A PAP MP who lies will be out; and if innocent, must clear his name, he says
By Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 13 Jul 2013
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday urged Workers' Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang not to leave grave doubts about the integrity of his fellow MPs unresolved, following the recent hawker centre cleaning dispute.
At the heart of the issue, he said, was integrity and honesty.
"If we cannot trust a politician to tell the truth, then we cannot trust him or her to safeguard public funds, to put public interest ahead of personal gain, or to make decisions affecting the well-being and security of Singaporeans.
"This is the standard that we must hold ourselves to, and that Singaporeans have rightly come to expect from those in politics, whether in government or opposition. This is why we must take accusations of dishonesty against political leaders very seriously," he said.
Mr Lee said that if any of his People's Action Party (PAP) colleagues were accused of dishonesty - as WP MPs Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh had been - he would get to the bottom of the matter.
And he made clear the rules for his own party: "If he has lied, there is only one option - he has to go. If he is innocent, I will insist that he clear his name publicly."
And he made clear the rules for his own party: "If he has lied, there is only one option - he has to go. If he is innocent, I will insist that he clear his name publicly."
The PM's statement comes after a dramatic parliamentary exchange on Tuesday when Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan accused Ms Lim and Mr Singh of making false and untruthful statements when they tried to cover up their town council's demand for extra payment for cleaning of high areas at Bedok hawker centres.
The minister produced a dossier of what he said was "incontrovertible evidence" that a staff member of the WP-run town council, Mr Tai Vie Shun, had asked the hawkers to pay extra. Such cleaning is usually done and paid for by town councils.
Ms Lim, who chairs both the WP and the town council, denied the charges.
Dr Balakrishnan withdrew his parliamentary privilege, signalling his readiness to be sued by the two MPs if he had defamed them.
Ms Lim, who chairs both the WP and the town council, denied the charges.
Dr Balakrishnan withdrew his parliamentary privilege, signalling his readiness to be sued by the two MPs if he had defamed them.
In the House, Mr Low said he would find out who had actually asked the contractor to give a quotation for the cleaning.
But on Wednesday, he told reporters there was no need for this, as an earlier WP investigation had proven the claim to be baseless.
He also deemed Dr Balakrishnan's remarks to be personal attacks and questioned if it made for "good politics", quoting the PM's comment a week ago that the country needs to get its politics right.
Yesterday, Mr Lee said Mr Low was wrong to have done so.
He also noted that Dr Balakrishnan's statement was not his personal opinion but was that of the Government and had been approved by the Cabinet.
Noting that Mr Low had "reversed course without explanation", Mr Lee turned the argument on good politics back to the WP. "Good politics is first and foremost about integrity," he said. Mr Low's decision not to investigate was especially troubling in the light of past incidents, such as Mr Singh's plagiarism of an article.
In an oblique reference to the WP's slogan, he said of the unresolved hawker issue: "This is not how members of a First World Parliament should conduct themselves. Neither is this the sort of politics Singapore needs."
The WP last night said it will respond to the PM's statement in due course.
WP's refusal to conduct probe 'troubling'
This is in light of past incidents involving the party: PM Lee
By Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 13 Jul 2013
THE Workers' Party's (WP) refusal to conduct an investigation into the hawker centre cleaning issue is troubling in the light of past incidents, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.
This is in light of past incidents involving the party: PM Lee
By Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 13 Jul 2013
One was the plagiarism by one of its MPs last year, when Mr Pritam Singh passed off an Internet article "word for word" as his own in a parliamentary speech.
The other was the award of a contract in 2011 - without any tender - to a company owned by close WP supporters.
During last year's Budget debate, Mr Singh called for an ombudsman but failed to attribute his speech to a blogger's post written in 2008.
He later said he had the blogger's permission to quote liberally from the post.
He reiterated this in a Facebook post last night, adding: "While my conscience has always been clear on the matter, I leave the public to judge why the PAP officially raised this issue some 16 months after it took place, that too in the context of a completely separate matter."
Mr Lee, in his statement yesterday, also pointed out that the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) failed to explain why two years ago, it appointed a company owned and run by close party supporters to handle its affairs.
The People's Action Party (PAP) disclosed in May, during a parliamentary debate on town councils, that a tender was not called and the company, FM Solutions and Services (FMSS), had been appointed at a much higher price than the prevailing rate.
"Now FMSS, running AHPETC, has tried to charge hawkers extra for cleaning their hawker centres, and Ms Lim and Mr Singh have tried to cover it up," said Mr Lee.
Mr Singh, who is also the vice-chairman of AHPETC, which oversees the hawker centres involved in the cleaning row, insisted at the height of the controversy last month that no town council staff had asked hawkers to pay extra for cleaning the high areas.
These costs are borne by town councils.
This was WP chairman Sylvia Lim's position as well on Tuesday, after a dossier of notes and letters on the issue was produced by Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
He said it showed that Mr Tai Vie Shun, a property manager from the WP-run town council, had asked for it.
Dr Balakrishnan framed the issue as one about clean politics, rather than the cleaning of hawker centres.
