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PAP will get it from the voters!
- Thread starter xpo2015
- Start date
it's a double edged sword
if this continues , it will demean the spirit of the erection
many of my friends are already damned fed up with this drumming of the same old issue
looks like there is nothing much to talk about
then just abolish the erection
and return the PAP Government
why wasting so much time ,money and energy in holding this GENERAL ERECTION!!!
singaporeans are damned fed up ...
if this continues , it will demean the spirit of the erection
many of my friends are already damned fed up with this drumming of the same old issue
looks like there is nothing much to talk about
then just abolish the erection
and return the PAP Government
why wasting so much time ,money and energy in holding this GENERAL ERECTION!!!
singaporeans are damned fed up ...
– Why is the MND sending out a press release on a Saturday, when government agencies work a five-day week? This isn’t exactly breaking news. But we noticed that Saturday saw the launch of the GE manifestos by the PAP and WP. Hmmm…
– Why is the MND releasing this information while its review of ACRA’s findings is still not completed? And again, why on a Saturday?
(Responding to this on Sunday afternoon, Khaw said there is “nothing unusual” about the timing of MND’s Saturday announcement. He said ACRA ran its ad-hoc review of FMSS’s auditor between Aug 14 and Aug 27. This announcement came two days later.)
– Why is the Law Minister giving a door stop on a statement released by the Ministry of National Development before the National Development Minister?
– What are the profit margins and salaries being paid to key staff in PAP Town Council-hired managing agents, and how do these compare with the ones earned by FMSS?
– Why is the MND releasing this information while its review of ACRA’s findings is still not completed? And again, why on a Saturday?
(Responding to this on Sunday afternoon, Khaw said there is “nothing unusual” about the timing of MND’s Saturday announcement. He said ACRA ran its ad-hoc review of FMSS’s auditor between Aug 14 and Aug 27. This announcement came two days later.)
– Why is the Law Minister giving a door stop on a statement released by the Ministry of National Development before the National Development Minister?
– What are the profit margins and salaries being paid to key staff in PAP Town Council-hired managing agents, and how do these compare with the ones earned by FMSS?
Saturday, 29 August 2015
How AIM-AHPETC Affects Your Life and Your Town Council
Preamble: This article aims to provide a True and Fair View of the entire episode of AIM-AHPETC issues. It might take 10 minutes of your valuable time. This article aims to present the facts and figures before you for your analysis and judgement.
AIM and the S$25 million Dollar Question? Why ?
People's Action Party (PAP) town councils had spent over $25 million dollars of residents' money to build a Management System to track payment and maintenance of town councils. The system was build by National Computer System (NCS). In 2010, a strange tender was call to sell the Town Council Management Software and lease it back, there was only 1 bidder, Action Information Management (AIM), a $2 paid up capital shell company whose three directors are former PAP MPs.
Build by NCS, Sold to AIM whom engaged NCS to maintain the System?
Political Round Tripping?
The PAP Town Council Application Software was built by National Computer Systems (NCS) for a princely sum of over $25 million of residents' money.
PAP has sold the rights of the entire computer software managing the Town councils to AIM Pte Ltd for a measly S$140,000 despite spending over $25 million dollars of residents' money building the system
After securing the deal, AIM signed an agreement with PAP town councils whom will pay monthly retainer fees to AIM
AIM then engaged NCS to maintain the system on a retainer basis
Selling $25 million worth of investment for $140,000
Yet, AIM was deemed qualified to meet the stringent criteria set by the 14 PAP town councils to be worthy of being awarded the contract to purchase the computer system for just $140,000 (where the $140,000 came from was never explained) which cost almost S$25 million, funded by monthly S&CC collections from residents.
So what real value does AIM Bring to the Table ?
AIM Pulling the Plug on WP's Aljunied GRC Town Council
When WP won Aljunied GRC in 2011, AIM terminated their contract with Aljunied GRC and pull the plug on WP's access to vital data from the Town Council software, giving WP only 1 month to migrate the data and built an entire new software concurrently.With the removal of the system, all the data had to be to manually extract, exported and manually key into the newly built software.
