State-controlled media refused to publish letter that may harm image of Aristocrats

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Here's a reproduction of a letter that has been rejected for publication by one of our state-controlled media.

You judge for yourself the reasons for the rejection.

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(This letter was rejected for publication by ST)

Our taxpayers must be distressed to read your report “Auditor-General flags conflicts of interest” today.

Without fail, the annual AGO Report will detail a long list of inexcusable financial lapses by our public bodies. If lessons from past lapses were learnt, why this never-ending sorry state of affairs?

Our Civil Service is operated by public funds, which are the people’s hard-earned monies collected through numerous taxes and dues.

I am a Pioneer Generation citizen who still pay various taxes, like GST and property tax. Recently, I had spent a big chunk of my retirement savings on Open Heart Bypass and Double Cataract surgeries. I next worry about facing another hefty hospital bill from getting, say, prostate cancer.

Younger Singaporeans, already burdened by our high cost living and numerous taxes, will also not like being called upon to pay more taxes to make up for such lapses involving hundred thousands and millions of taxpayer monies.

This year’s AGO Report covered the lapses at four ministries and 11 statutory boards, which include the Health and Education ministries, People’s Association (PA), National Parks Board, National Library Board and Infocomm Development Authority.

The PA debacle is particularly disturbing.

An unnamed Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC) Chairman in Admiralty ward under Sembawang GRC (headed by MND Minister Khaw Boon Wan) had approved his own claims totalling $114,767, with no supporting documents for three payments.

He was also involved in approving the award of two contracts worth $32,000 and payments to a company where he held a senior management position.

Another CCC member involved in the approval of one contract was also a shareholder and director of the same company.

Both the Chairman and CCC member did not declare their interests in related-party transactions, leading to no assurance the transactions were conducted at arm’s length.

The AGO also found that 35 of the 91 community club centre management committees checked did not get relevant approvals for 53 tenancy contracts totalling $17.78 million.

Ironically, Minister Lawrence Wong, a PA Board Member, had in a ST Forum letter last month, strongly chastised the duly-elected Opposition MPs as follows “The Worker’s Party’s handling of this (AHPETC) saga speaks volumes of its dishonesty.”

Our taxpayers have every right to ask these rightful questions. While the Opposition-run AHPETC was ordered to appoint independent auditors on its alleged financial lapses, why was the PA allowed to get away with issuing its own “investigation panel report” just proclaiming “no dishonesty” were uncovered?

Why was the name of PA CEO Ang Hak Seng also conspicuously absent in all the news reports on the financial lapses ?

In a truly First-Class Civil Service, there must be transparency, accountability and no room for handsomely-paid but nameless and faceless senior civil servants.

It now remains for Head of Civil Service Peter Ong to personally issue a public apology with credible assurance that such persistent financial lapses will be nipped in the bud once and for all.

Additionally, the written responses to the AGO Report by the public bodies for submission to Parliament must henceforth be issued in the names of the respective Permanent Secretaries of ministries and CEOs of statutory boards — and not as hitherto, where the buck is passed all the way down to unnamed junior civil servants.

David L K See

The writer is a 67-year old native-born S’pore Citizen who had completed full-time National Service. For his Open Heart Bypass Surgery, he had to pay the PAP-proclaimed “heavily subsidized and very affordable” amount of $8,000 as a SGH Class B2 patient(6 bedded ward, no aircon).

Source: http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/07/24...porting-by-st/


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