The AHPETC Saga

The Aljunied-Hougang- Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) Saga continued to be at the fore of the campaign in General Election 2015 (GE2015) this week.  

The People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Worker’s Party (WP) traded barbs based on fresh revelations from official government sources about the finances of the town council.

On 29 August, Ministry of National Development (MND) revealed among other things that in the financial year (FY) 2012/2013, FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) made a net after tax profit of S$510,904 while its own client, AHPETC’s operating finances suffered a deficit of $1.5m. In FY 2013/2014, the net after tax profit increased to $2,035 784 while AHPETC’s operating finances suffered a deficit of $2.0m.

“Such levels of profit margin are abnormal” stated MND, and “as AHPETC was FMSS’ only client, these findings support MND’s concern that the Town Council had overpaid FMSS excessively”.

MND Minister and Chairman of PAP Khaw Boon Wan commented that the contract awarded by the Worker’s Party to FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) “was an arrangement to reward their supporters and friends,” which has led to “very sad outcomes” for their residents.

On 3 September Law Minister K Shanmugam added that WP had dodged explaining itself; that its auditors were not able to sign off on any of the town councils’ accounts because of missing documents; and that WP would only discuss the matter in rallies because the WP members know they “couldn’t be asked questions” in that setting.

The PAP played the issue as a matter of principle, arguing that the character and competence of would-be MPs is a matter of national importance.

On the other hand, the WP used the AHPETC Saga to paint a picture of the PAP acting like bullies. On 3 September, Its Secretary General Low Thia Kiang accused the PAP of engaging in “dirty politics” and smearing his party over the town council’s financial management lapses.

Earlier in June 2015, Sylvia Lim responded with a post on the party website to address what she stated were four myths of PAP’s allegations:

1. The WP did not use the AHPETC to reserve contracts for friends. The contracts were awarded only after open public tenders were called for in 2012, and that since there were no other bidders, WP was a price-taker for managing services.  It has also done so in 2014 and 2014.  The only exception had been in the time just after the General Election, for one year and FMSS had taken the contract at short notice where such a waiver is provided for under the Town Council Financial Rules.
2. WP had over-paid its Managing Agent. The rates charged by its Managing Agent (MA) took into account the rates paid to PAP’s MA for Aljunied previously and factored in a few extra costs.   The tender was accessed by three different auditors and none of them said that WP did not exercise due diligence in assessing the tender price.
3. The FMSS did not get blank cheques from AHPETC. Mr Png Eng Huat, Mr Pritnam Singh or Ms Sylvia Lim countersigned payments to FMSS. So payments were queried, some claims were rejected.
4. Contrary to the PAP’s claims, the AHPETC is not in financial difficulties and is more than capable of fulfilling the resident’s needs.  There were significant but necessary expenses in the initial years for infrastructural development but now administrative expenditure and that on energy meant that deficits in FY 2014/2015 would be more than made up for if MND were to release its annual operating grants of $7.2m.   AHPETC would then be in surplus of $1.7m.

Additionally, while Mr Png acknowledged that the town council had two years of qualified accounts when the government had withheld its grants, he contrasted that with the People’s Association that had six years of accounts rated as “adverse” but still received government grants that increased by almost $38m. Mr Low said that this evidenced the double standards of the PAP.  

Low told the crowd during the Hougang rally on 2 September that “in Singapore, if we had committed any criminal offence, we would already been thrown in jail!” To which Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Secretary General of the PAP responded at a Tanjong Pagar GRC Rally by referring to “certain parties” who say “well I haven’t been sent to jail…so everything is okay”. He commented that if this was the standard that Singaporeans set for politicians “then I think Singapore is in very serious trouble”.

On 3 September, PAP heavyweights Mr K Shanmugam and Mr Khaw Boon Wan responded to Ms Sylvia Lim’s comments on the AHPETC issue during the WP’s first rally on Wednesday with a point-by-point “factsheet”. Mr K Shanmugam also accused the WP of trying to “run away from the issues” citing how “the High court had said that Ms Lim had misled parliament and was dishonest”. PAP has continued to press the WP to answer ‘important questions’, on payments to FMSS. The next day, Mr Low of WP said that he was “getting tired” of PAP’s incessant questioning on the matter of AHPETC and the ruling party was “going in circles” as the WP had already responded to its challenges.

On 31 August, when Sylvia Lim and Png Eng Huat announced that the accounts for the AHPETC would be in surplus for the financial year ended 31 March if MND would release the operating grants to them, MND reminded that it was unable to disburse public funds due to adverse assessments by the Auditor-General’s Office and the High Court and because it continues to be in breach of its duties and obligations in law. Earlier on 2 July, the Straits Times reported that independent auditors Audit Alliance, hired by the AHPETC were unable to verify its accounts for the third year running as it was “not able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion”.