WP's Appointment of FMSS as Managing Agent
FM Solutions & Services Pte Ltd (FMSS) was the sole bidder for WP's tender for Adjunied GRC maintenance services. One of the reasons given by WP for engaging its managing agent, FMSS in the first place was that WP had problems finding a managing agent to run AHPETC.
In the words of WP Chief Low Thia Khiang in parliament, “Nobody wants to work for me…That is the problem, Prime Minister!”
Is the reason valid?
Of course. There are a total of 16 town councils in Singapore, with 15 run by the People’s Action Party (PAP) and one by the WP. Imagine if you are a managing agent in Singapore – would you want to incur the wrath of a big client by working with its competitor?
WP's Failing - Failure to Disclose
FMSS is majority-owned by husband-and-wife team, Mr Danny Loh and Ms How Weng Fan. They were both employed by AHPETC with Mr Loh been secretary and Ms How been deputy secretary and general manager of the town council. The couple are long-time WP supporters, and were assentor and proposer to the WP candidates who contested Ang Mo Kio GRC in the 2006 General Election.
It is not uncommon for party supporters or members to be hired by town councils or to be closely involved with the managing agents appointed by town councils. Mr Ho Thian Poh, who is secretary of the People's Action Party-run Jurong Town Council, is a member of the party. He is also the managing director of the town council's managing agent, Esmaco Township Management.
AGO's Finding
But the Auditor-General's Office said AHPETC did not properly disclose or manage potential conflicts of interest, leading to situations where the same individual issued an invoice for work done by FMSS, and then approved payment from the town council for that work.
Final Outcome: AHPETC in the Pink of Health
AHPETC reports a surplus for FY2014/15, taking into account the govt grant of $7.2m, withheld by the MND (All town councils - including PAP Town councils- are in the red before receiving govt grants)
Workers' Party MP Png Eng Huat said he would leave it to the residents to decide if there had been an improvement in AHPETC and it's financial position from previous years.WP chairman Sylvia Lim said, "Looking at the recent events AHPETC has been targeted for, we can see the huge deviation from the original purpose of town councils," adding that 'one can only assume they (MND) are in overdrive to try to find something before polling day'. She said the report would give everyone 'updated audited information' about the town council.
Despite the release of the report, Lim said she expected the issue to be raised during the upcoming election campaign, and the WP was 'always prepared to discuss and engage it'. Referring to similar lapses in People's Association Town Council which had been flagged by the Auditor-General’s Office, Ms Lim said "I think there is a desire, certainly in many Singaporeans, that we will have to talk about the broader national issues and where our country is going... that's the purpose of elections"
Comparing AIM to FMSS
FMSS is a registered Government Supplier under the Supply Head of EPU/SER/30 which is for the supply of Management Services such as real estate management, management of car parks, etc. FMSS Financial Category is S8 which requires a Net Tangible Asset of $250,000 and an annual turnover of $5,000,000. FMSS also claim to have a team of more than 130 staff with individually proven track record bonded together to deliver a comprehensive service covering Property Maintenance and Management, Accounting and Finance, Contracts Administration, Lifts Maintenance, Information Technology, Public Relations and Project Management.
AIM had a paid-up capital of S$2. It didn’t have its own mailing address (its address was the same as the PAP’s headquarters’ in Bedok), it has No office, No website, No Full time staff (except for 3 directors who are also ex-PAP MPs and 2 Part timer), No hardware, No developers. It didn’t seemed to have engaged in any businesses since its inception, and it also didn’t seem to have any experience in managing town councils or the running of any IT systems.
Prime Minister Office Ordered MND to Review AIM Transaction
In Jan 2013, Prime Minister Lee had tasked Ministry of National Development (MND) to review this transaction fully, and satisfy itself that public funds were safeguarded and NO residents’ interests were not compromised in a deal between People's Action Party (PAP) town councils and the party-owned company, Action Information Management (AIM).
In a strongly-worded response in Parliament, WP's Chairman Ms Sylvia Lim questioned numerous aspects of the AIM deal, including the terms of the tender, the nature of AIM and the one-month termination clause in the event the town council changed hands.On the tender, she stressed that no software company could have fulfilled the tender specification other than AIM, since it required all directors of the company to have town council experience. She also said there was no reason given for the need for the one-month termination clause - and added that the MND report did not address this issue.
