Why The Reform Party is a Joke ... to be blunt!

Why The Reform Party is a Joke!

Since his outburst at the Singapore General Elections 2015, Kenneth Jeyaretnam has been busy attacking Singaporeans as well as the Government every chance he gets. In his famous post-GE comments to the media, Kenneth called Singaporeans cowards for not having the courage to vote for him. Kenneth was recorded as saying “What I see are similar margins in North Korea and China, it’s just like the Chinese Communist Party. And I guess Singaporeans get the government they deserve, so I don’t want to hear any more complaints.”

In his most recent post on The Reform Party’s Facebook page, Kenneth Jeyaretnam continues his illogical attacks on the Government and its policies. This time, Kenneth took issue with the use of the character “Yuan” in our schools’ Chinese textbooks. According to Kenneth, our Chinese textbooks should use “dollars” instead of “Yuan”.

This is where we say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. If Kenneth had made an effort to even Google the word Yuan, he would have found out that Yuan actually means dollars and is not exclusively used for the China currency which, incidentally, is known as the Reminbi. Perhaps Kenneth is so blinded with rage that he sees conspiracies and wrongs in everything. Not surprising, the States Time Review, helmed by Alex Tan carried Kenneth Jeyaretnam story.

On a side note, we are happy that more Singaporeans are beginning to see through the lies that Kenneth Jeyaretnam and Alex Tan perpetuates. Kenneth’s continued outbursts only further discredit him.

We sometimes wonder why Kenneth cannot be more like his brother Philip Jeyaretnam who serves the Government of the day and who was even appointed to the Public Service Commission by the President.

WP Lee Li Lian Snubs NCMP Seat

Of Duty to Country vs Personal Gratification

So it is confirmed. Lee Li Lian has vacated her NCMP seat.

When asked, she posted a photo of her swimming (supposedly in a condo) with her cute baby in her FB and said: “… I understand that the procedure is for me to be absent twice before a Motion can be moved to have someone take up my place … Catching up on family time in a serious way! Have an awesome weekend.”

Noble thing for any normal mum to do. But she is not normal. She carried the hopes of more than 15K voters who voted for her, and was given a chance to represent them as NCMP so that their voices can be heard. She dropped them like a bomb.

She is not the only young mum in Parliament.

Tin Pei Ling just gave birth. She continued to work hard pre-GE, during GE and post-GE.

Sun Xue Lin has a daughter. She spent whatever time she has with her before attending Parliament. Not to mention Ms Sim Ann has three young children and she continues to pound her estates aggressively (as seen in her FB post).

There is choice here for women, a difficult choice. Ironically, as Sylvia Lim aptly said in her FB yesterday evening: “Women for Good! There are still not enough women in Singapore politics. As mothers,  daughters, wives and as equal citizens, our contribution is vital to Singapore’s well-being.”

Li Lian got an opportunity, but she dropped it as quickly as she lost the GE. It is as if she wanted to lose and then gave “noble” excuses about the NCMP scheme. That is crap. If she did not want to serve, then don’t run. When you run, you are responsible to your voters. Worst, she vacate her seat and gave the opportunity to lesser men (in terms of vote shares) in her Party.

Maybe the truth is, after 5 years of MP allowance and doing nothing much, she now have enough money to tide over the next five years. We may see Li Lian again 5 years later when her money runs out and the MP allowance will be useful again.

AHPETC High Court Appeal - Pritam Incompetent or Dishonest?

I have been closely following the court case as, like many of my friends, we had high hopes for the WP to be the alternative to the PAP. Sadly, the WP imploded with its mismanagement of its Town Council and, in my opinion, this contributed significantly to their dismal performance at GE2015. Whether it was incompetence or financial impropriety, AHPETC is the albatross hanging around the heads of Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh.

From the newspapers reports, I learnt that  Ajunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) nominated an essentially one-man operation called Business Assurance to be the accountant to solve their many problems.  HDB asked some questions presumably because it has concerns about the company’s capabilities. The TC declined to reply and referred the issue to the Court. Last week, the Court directed the TC to provide more information on Business Assurance.

