Hawkers' Centre Cleaning Saga : FAILURE TO FULFILL THEIR STATUTORY DUTIES

Stallholders at Blks 511, 538 and 630 were informed they had to pay for scaffolding to be erected for the washing of high areas. They never had to in the past.

Stalls at Blk 538 were closed for 5 days only to return and find the high areas not cleaned and that actual cleaning took only 1 day. 

WP MP Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap had to write an appeal letter to his own town council concerning the extra charges for cleaning. 

All three food centres are maintained by FMSS, AHPETC's managing agent. 

FAILURE TO FULFILL THEIR STATUTORY DUTIES

"pursuant to section 18(1) of the Town Councils Act, all town councils are responsible for maintaining and cleaning of all common areas, including hawker centres, in Housing Board towns".

Of lapses and weakness in governance: keeping the system clean

The AGO's Audit of Ministries and Statutory Boards

 

The audit observations in this year's report relate to six ministries, including the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Defence, and six statutory boards such as the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Nanyang Polytechnic.

The AGO, as the independent organ of state, carries out their audits without fear or favour, benchmarking their work to recognised international and professional auditing standards, and with the highest standard of fairness and objectivity.

THIS is how the integrity of our public institutions has been maintained and upheld.

All lapses must be addressed, whether significant or not. If criminality is involved, then the weight of the law will be brought to bear. This is how the system is kept clean.

In a speech on ethical leadership and tackling corruption in 2005, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said:

"IT IS A CONSTANT FIGHT TO KEEP THE HOUSE CLEAN. AS LONG AS THE CORE LEADERSHIP IS CLEAN, any backsliding can be brought under control and the house cleaned up."

But what if the failures are not just the sum of individual lapses, but pervasive and systemic, cutting across every areas like that seen in AHTC, where the CORE LEADERSHIP ITSELF fails in the enforcement of integrity and ethical values?

Can that house be cleaned up when the core leadership neither uphold nor enforce integrity and ethical values?

The answer is clear, isn't it?
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Reports on the lapses in the AGO Audit of ministries and stat boards can be read here:
http://bit.ly/2anitTa
http://bit.ly/2aHoj0u
http://bit.ly/2aecfGa
http://bit.ly/2aqDJc6

Breaking their silence finally: TI-SG

 

FINALLY, The Independent-Singapore (TI-SG) finally broke their silence on the KPMG's report on AHTC.

And they gave the only defence they could think of for AHTC: PAP has not taken up the CPIB challenge. LOL

They hope that with that charge, they can continue to fool people who read only the alternative. But how long can they continue to fool the people?

Currently WP is taking protection from the Town Council Act which renders MND powerless to compel any information from them. But all that will soon change by the end of this year. (http://bit.ly/2apPsGa)

TI-SG isn't the only one employing this line of defence. Sylvia Lim used it.

So did Low Thia Khiang at a rally during last year's general election. He had maintained that if there were any wrongdoing at AHPETC, the CPIB would have been involved.

His comments drew a swift response from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

[ Singapore must have higher standards for its politics than those of some opposition politicians who seem to believe that if they are not in jail, they must be doing okay, Mr Lee said.

His comment came shortly after Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang argued at a rally over in Hougang that the lapses at the Aljunied- Hougang-Punggol East Town Council were not investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and that was a sign that there was no wrongdoing.

PM Lee objected to the way that "when people do something wrong, they don't fix it, they don't admit it, they pretend it doesn't exist".

"And then sometimes they say, 'Well, I haven't been sent to jail. If I've done something wrong, I should have gone to jail. I'm not in jail, so everything is okay'.

"I think, if your standard for politics is that the people who are in politics should not be in jail, then I think Singapore is in very serious trouble," he said, adding: "We must have high standards for politics."

The questions politicians should ask themselves are whether they are doing the right thing and serving Singapore well, he said.] ST 3 Sep 2015

The Damning Report from KPMG: 4th Progress Report

For as long as anyone can remember, the accounts at Workers' Party-run town council has been in a mess. But now we discover that it is in fact in a much bigger mess that we thought based on the latest KPMG report.