First Thing First - Simi is a Town Council?
A Town is an area comprising any constituency. A Town Council’s role is primarily estate management such as cleaning services of the common areas, building maintenance, horticultural landscaping, electrical and mechanical maintenance and estate improvement works including provision of amenities such as covered walkways, playgrounds
The Purported Reason behind Setting up Town Council
Prior to the establishment of Town Councils, the common areas of HDB estates were maintained by HDB, in a centralized, apolitical (politically neutral) system. The establishment of Town Councils shifted the responsibility for estate management from HDB to the Town Councils. It was deemed that although the HDB was successful in providing public housing to the local population, the standardised rules that the board had set for all housing estates made HDB towns monotonous in appearance and that HDB was slow in making decisions to address problems faced by residents and in responding to their complaints. So the decision to handover the baton of the dreary daily affairs of running to the Town Council, freeing up precious time and resources for HDB to focus on building more public housing.
The First Town Councils - Taking Over from HDB
The 1st town councils were established in September 1986, Ang Mo Kio West, Ang Mo Kio East and Ang Mo Kio South in Ang Mo Kio new town. It was perceived that under this management style, public housing estates would be less monotonous as each estate could develop a distinctive character of its own according to local conditions and the desires of its residents.This concept was put forth and spearhead by Mr Chandra Das former MP and one of the 3 director of AIM Pte Ltd.
Who are the members of the Town Council?
The elected members of parliament of that town will be members of the Town Council. The Chairman will be appointed from those elected members. The Chairman can then appoint other members to the town council, numbering not less than 6 and not more than 30, or up to 10 members per MP, whichever is greater. At least 2/3 of the appointed members must be residents of the Town, to ensure that the interests of residents are represented.
Powers of a Town Council
To fulfill its functions, the Town Council is conferred with certain powers through the Town Councils Act where the Town Council has the powers to:
with the prior written consent of the Board, maintain facilities on or make improvements to the common property of the residential and commercial property for the benefit of residents of housing estates of the Board within the Town;
with the approval of the Minister and the consent of the owner of the property on which the facilities are or to be erected, installed or planted, erect, install, plant, repair and maintain facilities within the Town.
acquire and hold property of any description if, in the opinion of the Town Council, the property is necessary for the accommodation of the Town Council or for the performance of any purpose which the Town Council is permitted by this Act.
impose charges for such use of any part of the common property as the Minister may prescribe, or for the use of any facility or service provided, or for any improvements to the common property made, by the Town Council as it considers necessary.
appoint agents to carry out its functions under this Act or any other Act;
accept gifts and donations whether of property or otherwise and whether subject to any special trust or not; and
FACT 2: How are Town Councils Funded?
Town Councils are primarily funded by:
Conservancy and Service Charges levied upon every flat in any residential or commercial property, and every stall in any market or food centre of the HDB within the town, at such rates determined by the Town Council.
Government Grants – grants are disbursed through the Ministry of National Development (MND), to the grassroots organisations. The 12 members committee which oversees the approval of funds is Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) are overwhelming make up by PAP members with no opposition members representation
How are the funds used
Town Councils are also required to set-up and maintain sinking funds to enable the carrying out of cyclical repair works
Town Councils may borrow money to carry out its duties, or invest surplus funds in trustee stocks
8 PAP Town Council Lose S$16,000,000 in Risky Financial Products
IN 2008, eight town councils (TC) run by the People's Action Party lose $16 million of sinking funds invested in troubled structured products. The lion's share of $12 million is from Holland-Bukit Panjang ($8 million) and Pasir Ris-Punggol ($4 million). Dr Teo Ho Pin, then chairman of the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council as well as coordinating chairman for the 14 PAP town councils, disclosed this in response to Senior Minister of State (National Development) Grace Fu queries if whether a stricter cap on risky investments was needed.
How are Town Councils Held Accountable?