On 31 August, the New Paper also reported that FMSS had sent a legal letter of demand to the AHPETC for the $3.5m owed to it for services provided between April and July this year. Sylvia Lim described it as “a normal course of events” where disputed claims would be settled through a mediation process in October as provided for by the contract between the two entities.

The Road to Greece

Holland-Bukit Timah GRC anchor minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan launched his first salvo against the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) led by its Secretary General Dr Chee Soon Juan that is contesting against him stating that SDP’s policies would set Singapore “on the road to Greece”.

Minister Balakrishnan said “it was the duty of my team to awaken Singaporeans to the dangers of such policy prescriptions” as the minimum wage, raising of personal income taxes for the top 1% and increased social spending.

Speaking at a press conference on 2 September, Dr Chee responded by saying that Dr Balakrishnan “should look at his own party’s track record when he talks about policies of tax and spend”. Dr Chee also said that the PAP had criticised the SDP’s policies, but adopted them later, citing the minimum wage model, the pooling of healthcare risks and priority for Singaporeans when it comes to employment.

Fellow SDP running mate Dr Paul Tambyah, criticised Dr Balakrishnan’s remark saying that it was a “red herring”. He added that “healthcare is essential to the defence of Singapore, and the amount that we propose to reduce the defence budget (by) is miniscule as it would still leave Singapore’s defence budget as far in excess of all the ASEAN countries put together” in order to improve healthcare provision. SDP’s policies were a reallocation of Singapore’s defence budget to healthcare reform, rather than a case of the government’s “uncontrolled overspending”.

Dr Balakrishnan in a sharp rejoinder pressed Dr Chee for the specific details of the SDP’s tax and expenditure plans. In a Facebook post termed “awkward questions”, he questioned Dr Chee on the source of funding for his policies, as well as the specific details of his tax and expenditure plans. Dr Balakrishnan also referred to the SDP’s plans to cut $5.75 billion from the defence budget as irresponsible especially given the current global and regional climate. Finally, Dr Balakrishnan also took issue with the SDP’s claims that its healthcare policy is modelled on the French system, asking Dr Chee to explain how much the French rates of taxations differ from the rates that Singaporeans are currently paying.

The Rooster Debate

On 2 September, the WP detailed its contribution to policy formulation.  It argued that ideas from its 2011 manifesto on public transport, housing and foreign labour had been adopted by the Government, posting the comparisons on its website.

Anticipating this argument, Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong contesting Marine Parade GRC had likened such claim to the fable of the rooster which crows when the sun rises on 27 August when he was introducing the PAP team contesting there – WP was “the rooster that goes around boasting that its crowing causes the sun to rise”.

On 2 September, PAP’s Lee Hsien Loong said that the opposition’s claim that a bigger opposition presence was the reason for policy tweaks was a strange logic. His said that if people vote for the opposition even when the government improves and does well, it makes the government confused. He added that the way that it has always been is that if the government does well, people should give the incumbent party their support.

To add, he pointed to the Opposition’s “disappointing” performance in Parliament saying that they were voted in to be “a tiger in a chamber”, but ended up being “a mouse in the House”. WP’s Mr Low responded describing his party as a “responsible” one that does not turn parliamentary sittings “into a theatre”. Mr Low also sought to turn the tables by accusing the PAP of having “flip-flopped” on policies, citing the changes that the PAP had made in its Population White Paper after it triggered a public outcry.

Borrowing the fable of the rooster used by ESM Goh, WP’s Central Executive Council member Yee Jenn Jong, candidate in Marine Parade said at their 2 September rally that the role of the WP rooster was to “wake up the sleeping government”. He reiterated that a strong Opposition is needed as it is dangerous for the country to be run by just one “A- Team”.  Mr Chen Show Mao who had previously been accused of being very silent in Parliament said that it was challenging to be a rooster in Singapore as it was a problem if it was noisy and if it was silent.

The parties started conducting mass rallies with the PAP launching in its spiritual home, Tanjong Pagar GRC which had been held from 1955 by Mr Lee Kuan Yew and had not been contested since 1991. Likewise with WP that held its first rally at Hougang SMC with similar symbolic significance for it as it was the constituency where WP’s Mr Low first became MP.

As of 4 September, the PAP had held three rallies, the Worker’s Party two, the Singapore Democratic Party one, and the Singaporeans First party, one rally.

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Top photo by Edwin Koo for Mothership.sg