AND YET, Pritam Singh is still NOW telling people that his town council will award the contract for a new Town Council Accounting System "shortly".

Can you imagine that?! They still have not put in place a credible accounting system!! They didn't get down to work after the special audit by AGO?

Where is their accountability and sense of responsibility? And honesty?

"PERVASIVE" was the word KPMG used to describe the lapses.

In addition to the 115 control failures identified by the special audit carried out by AGO, KPMG has identified another 70 control failures!

And KPMG concluded that unless its town councillors and senior management “set the right tone at the top”, and clearly define the standard of competence and accountability it expects from employees, the lapses could not be fully remedied.

It starts with the leadership at the top.

 “Highly irregular” methods were used to process over $60 million worth of payments.

That's not a small amount. 

AHTC also extensively used manual journal entries to record payments to third parties. There were over 48,500 such manual entries involving more than $60 million from 2011 to last year. This avoids records being entered into accounts payable, thus circumventing financial controls.

Temporary clearing accounts  

There are 18 temporary clearing accounts used for more than one million transactions were not cleared swiftly. Why do they need so many temporary clearing accounts?

Dummy Vendor Code 

 

Look, we are not dummies.

After the special audit by AGO that identified over 100 control failures, instead of introducing measures that eliminate those failures, AHTC introduced a dummy vendor code in 2015 that resulted in another control failure.

Should we say, "Well done, Workers' Party"?

The use of this dummy code meant duplicate or fictitious payments could be made without being detected.

In its conclusions, KPMG noted that that the town council’s lapses could not be fully remedied unless its town councillors and senior management “set the right tone at the top”, and clearly define the standard of competence and accountability it expects from employees.

“The Control Failures are pervasive, cutting across the key areas of governance, financial control, financial reporting, procurement and records management over the course of five years,” the audit firm said in its report.

 “We are of the view that there is an issue larger than the sum of individual lapses and that these Control Failures point to a failure in AHTC’s control environment.”

Can the leaders at the top set the right tone? That is a big question.

How much do you trust Sylvia Lim, the Chairman of Workers' Party and co-chairman of their town council?

Sylvia Lim has been caught lying - without batting an eyelid - more than once. She lied to voters. She lied to reporters. She lied in Parliament. She has been described as a liar by Justice Quentin Loh.

Did it bother her? No. 

What about the current chairman of the town council, Pritam Singh? Can he set the right tone at the top? 

There's one thing we can learn from Pritam Singh and that is the art of making himself look good. 

After mounting great resistance to MND's quest to appoint independent accountants to look into ALL past payments made by AHPETC, and after haggling much over the choice of accountants and having lost every argument and having to choose one of the Big Four as independent accountants - and the choice fell on KPMG - Pritam Singh said in a media release that AHTC had instructed KPMG to identify all transactions made to FMSS and FMSI … and to flag out any payment(s) deemed improper.

Really? AHTC instructed KPMG? KPMG would be doing that anyway, with or without that instruction. That's KPMG's mission.

Oh, but didn't Sylvia Lim argue in Parliament last year (February) that payments made according to contracts are not over-payment? Nothing improper according to Sylvia Lim. Looks like Sylvia Lim was wrong after all. Tsk tsk!

But if Pritam Singh is serious about straightening the mess at AHTC, why did he refuse to share documents with PwC, the independent accountant for Punggol East? 

He even sought to use the Court to avoid this sharing of documents by claiming duplication of work. He probably hoped the Court would agree with him so that he needn't share any documents with the accountants of Punggol East.

 "AHTC is of the position that two accounting firms – appointed by two different town councils – are effectively duplicating each other’s work and funded by public purse in reviewing the accounts of Punggol East ward," Pritam Singh said in Court.

How interesting!

Pritam Singh is complaining of a situation created by AHTC.

They created this situation where work is duplicated and unnecessary costs incurred because they rejected HDB's advice to jointly appoint accountant.

They created this situation when they rejected PRPTC's proposal to jointly appoint KPMG.

AHTC also refused to attend meetings the HDB had called to coordinate the work of the two accountants. 