In the case of non-payment of service and conservancy charges, the Town Councils are also empowered to recover such debts by:
Recovering the arrears due in a Small Claims Tribunal;
Applying to Court for a writ of seizure and sale of property belonging to the owner; and
Imposing a charge and, upon expiry of the notice of intention to sell, dispose of the flat.
Town Councils are also required to keep proper accounts, which must be audited annually. Each year, the Town Council will also display for public inspection estimates of its revenue and expenditure and a list of works proposed to be undertaken for the next financial year. Audited reports must be submitted to the Ministry for National Development for tabling to parliament. The Ministry will then make public its concerns and observations for the benefit of the residents, and publish the Town Council Management Report so residents can keep track of the performance of their Town Council.
FACT 3: REAL PURPOSE OF TOWN COUNCIL SYSTEM
PAP's View:
There are two main reasons for setting up the town council system, as stated by Minister for National Development, Mr Khaw Boon Wan in 2013:
Town Councils were set up to give authority and responsibility to elected Members of Parliament (MPs) to take charge of their constituents’ estate and to allow each Town to develop its own distinctive character under the MPs’ leadership.
Town Councils, so set up, made MPs accountable to their voters for the running of the estate, as these voters can take the MPs’ performance into account when they next go to the polls.
WP's View:
Ms Sylvia Lim, Chairman of Workers' Party in response to MND's claim of Gross Profiteering (make or seek to make an excessive or unfair profit, especially illegally) by former AHPETC's agents FMSS profits in 2013. It is unfortunate that the political environment has put non-PAP town councils at a financial disadvantage due to the lack of competitive bidders. Your Ministry ought to recognise the existence of an imbalanced system and take into consideration the political reality of the situation
NMP's View
Town Councils are inherently political was evident from the outset, and it would be naive to think otherwise. While the main intent of the TC framework was to provide for the decentralisation of the control, management, maintenance and improvement of Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates, the political consequences were even more significant. SMU Associate Professor of Law and Nominated MP Eugene Tan
MND's View
Life is More Complicated than Black and White. You learn to live better with ambivalence, stress and the tensions of sometimes morally difficult situations at a personal level, even though at a professional level you are supposed to be firm, decisive and clear in direction. Town Councils, in the words of Ministry of National Development Permanent Secretary Benny Lim, “were set up for, and fulfil a political purpose”.
Your View ?
This is not a be all and end all article, to reiterate, it aims to present the facts and figures before you for your analysis and judgement. Please feel free to provide your preservative and comments for the learning and education of all electorates. As Voters we have the responsibility to vote wisely and carefully for the future of our nation and for our children. Thank you once again
Whats your view of the town council system .. feel free to comment and share. thank you
Singapore My Home at 20:55
http://sg50election.blogspot.sg/2015/08/3-must-know-secrets-about-how-ahpetc.html?m=1
How AIM-AHPETC Affects Your Life and Your Town Council
Preamble: This article aims to provide a True and Fair View of the entire episode of AIM-AHPETC issues. It might take 10 minutes of your valuable time. This article aims to present the facts and figures before you for your analysis and judgement.
AIM and the S$25 million Dollar Question? Why ?
People's Action Party (PAP) town councils had spent over $25 million dollars of residents' money to build a Management System to track payment and maintenance of town councils. The system was build by National Computer System (NCS). In 2010, a strange tender was call to sell the Town Council Management Software and lease it back, there was only 1 bidder, Action Information Management (AIM), a $2 paid up capital shell company whose three directors are former PAP MPs.
Build by NCS, Sold to AIM whom engaged NCS to maintain the System?
Political Round Tripping?
The PAP Town Council Application Software was built by National Computer Systems (NCS) for a princely sum of over $25 million of residents' money.
PAP has sold the rights of the entire computer software managing the Town councils to AIM Pte Ltd for a measly S$140,000 despite spending over $25 million dollars of residents' money building the system
After securing the deal, AIM signed an agreement with PAP town councils whom will pay monthly retainer fees to AIM
AIM then engaged NCS to maintain the system on a retainer basis
Selling $25 million worth of investment for $140,000
Yet, AIM was deemed qualified to meet the stringent criteria set by the 14 PAP town councils to be worthy of being awarded the contract to purchase the computer system for just $140,000 (where the $140,000 came from was never explained) which cost almost S$25 million, funded by monthly S&CC collections from residents.