I am really surprised that AHTC chose this company because if they had bothered to ask around in the industry, they would have discovered some interesting facts about this one-man operation owned and managed by Alex Chai Chon Fatt. Being an accountant, I am aware that it is fairly common knowledge among many of us in the industry that Alex Chai has failed his Practice Monitoring Programme (PMP) and that he is restricted from conducting audits of companies for a period of 1 year. In fact, this is the second time that Alex Chai has failed his PMP.

For those that are unsure about what the PMP is, the PMP is the regulatory instrument to promote audit quality. Audit quality is the cornerstone of market confidence in the reliability of the financial information upon which the market makes capital allocation decisions. The PMP provides quality assurance to the market through ascertaining whether public accountants have complied with the prescribed auditing standards, methods, procedures and other requirements. This assurance gives users of financial reports increased confidence in audit opinions.

Did Pritam Singh know all this when he selected and nominated the firm? If he did, he was pulling a fast one to mislead HDB and the Court. If not, he has been sloppy because there is every reason why he or his GM should have conducted due diligence checks to ensure that the company is in good standing before selecting and nominating them. They would have found out if they had asked Business Assurance directly because I don’t think Alex would lie about failing the PMP and is under restriction as these are unavoidable facts.

I eagerly await the unfolding drama in Court this week. MND and HDB will definitely be aware that Alex Chai is no longer qualified to conduct the audit. In fact, a quick Google check will tell you that since 14 Nov 2014, Alex Chai had joined Transcorp Holdings as its financial controller. So what is the WP and Pritam Singh up to?  If you ask me, it is likely that Pritam  will now waste the Court’s time by giving some excuse to avoid answering the question directly as to whether they knew or whether they didn’t bother to conduct basic due diligence checks on  Business Assurance and Alex Chai’s professional standing before selecting and nominating it.

BTW while I cannot confirm this, I also heard talk in the industry that AHTC’s latest auditor was Audit Alliance and its senior partner, Lee Tai Wai had also failed his PMP. 

AHPETC - WP Misleads Public with Creative Headlines

The Worker’s Party continues to mislead the public with their creative headlines.

LIES

In an amazing announcement, Pritam Singh, Chairman of Aljunied Town Council (AHTC) announced that the "AHTC welcomes the Court’s rejection of the submission of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (representing MND & HDB) that AHTC’s conduct of its defence during the course of the hearings at the High Court and at the Court of Appeal was egregious and somehow improper.”

In their subsequent statement published on their own website, the WP claims that “at the hearing on 7 January 2016, AHTC, the Ministry of National Development (MND) and the Housing & Development Board (HDB) have been ordered to bear their own legal costs.” The WP also claimed that they welcomed the “the Court’s rejection of the submission of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (representing MND & HDB) that AHTC’s conduct of its defence during the course of the hearings at the High Court and at the Court of Appeal was egregious and somehow improper.”

REALITY

Firstly, the Court usually requires litigating parties to bear their own costs. So by arguing that the WP had won as the HDB and MND had to bear their own cost, is the same as saying that HDB and MND had also won as WP had been ordered to bear their own legal costs. It makes no sense.

Secondly, MND and HDB never asked for carte blanche to look into AHPETC’s financial affairs. In fact, AHTC had tried and failed to get the court to prevent the appointed independent accountant from looking into FMSS and FMSI. The High Court had in fact extended the authority of the independent accountant to look beyond FMSS and FMSI if it is necessary to recover money lost.

TRUTH

What we can say is that the WP is skilled in the art of manipulation. They realise that people seldom read beyond the headlines and as long as they push out misleading headlines, they will win war of public perception. In order not to be deceived, and to see the WP for what they really are, we urge Singaporeans to take a second look at what they are saying, and then to verify the facts.

The Workers Party Manifesto

The Workers' Party (WP) manifesto constantly espouses the need for the ruling government to be transparent and accountable to Singaporeans. Unfortunately, to the WP, the concept of transparency and accountability only applies to the Government and not themselves. 