After hearing arguments, CJ Menon said KPMG and PwC (accountants for Punggol East) should communicate directly with each other and "afford each other such access as may be reasonably required to safeguard each party’s interests".

In short, they will by-pass AHTC in their communication. AHTC is a hindrance to their work.



How about Png Eng Huat then? He is a co-chairman of the town council. 

The story of the very bad durians tells us that this man cannot rise above petty politics and lies. Can he set the right tone at the top? Obviously not!

You can read the story here: http://wpinreview.blogspot.sg/2016/07/the-story-of-very-bad-durians-look-whos.html

Like Minister Shanmugam said in his response to the latest KPMG's report, the rot is at the top and we are not surprised!

Doing what they do best: Crowing

Doing what they do best but in the natural course of things, the sun will still rise even if the cock does not crow.

Before there was Workers' Party Manifestos 2011 and 2015, there was the New Rail Financing Framework in 2010.

The Downtown Line is already on this framework but no opposition politicians seemed to notice this.

There was no media release by WP to comment on the rail financing framework back in 2010. Was it because they had not conceived any idea at that time? Haha

The story of the very bad durians: look who's lying and stirring!!

So Png Eng Huat claimed they waited for HOURS to clear immigration. But ICA records showed that he was there for 30 MINUTES!

Tsk tsk!

#LiesHaveAShortLifespan

https://www.facebook.com/Immigration.Checkpoints.Authority/posts/293786104304644

But uppermost in Png Eng Huat's mind was how to post a one-sided rant on facebook that will make Singaporeans angry and discredit Tan Chuan Jin and the PAP.

So much so that he completely lost the initiative to approach immigration officers to inquire if the 89-year-old resident and the injured elderly resident who stood in line could be allowed to clear immigration first.

But perhaps he did not have the initiative to begin with?

So what's the lesson for us here? The lesson for us is that it matters who leads the group. It matters who your leaders are. 

So much stirring by Png Eng Huat in one post. Should we say 'Kudos' to him?

So the 'HOURS' of waiting everyone had to endure turned out to be 30 minutes for Png Eng Huat. Not even one hour.

With 400,000 travellers that pass through our checkpoints on a normal day, and considering the more careful checks being done in view of tightened security, that 30 minutes' wait to clear immigration is considered fast and efficient.

But according to Png Eng Huat, there was CHAOS, ANGER and CONFUSION at the checkpoint. You believe him?

To believe him is to insult Singaporeans.

#overheard
In any case a delay of half an hour is hardly an intolerable imposition. Unless of course one has a political interest in pretending that it is so.
- Bilahari Kausikan

And then when Png Eng Huat is caught lost for words by the response from Minister Tan Chuan Jin, he tries to wriggle out of a very bad situation he created.

Can Png Eng Huat of Workers' Party try not to entangle himself in his own words? At least make up his mind what the issue is?

But alas, the flip flopping has begun, as swiftly as Mr Png moved to respond to ICA's status.

The post was not about himself, he said. It was also not about the Minister, he said.

The issue was not about the Minister, he said.

He thinks it is reasonable for the Minister to be given special clearance.

And yet, and yet, he said to media (ST reports), " 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.“

Clearly, it pissed him off that the Minister was given special clearance instead of having to queue for 30 minutes like he did.

Oh, it's an issue of inequality, he said. 

 "I have an issue with inequality," Mr Png clarified.

In the earlier first rant, he wrote, "... we are supposed to enjoy a day of fun TOGETHER. No one should be accorded more 'fun'."

Is that why it did not occur to him to seek help from immigration officers to allow his elderly 89-year-old resident and the elderly injured resident to clear immigration faster?

Because like anyone else, these two elderly residents must have 'equal fun'.

Hey, that's equality of treatment for you. Everyone queues, regardless!

Finally, he cried: I'm also at the receiving end of hate!

 

20 busloads of people travelled with Minister Tan.

19 buses joined the normal queue. There were volunteers and grassroots people on the 19 buses too. They took care of the residents, saw to their comfort and needs and ensured every resident reached their destinations safely.

ICA facilitated the clearance for Minister Tan and his security officers who were carrying their firearms, as well as the residents and volunteers who were with him on his bus.