So what real value does AIM Bring to the Table ?
AIM Pulling the Plug on WP's Aljunied GRC Town Council
When WP won Aljunied GRC in 2011, AIM terminated their contract with Aljunied GRC and pull the plug on WP's access to vital data from the Town Council software, giving WP only 1 month to migrate the data and built an entire new software concurrently.With the removal of the system, all the data had to be to manually extract, exported and manually key into the newly built software.
WP's Appointment of FMSS as Managing Agent
FM Solutions & Services Pte Ltd (FMSS) was the sole bidder for WP's tender for Adjunied GRC maintenance services. One of the reasons given by WP for engaging its managing agent, FMSS in the first place was that WP had problems finding a managing agent to run AHPETC.
In the words of WP Chief Low Thia Khiang in parliament, “Nobody wants to work for me…That is the problem, Prime Minister!”
Is the reason valid?
Of course. There are a total of 16 town councils in Singapore, with 15 run by the People’s Action Party (PAP) and one by the WP. Imagine if you are a managing agent in Singapore – would you want to incur the wrath of a big client by working with its competitor?
WP's Failing - Failure to Disclose
FMSS is majority-owned by husband-and-wife team, Mr Danny Loh and Ms How Weng Fan. They were both employed by AHPETC with Mr Loh been secretary and Ms How been deputy secretary and general manager of the town council. The couple are long-time WP supporters, and were assentor and proposer to the WP candidates who contested Ang Mo Kio GRC in the 2006 General Election.
It is not uncommon for party supporters or members to be hired by town councils or to be closely involved with the managing agents appointed by town councils. Mr Ho Thian Poh, who is secretary of the People's Action Party-run Jurong Town Council, is a member of the party. He is also the managing director of the town council's managing agent, Esmaco Township Management.
AGO's Finding
But the Auditor-General's Office said AHPETC did not properly disclose or manage potential conflicts of interest, leading to situations where the same individual issued an invoice for work done by FMSS, and then approved payment from the town council for that work.
Final Outcome: AHPETC in the Pink of Health
AHPETC reports a surplus for FY2014/15, taking into account the govt grant of $7.2m, withheld by the MND (All town councils - including PAP Town councils- are in the red before receiving govt grants)
Workers' Party MP Png Eng Huat said he would leave it to the residents to decide if there had been an improvement in AHPETC and it's financial position from previous years.WP chairman Sylvia Lim said, "Looking at the recent events AHPETC has been targeted for, we can see the huge deviation from the original purpose of town councils," adding that 'one can only assume they (MND) are in overdrive to try to find something before polling day'. She said the report would give everyone 'updated audited information' about the town council.
Despite the release of the report, Lim said she expected the issue to be raised during the upcoming election campaign, and the WP was 'always prepared to discuss and engage it'. Referring to similar lapses in People's Association Town Council which had been flagged by the Auditor-General’s Office, Ms Lim said "I think there is a desire, certainly in many Singaporeans, that we will have to talk about the broader national issues and where our country is going... that's the purpose of elections"
Comparing AIM to FMSS
FMSS is a registered Government Supplier under the Supply Head of EPU/SER/30 which is for the supply of Management Services such as real estate management, management of car parks, etc. FMSS Financial Category is S8 which requires a Net Tangible Asset of $250,000 and an annual turnover of $5,000,000. FMSS also claim to have a team of more than 130 staff with individually proven track record bonded together to deliver a comprehensive service covering Property Maintenance and Management, Accounting and Finance, Contracts Administration, Lifts Maintenance, Information Technology, Public Relations and Project Management.
AIM had a paid-up capital of S$2. It didn’t have its own mailing address (its address was the same as the PAP’s headquarters’ in Bedok), it has No office, No website, No Full time staff (except for 3 directors who are also ex-PAP MPs and 2 Part timer), No hardware, No developers. It didn’t seemed to have engaged in any businesses since its inception, and it also didn’t seem to have any experience in managing town councils or the running of any IT systems.
