is a community that is inclusive and is well-integrated with the wider community.”

    PRESIDENT TAN MEETS RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL LEADERS FROM EGYPT

    On Monday, Dr Tan met the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al Tayeb, one of the most prominent figures in Sunni Islam. The two leaders discussed ways to counter religious extremism and the importance of promoting inter-faith dialogue – key tenets of the institution’s philosophy.

    The President also visited the Al-Azhar Observatory for Foreign Languages – which seeks to correct misconceptions of Islam that youths may have picked up online. The centre monitors extremist messages in nine languages, including English, Mandarin and Urdu, and refutes them using its own online platforms.

    Ambassador Abdel Rahman Moussa, Al-Azhar’s chairman of the Department of International Student Affairs, said the school’s main concern was to “teach the real Islam”.

    This, he said, would help explain to youths “the proper thoughts and proper ideas”, and how extremist ideologies are false and do not have any connection with Islam, Muslims and the Islamic cause.

    On Tuesday, Dr Tan also met Egypt Prime Minister Sherif Ismail at the Office of the Cabinet of Ministers in Cairo. The Prime Minister briefed the President on Egypt’s economic development plans and reform programmes, and said he welcomed investments from Singapore from companies in various sectors such as port and logistics, water desalination, as well as urban solutions.

    Dr Tan, who wraps up his state visit on Thursday, said during the meeting that there was scope to strengthen economic relations, as Singapore companies explore opportunities in Egypt.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com