This point was repeated by Mr Lee yesterday.
He went into detail on why integrity and honesty were important in politics, and why WP chief Low Thia Khiang's description of the charges made against his WP colleagues as "personal attacks" was wrong.
The country's success has been due to honest, upright politicians whom the citizenry can trust to "uphold the public interest, to speak the truth even when it is inconvenient, and to admit mistakes when things go wrong".
This, he said, is how the Government has built trust between Singaporeans and their leaders. If politicians cannot be trusted to tell the truth, then they also cannot be trusted to safeguard public funds or public interest.
He also said that before any minister accuses someone of dishonesty, "he must make sure that he is fully able to back up his charge".
On Wednesday, a day after the tense debate in Parliament, Mr Low said he disagreed with Dr Balakrishnan that the issue was about integrity and clean politics.
"It is market cleaning. Let's put it right and into proper perspective," Mr Low had said.
The WP's case is that the issue is a misunderstanding that arose from a "misleading" e-mail sent to the town council by the National Environment Agency on Feb 7, and from confusion over whether the discussions were about annual or quarterly cleaning. High areas do not have to be cleaned in the latter case.
Political watchers like former Nominated MP Zulkifli Baharudin said last night that the Prime Minister has a point when he framed the issue as one of integrity.
The reason Mr Lee is wading into the debate, he added, had to be seen in the wider context of how opposition supporters, especially those online, are giving credence to statements made by non-PAP politicians without much regard as to whether they are truthful.
Said Mr Zulkifli: "After this episode, the lesson is: Politicians must get their facts right, especially if they want to use it for political advantage."
HEART OF THE ISSUE
If any of my PAP colleagues is accused of lying, I will investigate and get to the bottom of the matter.
If he has lied, there is only one option - he has to go. If he is innocent, I will insist that he clear his name publicly. The matter has to be resolved one way or the other.
It cannot be left as an 'I say, you say' matter of opinion, which leaves a permanent question mark hanging over his reputation, and the reputation of my Government.
Mr Low cannot leave these grave doubts about the integrity of his fellow MPs unresolved. This is not how members of a First World Parliament should conduct themselves. Neither is this the sort of politics Singapore needs.
READ DOCUMENTS, THEN DECIDE
There are certainly people who will take that view. I think the real answer to that is, all the documents are out there, lined up. Just read them and then you can decide whether it is true or untrue. Don't form impressions before reading the documents.
Ask yourself why Mr Tai has not responded. One of the two MPs did not say a word in Parliament in response to the allegation. And they say, move on.
If a PAP MP has lied in public, I think all of you will find it unacceptable. And all of you will expect the PM to investigate, and if indeed the allegation is true, you will expect the person to resign.
I am talking about PAP MPs. That is what is expected of us, and that is the system of integrity we have run.
- Law and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam, responding to a question on how some see the Government's challenge to the Workers' Party as being politically motivated and not a question of integrity. He was speaking at a National University of Singapore forum last night
Workers' Party: Unproductive to continue arguing
All allegations fully responded to and rejected, says Low
By Toh Yong Chuan, The Sunday Times, 14 Jul 2013
Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang sought to draw a line under the long-running hawker centre cleaning saga yesterday, saying it was unproductive for his party and the PAP to continue arguing over it.
All allegations fully responded to and rejected, says Low
By Toh Yong Chuan, The Sunday Times, 14 Jul 2013
Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang sought to draw a line under the long-running hawker centre cleaning saga yesterday, saying it was unproductive for his party and the PAP to continue arguing over it.
"We have made our position known both inside and outside Parliament and the relevant documents are already in the public domain, so the public can make its own judgment on the matter," the WP secretary-general said in a media statement.
His MPs' consciences are clear, he added, and allegations against their integrity in a statement by the Prime Minister on Friday were "fully responded to and rejected" both inside and out of Parliament.
"We do not find it productive to continue debating and arguing with the ruling party over this issue," he said.
His remarks come a day after PM Lee Hsien Loong said Mr Low could not leave "grave doubts" over the integrity of his fellow WP MPs unresolved.
On Tuesday, Aljunied GRC MPs Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh had been accused by Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan of being "false and untruthful" over whether a WP-run town council had asked hawkers to pay extra for cleaning high areas in their hawker centres.
Such costs are normally borne by the town councils.
The minister, speaking in Parliament, produced a dossier of what he called "incontrovertible evidence" pointing to a WP-run town council property manager Tai Vie Shun asking the hawkers to pay extra.
Ms Lim and Mr Singh had denied this happened throughout the saga, which has hogged headlines since a Sunday Times report in April.
Ms Lim, the chairman of WP and the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), continued to insist in Parliament that her staff did not ask hawkers to pay extra.
Dr Balakrishnan also withdrew his parliamentary privilege, signalling his readiness to be sued by the pair if he had defamed them.
In the House, Mr Low said he would find out who had actually asked the contractor to give a quotation for the cleaning.
But a day later, he told reporters there was no need for this as an earlier WP investigation had proven the claims to be baseless.