If everyone is like Png Eng Huat who likes to split hairs, then the volunteers, grasssroots members and residents on the 19 buses that joined the normal queue should be complaining about 'inequality' too.

Fortunately not everyone is a Png Eng Huat.

Having stirred hate and anger, Png Eng Huat acts like a victim and lamented that he was also on the receiving end of hate and anger.

The Law of the Harvest is always true. We reap what we sow.

Mr Png sowed anger and hatred. What did he expect to reap? Love and warmth?

The art of looking good by Pritam Singh

AHTC is of the position that two accounting firms – appointed by two different town councils – are effectively duplicating each other’s work and funded by public purse in reviewing the accounts of Punggol East ward.

How interesting!

Pritam Singh is describing a situation created by AHTC.

They created this situation where work is duplicated and unnecessary costs incurred because they rejected HDB's advice to jointly appoint accountant.

They created this situation when they rejected PRPTC's proposal to jointly appoint KPMG.

AHTC also refused to attend meetings the HDB had called to coordinate the work of the two accountants.

How did this outing at the Appeal Court arise?

HDB said that AHTC had refused to give PRPTC access to documents for it to carry out its review of Punggol East's accounts.

For more than 7 months AHTC had dragged their feet and given excuse s for not giving PwC access to the necessary information.

It added that AHTC also requested that HDB first apply to the Court of Appeal to clarify whether PRPTC was bound by the court order to audit Punggol East's books.

HDB said that it had applied for Friday's hearing, given AHTC’s position and the impending Aug 31 deadline for the report on AHPETC’s past payments.

After hearing arguments, CJ Menon said KPMG and PwC should communicate directly with each other and "afford each other such access as may be reasonably required to safeguard each party’s interests".

In short, they can by-pass AHTC in their communication.

Following the direction given by CJ Menon at the hearing, HDB said it expects AHTC and PRPTC to do "all that is necessary to facilitate the work of the accountants, KPMG and PwC," in carrying out the orders of the court.

References:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/duplication-of-work-on/2941594.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/cooperate-over-punggol-easts-accounts-apex-court

http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/accountants-should-work-together-to-look-into-punggol-east-accounts-prptc

Half-truths and Pritam Singh: duplication of work by independent accountants

Let's set out the truth clearly.

HDB had suggested that both the PAP and WP-run town councils jointly appoint the independent accountant to AVOID DUPLICATION OF EFFORT, COMPETING ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS AND INCURRING UNNECESSARY COSTS.

AHTC's response to that suggestion?

They rejected the proposal.

So PRPTC had to appoint their own independent accountant because they are also bound by the same judgement to review PE's accounts and they are accountable to their residents. They appointed PwC.

Having rejected the proposal for joint accountants, Pritam Singh is now complaining of duplication of work?

Why didn't he agree to jointly appoint KPMG in the first place?

The Court of Appeal ruled that Pasir Ris Punggol TC has an interest in the outcome of the work done by KPMG.

Whatever that Pritam Singh was hoping for, he did not get it in the Court of Appeal.

The Court directed that PwC and KPMG will now communicate directly with each other, bypassing AHTC.

So after more than 7 months of denying PwC the requested documents, PwC will finally be given access to those documents.

And.....for Pritam to use the excuse that there is duplication of work in order not to share documents when Pritam was the one who rejected the proposal for joint accountant to avoid duplication of work ....that is 'suppresio veri suggestio falsi'.

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Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/FabricationsAboutThePAP/photos/a.245735922149090.70599.213440582045291/1056739517715389/?type=3&theater

Reference: http://bit.ly/29vibbF

The art of making yourself look good

After mounting great resistance to MND's quest to appoint independent accountants to look into ALL past payments made by AHPETC, and after haggling much over the choice of accountants and having lost every argument and having to choose one of the Big Four as independent accountants - and the choice fell on KPMG - Pritam Singh said in a media release that AHTC had instructed KPMG to identify all transactions made to FMSS and FMSI … and to flag out any payment(s) deemed improper.

Really? KPMG would be doing that anyway, with or without that instruction.

