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Tag: WP

  • Kenneth Jeyaretnam: WP Helped PAP Kill Democracy In Singapore

    Kenneth Jeyaretnam: WP Helped PAP Kill Democracy In Singapore

    I note lots of bloggers and activists putting out the Hansard of the contempt bill. This is mindless propaganda. Any bill is going to get passed BECAUSE of decades of WP leadership undermining parliamentary democracy by ensuring that PAP always have a 2/3 majority.

    WP are no heroes here. Speaking in parliament about a bill they know is going to be passed is a no risk situation for them. As is every move by WP.

    If we had seen any action from WP before this bill was posited or indeed fierce objection to any amendment of the constitution over the past decades then they would have a right to preach.

    By ensuring the status quo can never be challenged they have killed our democracy.

    Stop wasting your words. PAP will, can and do make anything they chose into Law.

     

    Source: Kenneth Jeyaretnam

  • New Law Meant To Deter Public From Expressing Views, Says WP

    New Law Meant To Deter Public From Expressing Views, Says WP

    The Workers’ Party (WP) slammed the Administration of Justice (Protection) Bill in Parliament yesterday as its members unanimously voted against it, with party chief Low Thia Khiang accusing the Government of “double standards” when it comes to fair comment on cases before the courts.

    Speaking in Mandarin, Mr Low said the real purpose of the new law — which was eventually passed with 72 votes for the Bill and nine against — was not to protect the fairness of judicial proceedings, but to “deter members of (the) public from voicing their views, although they may be reasonable and legal”.

    The new law, he said, would effectively give the Government or minister “unlimited rights”, such that “whatever statement which a member of the public makes can be considered as contempt of court”.

    “Yet, when it (comes) from the mouth of the minister, it becomes completely legal, so long as the Government can say that this is in public interest,” Mr Low said, referring to a provision under the new law that would allow the Government to make a statement on a case if it is deemed necessary for public interest.

    “The question is: What is in public interest? There’s no clear indication in this Bill, so who decides? Of course the Government decides,” he said.

    He added: “This is double standards, giving the Government all the rights but not the people … The court has become the Government’s tool to suppress freedom of speech and to deal with the people opposing the Government.”

    The newly passed Administration of Justice Act consolidates key elements of the law of contempt into statute.

    Until now, contempt was based on case law, and was not a criminal offence.

    Under the new law, the main types of contempt are disobeying court orders, publishing material that interferes with ongoing proceedings, sub judice and scandalising the court, such as by accusing a judge of bias without basis.

    Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC), who is chairman of the party, said the existing contempt of court law “already protects the due administration of justice”.

    “The law is to be found in case law, and has worked well thus far. I have seen no evidence of law inadequacy,” said Ms Lim, adding that she has not come across courts recommending the need for more protection in this regard.

    Asking if the Ministry of Law was “chasing shadows”, Ms Lim pointed out that Law Society’s president Thio Shen Yi was “strongly criticised” by Law Minister K Shanmugam for commenting on the Benjamin Lim case, but public officials such as Mr Shanmugam “could make statements”. Benjamin, 14, was found dead shortly after returning home from a police interview over an alleged molest case, and his case sparked much public discussion.

    “Has he (Mr Shanmugam) been facing accusations that he acted in contempt of court, and wants a blanket licence to say what he likes?” charged Ms Lim.

    The WP parliamentarians were also concerned that there was insufficient public consultation before the Bill was introduced in Parliament on July 11. Ms Lim pointed out that the Bill was put on the Reach website — where the public can provide feedback — a day after it was tabled.

    Non-Constituency MP Daniel Goh felt the new law would undermine people’s trust in the Government. Pointing out that trust is a “two-way street”, he said he would like to be able to “express fair criticism and fair comment on events of public interest” that concern him.

    Responding, Mr Shanmugam dismissed the argument that the new law clamps down on free speech. “It doesn’t really affect what (people) can do or what they have been doing. Unless they want to think in terms of going public and attacking witnesses and judges, and trying to get certain results from the court,” he said.

    He reiterated that the sanctity of the judiciary had to be weighed against “some people’s desire to launch personal attacks against judges”.

    “Remember, those who attack the judges fall within a wide spectrum — from the idealistic, to those who are constitutionally sour, to those who are outright dishonest,” he said.