One only needs to look at the way the WP and its members behave to know the values that they hold. For example, on the WP Facebook page, the WP openly states that they will delete any posts that violates their principles of being rational, responsible and respectful. However, when a WP supporter violates their stated principles, Daniel Goh does not follow his own rules. These double standards extend beyond this Facebook example to the now infamous statement by Pritam Singh where he says he will not answer to Parliament.

Singaporeans need to assess for themselves the character of opposition members like Pritam Singh and Daniel Goh. They say that if I can't even trust you with the small things, how can I trust you with the big things. A Manifesto should not only be words on a piece of paper. It should be a document whose principles and values you live by.

Hep-C Outbreak: WP Flip Flops on the Call for COI

Wow! It is amazing how a few weeks and perceived changes in public perception influence the Workers’ Party’s (WP) position on matters.

When the Hep-C Outbreak was made public, the WP was adamant that the Government convene a Committee of Inquiry (COI). To the WP (then), nothing short of a COI was good enough to get to the truth. Not even the formation of an Independent Committee of Inquiry (IRC) which included international experts from the US and the World Health Organization. This resulted in a very public to and fro between the WP, the Ministry of Health and the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

Fast forward to this week and the release of the Independent Review Committee’s (IRC) report where procedural failures by nurses was cited as the cause of the outbreak. Suddenly, when no Government conspiracy or cover-up was found and sympathy fell on the nurses working at the hospital, the WP switches tack and accepts the IRC’s report as adequate. To the WP, a COI is no longer necessary.  To add insult to injury, WP’s Daniel Goh smeared the ruling party by saying that the WP’s flip-flop was a pragmatic approach used by the governing party. And this, in Daniel Goh’s opinion, is the key success factor in Singapore politics.

As we reflect on WP’s actions over the Hep-C outbreak, we are reminded of the adage that if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. It is very clear to us that the WP is a party that has no clear values or positions on matters regarding Singapore or Singaporeans. Their value, as they see it, is to simply attack the Government for the sake of being an Opposition.

For Singapore to reach SG100, what the country needs is constructive politics by reputable opposition who care for Singapore and Singaporeans. Unfortunately, the WP is not that party.

AHPETC - Punggol East Accounts

The WP's AHPETC has, as we expected, has been unable to hand over an audited (and unqualified) account of the Punggol East Town Council. The following is the statement by PAP's MP Charles Chong to his residents.

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Dear Punggol East residents,

The team from Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council has taken over the functions of the Town Council for Punggol East Constituency with effect from 1 December 2015, which is in line with MND’s guideline for the handover to be completed.

We have received the first set of documents from AHTC and are examining them. We are awaiting a second set of documents from AHTC which would be the audited financial statements on the PE accounts. We will only be in a position to comment further on the handover after all documents are submitted and examined.

Even though the audited accounts are not ready, we have taken over the official management of estate matters in Punggol East. While this may cause us some difficulties, it  does not serve the residents' interests to prolong the handover period and we would like to get down to work as soon as possible.

The Town Council office at Blk 156A Rivervale Cresent is undergoing minor renovation works and will be in operation from 22 Dec onwards. From now till 21 Dec, residents can go to any of the PRPTC offices at these locations below. The Town Council website address is http://www.prpg-tc.org.sg/index.php

For Town Council related issues you can also reach me at my email : Charles_Chong@prpg-grc.sg

Sengkang Office
Blk 266 Compassvale Bow #01-06
Singapore 540266
Tel: 6489 0520
Fax: 6385 0930
Email: sengkang@prpg-tc.org.sg

Punggol Office
Blk 603 Punggol Road #01-01
Singapore 820603
Tel: 6590 9500
Fax: 6659 8263
Email: punggol@prpg-tc.org.sg

Pasir Ris Office:
Blk 577 Pasir Ris
St 53 #01-88
Singapore 510577
Tel: 6585 4938
Fax: 6585 4937
Email: pasirris@prpg-tc.org.sg