So why didn't AHTC do that right in the beginning before MND resorted to court action to require the appointment of independent accountants to do that?

Oh, and didn't Sylvia Lim say that payments made according to contracts are not over-payment? Looks like Sylvia Lim was wrong after all. Tsk tsk!

Duplication of work by independent accountants

The Court of Appeal has instructed PwC, the independent accountant appointed by the PAP TC to straighten Punggol East SMC's accounts, to COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY with KPMG, the independent accountant appointed to look into AHTC's accounts.

This ends months of AHTC denying PwC requested documents necessary to sort the accounts.

What it means is that PwC does not have to talk to AHTC to request for information. The independent accountants from the two accounting firms now talk to each other, by-passing AHTC.

Not necessary to duplicate work, Pritam says? Pritam Singh should let Singaporeans know how such a situation arose.

PRPTC had in the beginning asked AHTC to JOINTLY APPOINT KPMG as independent accountant, but AHTC had rejected that request.

As the party elected to take care of Punggol East, the town council has a duty to its residents to make sure that their interests are well taken care of, including how monies that they had contributed through S&CC are spent.

PRPTC appointed its own independent accountant when AHTC rejected PRPTC's request to jointly appoint KPMG as independent accountant.

PRPTC: Pasir Ris Punggol Town Council
AHTC : Aljunied Hougang Town Council

Low Thia Khiang challenged!

For the first time, 59-year-old Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang faced a contest for the post of secretary-general on Sunday 29 May.

Fellow MP in Aljunied GRC, Chen Show Mao mounted a challenge for the post.

Sources say Mr Low retained his seat with 61 votes to Mr Chen's 45.

The Independent-Singapore self-exposed!

Well, The Independent-Singapore did a self-exposed and confirmed that they are not independent after all. Haha

Time for a name change?

Pritam Singh's being misleading about transfer of Sinking Fund from PRPTC to AHPETC

Looks like Pritam Singh of WP also did the 'suppressio veri suggestio falsi'

Omission of details to give a false impression. Tsk tsk !!

He said that after the Punggol East by-election in January 2013, PRPTC transferred S$10 million a few months later. The final instalment of Punggol East’s sinking funds was transferred to AHPETC in September 2014, some 20 months after the by-election.

By omitting details of the transfers, he gave the impression that the transfer was slow and in many instalments over 20 months period.

The truth is that EIGHTY PER CENT (80%) of the Sinking Fund was TRANSFERRED WITHIN 4 MONTHS OF HANDOVER DATE.

It's been more than 4 months since handover by WP after GE2015, and Workers' Party's AHTC has only transferred back $10 million in sinking fund to Punggol East.

See also: https://www.facebook.com/S.Zainal/posts/10209662716543850

Still not credible after more than 20 years

Mr Low Thia Khiang said at the start of the 13th Parliament that no political parties can transform itself into a credible party overnight.

We can agree on that.

Except that Workers' Party is older than independent Singapore. It was founded in 1957. And Mr Low has been a Parliamentarian since 1991.

"More than 20 years" is a long time. It is definitely not 'overnight'.

After more than 20 years running a town council and making Sinking Fund transfers, Workers' Party still does not know how to compute the correct amount to transfer to the Sinking Fund, nor does it know the correct use of monies in the Sinking Fund.

Workers' Party still needs to be shown the ropes.

The PAP was formed in November 1954. Five years later it formed the government and proved itself again and again.

End of the Blame Game?

For the past few years since WP-run town council failed their first financial audit, it had been one blame game after another by WP.

First it was AIM's fault, then it was the fault of CPG, the previous managing agent, then MND's fault, HDB's fault, and not to forget, PAP's fault.

But eventually the game came to an end and it all boils down to WP's lack of competence, lack of due diligence and lack of honesty.

But while the game was still going on, the then chairman of the town council, Sylvia Lim had gone from one lie to another and it's just amazing how a person can lie so often with such a straight face.

In their first monthly progress report on AHTC, KPMG identified a number of root causes for their troubles.