In his statement yesterday, Mr Low said the WP has "put forth the facts as we have found them, based on our own earlier investigations".
"We defended our position in Parliament on July 9 with a clear conscience," he added.
The WP's case is that the issue is a misunderstanding that arose from a "misleading" e-mail sent to the town council by the National Environment Agency on Feb 7, and from confusion over whether the discussions were about annual or quarterly cleaning.
High areas do not have to be cleaned in the latter case.
On Friday, in an oblique reference to the WP's slogan in the last general election, Mr Lee had also said of the unresolved hawker issue: "This is not how members of a First World Parliament should conduct themselves. Neither is this the sort of politics Singapore needs."
Responding to this, Mr Low said the concept of a First World Parliament is not about the PAP or the WP, "but about what Singaporeans want for our country and what they believe is necessary to secure our country's future".
Mr Low's remarks drew a swift response from Mr Lee's press secretary. Calling the response a "non-statement", Ms Chang Li Lin said that it did not address the "serious charges" of the two WP MPs' making false and untruthful statements and trying to cover up the town council's wrongdoing.
These charges, laid out by Mr Lee and Dr Balakrishnan, therefore "stand unrebutted", she added.
Serious charges go unrebutted
"AHPETC's conduct in this matter has raised very serious questions of integrity and honesty. These arise both from what the town council did, and what Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Pritam Singh said. Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in Parliament and the Prime Minister in his statement yesterday pointed out that Ms Lim and Mr Singh had made false and untruthful statements, and tried to cover up the town council's wrongdoing. Mr Low's latest non-statement addresses none of these serious charges, which therefore stand unrebutted."
- Statement from MS CHANG LI LIN, press secretary to the Prime Minister, in response to the Workers' Party
- Statement from MS CHANG LI LIN, press secretary to the Prime Minister, in response to the Workers' Party
Public needs info to make judgment
THE Workers' Party has called on the public to "make its own judgment" on several occasions ("WP: Unproductive to continue arguing"; Sunday).
As a member of the public and a Singaporean, I wish to make an informed judgment based on proper understanding of the hawker centre cleaning saga.
To help me do so, I would need clarity on the following:
- WP chief Low Thia Khiang said last Wednesday that there was no need for further investigations into complaints related to hawker centre cleaning in Aljunied GRC ("Low: No need for further probe into hawker centre cleaning row"; last Thursday).
This means the party must have conducted an investigation. For the purpose of transparency and to facilitate proper understanding, it should make the details of the investigation available for public scrutiny.
- In Parliament last Tuesday, Mr Low attributed the dispute to a misunderstanding between the town council, hawkers and National Environment Agency over quarterly spring cleaning versus annual cleaning.
A day later, he said town councils have the prerogative to decide on annual cleaning schedules for markets.
There is a need to clarify if the town council had decided to carry out annual cleaning or otherwise at the two Bedok hawker centres.
From what was reported, the five-day closure at one hawker centre would have indicated that annual cleaning was being carried out, for which high areas had to be cleaned.
- The WP MPs have said that Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan made serious allegations against their integrity.
If they are so aggrieved, and since Dr Balakrishnan has waived his parliamentary privilege, why have they not taken legal action to protect their integrity?
And now that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has mentioned that what Dr Balakrishnan said in Parliament was also the Cabinet's position, there is an even greater need for the WP leadership to prove its position in order for the public to make the right judgment.
Mr Jeffrey Law Lee Beng ("Discuss national issues in Parliament"; last Saturday) said Parliament should debate national issues. Politicians' "integrity" is a national issue - and a very important one that may decide the future of Singapore.
Anthony Lim
ST Forum, 16 Jul 2013
ST Forum, 16 Jul 2013
Serious accusation shouldn't be brushed aside
WORKERS' Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang clearly stated in Parliament last Tuesday that he would find out who had asked the contractor to give a quotation for the Bedok hawker centre cleaning.
But a day later, he told reporters there was no need for further investigations ("Low: No need for further probe into hawker centre cleaning row"; last Thursday).
Days later, he said it was unproductive to continue arguing, and that his MPs' consciences were clear ("WP: Unproductive to continue arguing"; Sunday).
Former United States president Abraham Lincoln once said: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
Obviously, Mr Low knew he had made a blunder. He is a shrewd politician and plays his political card dexterously.
In 2011, when I questioned Mr Chen Show Mao's decision to participate in local politics after his long absence from Singapore ("About Chen: Time will tell"; April 14, 2011),
Mr Low was quick to rebut the "aspersions" I had cast ("About Chen: WP rebuts Forum writer"; April 15, 2011).
Thus, it is unlike the party not to disprove a serious allegation made by a minister against its MPs' integrity.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's accusation that two WP MPs were untruthful ("WP MPs 'untruthful', says Vivian"; last Wednesday) is not something to be brushed aside with the excuse that it is unproductive to continue arguing.
Benjamin Chow Kok Fai
ST Forum, 16 Jul 2013
Benjamin Chow Kok Fai
ST Forum, 16 Jul 2013
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