    Responding to NCMP Leon Perera’s suggestion that the Government was trying to rush the new law through, Mr Shanmugam said: “I didn’t know you’ll consider six years a rush to legislate. It is slow by the Government’s standards.”

     

    Source: TODAY Online

  • AGO Report Flags Several Ministries For Lapses

    AGO Report Flags Several Ministries For Lapses

    When two universities failed to recover tuition-fee and study loans given to their students within a specified period,the Ministry of Education (MOE) did not take the necessary follow-up actions promptly.

    Called out for its lack of oversight in administering schemes and programmes such as scholarship bonds and study loans, the MOE was one of 12 government bodies whose lapses were flagged by the Auditor-General’s Office’s (AGO) annual audit of the public sector.

    Others cited for lapses in the AGO’s 61-page report, made public on Tuesday (July 26), included the Defence Ministry (Mindef) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

    The AGO report highlighted four areas that public sector entities should improve on: Inadequate financial controls; weak governance of public funds; lack of oversight of external entities; and lapses in management of contracts.

    As of June 30 last year, the two universities — National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) — saw an outstanding balance of loans totalling S$228.04 million. For 23.3 per cent — 27 out of 116 — of the outstanding loans audited by the AGO, recovery action was delayed by one to 3.5 years.

    The report found that the MOE was not prompt in following up on long outstanding loans to ensure that the banks had taken adequate recovery actions. It also noted discrepancies among records of loans in default kept by the MOE, the universities and the banks. The MOE was also rapped for lapses in monitoring and enforcing bonds related to scholarships disbursed by the two universities.

    The universities lagged in sending out letters of demand to half of the scholars — 16 out of 30 test-checked — who were not serving the required bonds, with delays of up to 26 months.

    The MOE over-contributed S$4.14 million over nine years to NTU’s sinking fund for replacement of MOE-funded buildings and facilities, a sum that the ministry said on Tuesday had been recovered.

    In a statement, issued following the release of the AGO’s report, the MOE said it is working with the universities and banks to ensure prompt follow-up of loans in arrears. It may allow borrowers facing financial hardship to defer repayment of monthly instalments or temporarily reduce the amount payable in some cases. It added that measures are also in place to reduce default on scholarship bonds — such as working with government agencies to track bond service records — noting that many of the lapses flagged were from “earlier graduation batches”.

    Default rates have come down significantly over the last three years, said the MOE, adding that 1 per cent of international scholarship recipients had intentionally defaulted.

    As for the HDB, the AGO noted that final payments to contractors totalling S$37.62 million were delayed for up to 3.3 years — a move it described as an “unfair business practice” since it could have hurt the contractors’ cashflow. The HDB said it will implement new processes, such as a tracking system, to ensure that delayed accounts are brought to the management’s attention so that final payments can be made promptly.

    The AGO also found inadequate monitoring of car parks at industrial and residential estates, which allowed motorists to use the facilities without being charged. Of five industrial car parks audited, the AGO found 243 instances where the motorists, on multiple occasions, had manipulated the electronic parking systems to allow another vehicle to exit the car parks for free, such as through tailgating.

    Mindef was cited for investing S$50.26 million in a United States real estate investment trust exchange-traded fund without approval from its board of trustees. It also failed to provide Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions on bonuses paid to members on the Savings and Employee Retirement Plan.

    According to the AGO report, Mindef said that it had since obtained approval from the board of trustees for the investment, and will make the required CPF contributions — amounting to about S$324,000 for 215 members — by next month.

    Other government bodies chided for lapses included the Land Transport Authority, whose weak controls over toll collection at checkpoints resulted in under-collection of S$13.9 million; and the Law Ministry for lapses in its handling of deceased persons’ assets received from nursing homes. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was taken to task for continuing to subscribe to phone lines that were no longer needed, resulting in wastage amounting to S$80,744.

     

    Source: TODAY Online

  • Normal Practice For Ministers To Be Given Expedited Clearance At Checkpoints: ICA

    Normal Practice For Ministers To Be Given Expedited Clearance At Checkpoints: ICA

    It is normal practice for the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to give expedited clearance to ministers, ICA said on Tuesday (July 19) in response to media queries.