These are:
AHTC’s governance framework and policy management;
AHTC’s accounting practices;
AHTC’s Finance Department’s capability and management personnel retention;
The Accounting System used by AHTC to record and account for its transactions.
The root causes cover practically everything - from governance to practices to people to system.

 http://www.ahtc.sg/links/2016/04/201604-KPMG-Monthly-Report-on-Progress.pdf

Shocking when simple things like monthly closing of accounts are not done.

Workers' Party ought to be really thankful to MND and HDB for their insistence on independent accountants from one of the Big Four to straighten out their accounts for them instead of putting up such a huge resistence in the beginning, wasting time and taxpayers' money, playing victim and calling it politically motivated.

Sylvia Lim had declared at that time that they did not see any need for independent accountants.
If you read the 42-page first monthly progress report by KPMG on AHTC, you will have to conclude that Sylvia Lim is really clueless. 

More than a year after the AGO Report on AHPETC was released in Feb 2015, NOTHING MUCH WAS DONE to improve the situation despite Sylvia Lim repeating to media that they had put safeguards in place.

It takes accountants from KPMG to go in before AHTC finally co-operates and things get started.
This makes you wonder if WP see the seriousness of the financial mess at their town council. Did they recognize that there is a mess, in the first place? It also makes you wonder at their lackadaisical approach in handling public monies. Where's that sense of responsibility and accountability?

It is disclosed in the first monthly report from KPMG that monthly closing of the accounts was NOT PERFORMED. Isn't that shocking?

Monthly closing of accounts is required of all small businesses to ensure that financial records are balanced before the start of a new month.

And at the start of KPMG's commencement of their work at AHTC, there was no Finance Manager!

 http://www.ahtc.sg/links/2016/04/201604-KPMG-Monthly-Report-on-Progress.pdf

Safeguards in place. MND to release grants.

WP-run AHTC is the first town council in Singapore that cannot be trusted with public funds and requires independent accountants to co-sign large payments.

MND says it will release the grants to the town council because it is satisfied that safeguards are now in place to ensure the proper use of the money.

The safeguards include appointing independent accountants, setting up segregated bank accounts to receive the grants, and getting the accountants to sign off on large payments from the accounts.
The independent accountants are from KPMG.

Meanwhile Punggol East SMC has not received the full amount of sinking fund due to them from AHTC.

MP Charles Chong said $22.5 million in sinking funds had been handed over to the WP-run town council in 2013, after the opposition party won Punggol East in a by-election that year.

But AHTC has so far transferred back only an "interim amount" of $10 million in sinking funds.
The exact amount owed is still being worked out, he said.

WP declines invitation to attend a public hearing on the Elected Presidency

What kind of party is Workers' Party? A party that is interested in working with the government to better the lives of Singaporeans or a self-serving party?

It is in their manifesto 2011 to abolish the Presidency.

Yet when invited by the Constitutional Commission on the Elected Presidency to attend a public hearing where they can make oral representation and provide clarifications on their written submission, they DECLINED.

They intend to debate the matter in Parliament instead.

They could attend the public hearing to make oral representations and clarfy their position which will be very helpful in the review of the Elected Presidency AND STILL debate the matter in Parliament.

So why does WP not want to attend the public hearing on such an important matter?

One is reminded of how Sylvia Lim also declined to attend 'Our Singapore Conversation' to share their ideas for a better Singapore. At that time she said that WP had a different platform to air their views and that platform was Parliament.

Workers' Party expect to debate in Parliament, to ask questions and to be given answers. Yet in Parliament, they refused to answer questions. Pritam Singh famously said that he would answer only to his residents. And Chief Low Thia Khiang had risen to Pritam's defence and said that he did not see any need for his MPs to answer questions in Parliament.

During the general election in 2015, Workers' Party was invited to a free flow spontaneous unedited election debate organized by 'inconvenient questions'? The debate was attended by PAP, SDP and SPP. Inconvenient questions went out of their way to invite WP but WP declined to join this no holds barred debate.

WP is at its best when it comes to taking credit, this time benefits for single mothers.

Staying true to taking credit. That's what WP and their proxy The Independent-Singapore just did. Tsk tsk

Others have gone before you, planted and watered, and time has given the increase! It is the collective effort of many.

