http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/08/20/sim-ann-im-not-too-sure-if-ahpetc-has-lost-money/
[h=2]Sim Ann: I’m not too sure if AHPETC has lost money[/h]
August 20th, 2015 |
Author: Editorial
Ms Sim Ann
On Tuesday (18 Aug), representatives from 9 opposition parties and PAP were
invited by the National University of Singapore Society to participate in a
political dialogue, which was attended by some 450 people.
Representing PAP was Sim Ann, Minister of State for Ministry of Education
& Ministry of Communications and Information.
They spent about two-and-a-half-hours debating various topics with
immigration being the major issue at the dialogue. Several opposition party
representatives raised the 6.9 million population target as a serious
immigration issue, to much applause from the audience.
During the debate, issues with regard to AHPETC also surfaced. WP NCMP Gerald
Giam defended WP, saying that his party had not short-changed residents when
taking care of their neighbourhood.
“They will tell you that in terms of estate maintenance, cleanliness – the
issues that really matter to them – we have done comparably well to any other
town council,” Mr Giam said.
He added that even though WP has already explained its position in Parliament
and in subsequent statements about the management of AHPETC, the PAP still harps
on the governance of AHPETC.
PAP was doing this because it wanted to “insert into people’s minds that
we’re not capable of running a town council”.
Ms Sim commented, “In the case of the AGO audit which happens regularly of
government agencies – I would say the government agencies’ reactions have been
swift. The agencies have owned up to lapses, they have owned up to cases where
there was non-compliance and they have taken action very swiftly to rectify
whatever has been pointed out.” :*:
“I think in the case of AHPETC, I think what we’ve been hearing are fairly
lengthy – I don’t want to say excuses, that doesn’t sound very nice –
explanations which I also don’t fully understand. If you were to ask about money
then I would say in the case of the AGO audit, all the monies we’ve been talking
about has been accounted for, and no money is lost. But in the case of AHPETC,
I’m not too sure,” she added.
=> TRUE?
“I wish that more answers had been forthcoming from AHPETC. Then I think we
would have wasted much less time on the issue and I think the population would
be much the wiser.”
In response, Mr Giam pointed out that AHPETC Chairman Sylvia Lim, as well as
the elected MPs who are town councillors, “all spoke, all explained various
aspects of the report” during a two-day debate in Parliament. He said that this
was in addition to “numerous other press statements”, “open letters to
residents” and door-to-door explanations.
“I think we have done a lot of explaining already. Just because the PAP does
not want to accept our explanations does not mean we haven’t explained,” said Mr
Giam. “We have explained every point that has been brought up which demands an
explanation and we have spared no effort in that. And with the coming election,
I’m sure this issue will be raised up by the PAP and we will respond if we need
to.”
The exchange got increasingly heated between Ms Sim and Mr Giam.
By the end of the dialogue session, it was apparent that many of the issues
that had dominated the 2011 general election would resurface in the upcoming
one, showing that many of the old issues have not been fully addressed by the
ruling PAP.
WP will continue to use its 2011 slogan, “Towards A First World Parliament”,
for the upcoming GE. Mr Giam said the slogan remained relevant and urged voters
to elect more opposition MPs in order to achieve that goal.
As for PAP, Ms Sim said that the upcoming GE is about the need for strong
leadership. “This GE, just like any other GE, is about the future. It’s about
who forms the government and who will take Singapore to the next stage,” she
said.
Will you continue to let PAP take Singapore to “the next stage” like it has
done the past 50 years?
What do you think?
[h=2]Sim Ann: I’m not too sure if AHPETC has lost money[/h]
August 20th, 2015 |
Author: Editorial
Ms Sim Ann
On Tuesday (18 Aug), representatives from 9 opposition parties and PAP were
invited by the National University of Singapore Society to participate in a
political dialogue, which was attended by some 450 people.
Representing PAP was Sim Ann, Minister of State for Ministry of Education
& Ministry of Communications and Information.
They spent about two-and-a-half-hours debating various topics with
immigration being the major issue at the dialogue. Several opposition party
representatives raised the 6.9 million population target as a serious
immigration issue, to much applause from the audience.
During the debate, issues with regard to AHPETC also surfaced. WP NCMP Gerald
Giam defended WP, saying that his party had not short-changed residents when
taking care of their neighbourhood.
“They will tell you that in terms of estate maintenance, cleanliness – the
issues that really matter to them – we have done comparably well to any other
town council,” Mr Giam said.
He added that even though WP has already explained its position in Parliament
and in subsequent statements about the management of AHPETC, the PAP still harps
on the governance of AHPETC.
PAP was doing this because it wanted to “insert into people’s minds that
we’re not capable of running a town council”.
Ms Sim commented, “In the case of the AGO audit which happens regularly of
government agencies – I would say the government agencies’ reactions have been
swift. The agencies have owned up to lapses, they have owned up to cases where
there was non-compliance and they have taken action very swiftly to rectify
whatever has been pointed out.” :*:
“I think in the case of AHPETC, I think what we’ve been hearing are fairly
lengthy – I don’t want to say excuses, that doesn’t sound very nice –
explanations which I also don’t fully understand. If you were to ask about money
then I would say in the case of the AGO audit, all the monies we’ve been talking
about has been accounted for, and no money is lost. But in the case of AHPETC,
I’m not too sure,” she added.
=> TRUE?
“I wish that more answers had been forthcoming from AHPETC. Then I think we
would have wasted much less time on the issue and I think the population would
be much the wiser.”
In response, Mr Giam pointed out that AHPETC Chairman Sylvia Lim, as well as
the elected MPs who are town councillors, “all spoke, all explained various
aspects of the report” during a two-day debate in Parliament. He said that this
was in addition to “numerous other press statements”, “open letters to
residents” and door-to-door explanations.
“I think we have done a lot of explaining already. Just because the PAP does
not want to accept our explanations does not mean we haven’t explained,” said Mr
Giam. “We have explained every point that has been brought up which demands an
explanation and we have spared no effort in that. And with the coming election,
I’m sure this issue will be raised up by the PAP and we will respond if we need
to.”
The exchange got increasingly heated between Ms Sim and Mr Giam.
By the end of the dialogue session, it was apparent that many of the issues
that had dominated the 2011 general election would resurface in the upcoming
one, showing that many of the old issues have not been fully addressed by the
ruling PAP.
WP will continue to use its 2011 slogan, “Towards A First World Parliament”,
for the upcoming GE. Mr Giam said the slogan remained relevant and urged voters
to elect more opposition MPs in order to achieve that goal.
As for PAP, Ms Sim said that the upcoming GE is about the need for strong
leadership. “This GE, just like any other GE, is about the future. It’s about
who forms the government and who will take Singapore to the next stage,” she
said.
Will you continue to let PAP take Singapore to “the next stage” like it has
done the past 50 years?
What do you think?