    ICA also confirmed that Minister for Family and Social Development Tan Chuan-Jin was travelling with 20 bus loads of people, who were his residents and grassroots leaders, on Sunday (July 17) when he, his security officers and the other passengers in his bus were given clearance, without having to queue, at the Tuas Checkpoint at around 9.20pm.

    The passengers in the other 19 buses were cleared through the normal channels, ICA added.

    “It is normal practice for ICA to give expedited clearance to Ministers, on both sides of the Causeway as well as members of the Malaysian royalty,” ICA said.

    “Where they travel with others in a group, ICA officers will use their judgment on the clearance process,” it added.

    ICA’s response came a day after Workers’ Party MP Png Eng Huat commented on his Facebook that he was “dismayed” to see a lane for immigration clearance specially opened for Mr Tan and his residents. Mr Tan is MP for Marine Parade GRC.

    Mr Png said in a post on Monday (July 18) afternoon that the Singapore customs was “overwhelmed” when he and some residents were returning from a one-day trip to Desaru on Sunday. Mr Png is MP for Hougang SMC.

    “Many tired travellers were relieved to see another counter opened but to their dismay, it was only to allow Minister Tan Chuan-Jin to clear as he had joined his residents for a day of outing and fun too,” he said.

    He said that most people probably did not mind this, as “being a minister does come with privileges”, but he noted that some others in the group with Mr Tan also did not have to queue.

    “An entourage of grassroots leaders and members with shopping bags in tow also enjoyed the privilege of fast clearance… No one else could use that counter,” he said.

    Mr Png added that an 89-year-old resident in his group, and one who was injured during the tour had to wait in line.

    “The chaos, anger and confusion at the Tuas Immigration check point certainly made us forget how bad the durians were yesterday, and how bad the system needs to change,” he concluded.

    According to ICA, records show that Mr Png was at the checkpoint for about 30 minutes, and was cleared through immigration.

    When contacted,  Mr Png said that the issue was not about Mr Tan given expedited clearance, but the fact that the grassroots people travelling with him were also given special treatment. “ICA sees it fit to state that I waited about 30 minutes to clear customs. I am sure the Minister would not mind waiting 30 minutes for the rest of his travelling companions to clear customs as well”, he added.

    Another Workers’ Party politician, Kenneth Foo, also wrote about the incident on his Facebook page.

    Mr Png’s post had been shared more than 600 times by Tuesday morning.

    Netizens debated the incident in the comments under the post, with some defending Mr Tan and others saying that grassroots leaders should not be given special treatment.

    Meanwhile, Facebook group Fabrications About The PAP gave an explanation for the incident.

    It explained in a Facebook post on Monday night that Mr Tan was on a semi-official trip. He then chose to join his residents for a Johor Baru tour and take the bus with them instead of driving in.

    “It was a semi-official visit and his security officers carried firearms. Thus, his whole bus of residents was cleared at the same time,” said the post.

     

    Source: The Straits Times

  • Damanhuri Abas: A United Malay Community Will Bring Out The Best In The Community Itself

    Damanhuri Abas: A United Malay Community Will Bring Out The Best In The Community Itself

    In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. A blessed gathering in a blessed month during the most blessed period on the night of the last 3rd of the month of Ramadan.

    A simple graceful event bringing cross party representatives of the Malay community exploring collaboration and synergy to offer alternative and complementing approaches in addressing economic, educational and social challenges faced by the Malay community in Singapore. A pledge of commitment to serve the interest of the Malay community and celebrate the community’s strength in full cognizant of a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious Singapore. So much potential and opportunity when we focus on what unify us and our inherent strength within, rather than adopt a partisan antagonistic attitude.

    The Malay community today is blessed with many capable and talented groups and individuals from all strata of the community and the wider society eager to come forward to contribute towards the growth and prosperity of the community. Several have already begun and made amazing contributions and sacrifices to help the vulnerable and lesser off in the community.

    A vision of a strong and vibrant Malay community with deep rootedness to our culture and history yet progressive, embracing the diverse talents from all segments of the community from the Professionals, the Small businesses, to the Youth, the people in Arts and all ranks and file of the community. Harnessing the best within to produce the best the community can offer itself and the wider Singapore society. Majulah Singapura untuk Semua.

     

    Source: Damanhuri bin Abas