We must ourselves be good role models before we can teach others about ownership and taking responsibility for our environment.

Daniel Goh wants R&D distributed in heartlands

 THIS is the best that university professor and NCMP from WP Daniel Goh can do.

He said that science parks run the risk of becoming “enclaves”, with innovation taking place separated from the rest of society, and are “mega-ivory towers” surrounding universities such as the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University.

He thinks that Jurong Innovation District, by virtue of its exclusive urban design, would become a high-tech island detached from the rest of Singapore.

Therefore he asked that R&D labs etc be decentralized and spread all over Singapore in the heartlands. In that way, innovation will be all over Singapore.

When a university professor presented a fallacious argument in Parliament...

Wonder who sat behind Sylvia Lim and got hit by the piece of paper that she crushed and threw behind without looking in a demonstration of her tantrum in Parliament.

That day there was a need for a cleaner to pick up litter from the floor in Parliament.

Workers' Party opposed the bill to empower community volunteers to book those who litter.

Daniel Goh employed the slippery slope argument to back their opposition.

It goes something like this. Today you empower volunteers to book people for littering in the neighbourhood, tomorrow you will be empowering volunteers to book people for improper recycling in the bins downstairs, next you will be empowering volunteers to book people for this, for that,....etc. Next thing you know, we have become a police state!

He said the slippery slope is very real.

No, it isn't. We call his argument a 'slippery slope fallacy'.

It is a fallacy because there is no reason to believe that empowering volunteers to book litterbugs will INEVITABLY lead to the chain of events he claimed.

Tsk, tsk.

Want to recognise the slippery slope fallacy in Daniel Goh's reasoning?

Read here: http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/slippery-slope.html

Photo credit: Fabrications About The PAP

Setting the record straight

A CNY event organized by the PAP team at Eunos got WP's CEC member Kenneth Foo Seck Guan so upset that he ranted on his facebook and made a baseless allegation about taxpayers' money being used.

And then The Independent Singapore, proxy for WP, jumped in to help publish his rant UNDER THE GUISE of a WP supporter.

Why can't WP at least be honest about who they are instead of pretending to be a ignorant supporter making a false allegation?

We know Kenneth Foo Seck Guan is no supporter. He is part of WP's CEC and also stood for election as WP's candidate for Nee Soon GRC.

The CNY event was a success and a grateful Mr Chua Eng Leong has thanked all patrons, partners and grassroots leaders for their support in helping to bring joy to a few hundred needy residents.

The Independent Singapore caught lying again!

Proxy for WP, The Independent Singapore, founded and run by Leon Perera, has done it again.

This time to make a baseless allegation and a lie.

First, the event was NOT funded by taxpayers' money. Mr Chua Eng Leong had to raise funds for the event. Patrons and sponsors were happy to contribute to this event because 400 pioneers and needy residents were invited. Additionally, the event is also funded by PAP charity arm called PCF (PAP Community Foundation).

The Independent claimed that the allegation was made by a WP supporter.

Kenneth Foo Seck Guan is NOT a WP supporter. He IS a member of WP's CEC and a treasurer, Aljunied Constituency Committee. He was also WP's candidate for Nee Soon GRC. How could it be that The Independent does not know?

Making baseless allegations is very easy. It is definitely not the alternative to putting in the effort to raise funds to organize activities that can benefit their residents.

Leon Perera's The Independent Singapore caught misleading their readers.

Once again, The Independent Singapore (TISG), founded and run by Leon Perera of Workers' Party, attempts to mislead their readers with a misleading status and a false headline.

The status gives the impression that the Marine Parade MPs have redrawn their ELECTORAL boundaries after the election while the headline screams 'blatant lawlessness'.

This isn't what a responsible opposition would do. Wonder why the proxy for WP is doing that.

Let's get the facts straight.

Under the law, every MP in a GRC has an equal responsibility for the whole GRC and not only of a particular ward.

Within a GRC, MPs have the discretion to sub-divide the constituency among themselves and give names to the INTERNAL SUB-DIVISIONS, sometimes informally known as wards.

The purpose of such internal divisions is to enable the MPs to better serve the residents. And this was exactly what the MPs of Marine Parade GRC had done.

This isn't even anything new. And this isn't something that only PAP MPs can do.

#honestyisthebestpolicy
#ahalftruthisawholelie
#farfrombeingcredible

Reference:
http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/dream/politics/ref/grc1.html

WP, where do you stand?

I refer to Mr Low Thia Khiang’s letter <<With the big picture in mind>> published in Zaobao on 12 Feb 2016. In his letter, Mr Low goes to great lengths to repeat WP’s criticism of the NCMP scheme, portraying it as a scheme designed to get opposition to endorse the PAP.

However, Mr Low fails to address properly the fatal flaw in WP’s stance on the scheme. If the WP truly believes that NCMP seats are second class and that the scheme benefits only the PAP, why does it continue to accept the NCMP seats?

Mr Low claims that WP did so because it believes that a responsible party should work within the system. To this end, he even cited how Mr Lee Kuan Yew contested in the 1955 general election held in Singapore under the Rendel Constitution despite openly criticising the Constitution as undemocratic.

It is true that the PAP did not support the Rendel Constitution. How could it, when it was fighting to overthrow British colonialism? But the PAP and Mr Lee Kuan Yew never pretended that it wasn't worth participating in the legal, constitutional process. Nor did they put down their positions in the Legislative Assembly as Mr Low did when he said that being an NCMP was equivalent to being duckweed. On the contrary, Mr Lee accepted his limited position in the Legislative Assembly then to build up the PAP to eventually take over the govt.

The PAP is not objecting to the WP's position on the NCMP scheme. It is objecting to the sheer hypocrisy of its behaviour -- saying one thing and doing another; and speaking from both sides of its mouth. The actions of WP’s leaders today cannot be compared to the actions of that of PAP’s leaders in 1955.

If WP is serious about its promise to build up an alternative political force, it will do well to emulate the actions of the PAP pioneers.

First, WP can do so by acknowledging that WP is accepting the NCMP seats because it benefits them and their ultimate goal of expanding their political influence. Mr Low should not deny that Ms Sylvia Lim made good use of her “duckweed status” between 2006 and 2011 to help WP win a GRC in 2011. Mr Low should also not deny that WP is even now benefiting from the NCMP scheme as it can profile three of its young leaders in parliament.

Second, it cannot be the ruling party’s responsibility to give the opposition ground for them to grow and bloom. Through the NCMP scheme, the Government has already done its part to provide for diversity in parliament in accordance to the wishes of the voters. It is up to WP to reap the ground and convince voters to allow WP to sink its roots in constituencies. It is not impossible for the opposition to gain ground, as WP proved when it won Aljunied GRC in 2011.

In conclusion, Mr Low Thia Khiang can continue to try to muddle the issue, but actions speak louder than words. A gentleman’s action is true to his beliefs, WP’s action of dismissing the NCMP scheme as a PAP ploy while accepting NCMP seats is that of a hypocrite’s.

Low Thia Khiang: Principled or self-serving?

So, in 2011, to register his strong opposition to the NCMP scheme, Mr Low Thia Khiang declared he would resign if forced by his party - Workers' Party of which he is the leader - to take up a NCMP seat.

But in 2016, he declared it his DUTY as the leader of Workers' Party to nominate the next best volunteer when the elected NCMP was unable to take up the seat.

What do you make of that?

A man so strongly opposed to the NCMP scheme that he would rather resign than take it up himself, but he also considered it his duty as the leader of WP to nominate people to fill the NCMP seat.

Principled or self-serving?

The answer is very obvious.

"In light of the Government’s proposal to increase the number of NCMPs (from nine to 12) and for them to have the same voting rights as elected MPs, the WP should not permit its members to accept NCMP seats when offered in future...... It will also make the WP’s objection to the NCMP scheme principled and not self-serving." - Associate Professor Eugene Tan, SMU

See also: 

https://www.facebook.com/notes/singapore-matters/say-what-you-mean-do-what-you-say/935590879860639