Prime Minister Office Ordered MND to Review AIM Transaction
In Jan 2013, Prime Minister Lee had tasked Ministry of National Development (MND) to review this transaction fully, and satisfy itself that public funds were safeguarded and NO residents’ interests were not compromised in a deal between People's Action Party (PAP) town councils and the party-owned company, Action Information Management (AIM).
In a strongly-worded response in Parliament, WP's Chairman Ms Sylvia Lim questioned numerous aspects of the AIM deal, including the terms of the tender, the nature of AIM and the one-month termination clause in the event the town council changed hands.On the tender, she stressed that no software company could have fulfilled the tender specification other than AIM, since it required all directors of the company to have town council experience. She also said there was no reason given for the need for the one-month termination clause - and added that the MND report did not address this issue.
First Thing First - Simi is a Town Council?
A Town is an area comprising any constituency. A Town Council’s role is primarily estate management such as cleaning services of the common areas, building maintenance, horticultural landscaping, electrical and mechanical maintenance and estate improvement works including provision of amenities such as covered walkways, playgrounds
The Purported Reason behind Setting up Town Council
Prior to the establishment of Town Councils, the common areas of HDB estates were maintained by HDB, in a centralized, apolitical (politically neutral) system. The establishment of Town Councils shifted the responsibility for estate management from HDB to the Town Councils. It was deemed that although the HDB was successful in providing public housing to the local population, the standardised rules that the board had set for all housing estates made HDB towns monotonous in appearance and that HDB was slow in making decisions to address problems faced by residents and in responding to their complaints. So the decision to handover the baton of the dreary daily affairs of running to the Town Council, freeing up precious time and resources for HDB to focus on building more public housing.
The First Town Councils - Taking Over from HDB
The 1st town councils were established in September 1986, Ang Mo Kio West, Ang Mo Kio East and Ang Mo Kio South in Ang Mo Kio new town. It was perceived that under this management style, public housing estates would be less monotonous as each estate could develop a distinctive character of its own according to local conditions and the desires of its residents.This concept was put forth and spearhead by Mr Chandra Das former MP and one of the 3 director of AIM Pte Ltd.
Who are the members of the Town Council?
The elected members of parliament of that town will be members of the Town Council. The Chairman will be appointed from those elected members. The Chairman can then appoint other members to the town council, numbering not less than 6 and not more than 30, or up to 10 members per MP, whichever is greater. At least 2/3 of the appointed members must be residents of the Town, to ensure that the interests of residents are represented.
Powers of a Town Council
To fulfill its functions, the Town Council is conferred with certain powers through the Town Councils Act where the Town Council has the powers to:
with the prior written consent of the Board, maintain facilities on or make improvements to the common property of the residential and commercial property for the benefit of residents of housing estates of the Board within the Town;
with the approval of the Minister and the consent of the owner of the property on which the facilities are or to be erected, installed or planted, erect, install, plant, repair and maintain facilities within the Town.
acquire and hold property of any description if, in the opinion of the Town Council, the property is necessary for the accommodation of the Town Council or for the performance of any purpose which the Town Council is permitted by this Act.
impose charges for such use of any part of the common property as the Minister may prescribe, or for the use of any facility or service provided, or for any improvements to the common property made, by the Town Council as it considers necessary.
appoint agents to carry out its functions under this Act or any other Act;
accept gifts and donations whether of property or otherwise and whether subject to any special trust or not; and
FACT 2: How are Town Councils Funded?
Town Councils are primarily funded by:
Conservancy and Service Charges levied upon every flat in any residential or commercial property, and every stall in any market or food centre of the HDB within the town, at such rates determined by the Town Council.
Government Grants – grants are disbursed through the Ministry of National Development (MND), to the grassroots organisations. The 12 members committee which oversees the approval of funds is Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) are overwhelming make up by PAP members with no opposition members representation
How are the funds used
Town Councils are also required to set-up and maintain sinking funds to enable the carrying out of cyclical repair works
Town Councils may borrow money to carry out its duties, or invest surplus funds in trustee stocks
8 PAP Town Council Lose S$16,000,000 in Risky Financial Products
IN 2008, eight town councils (TC) run by the People's Action Party lose $16 million of sinking funds invested in troubled structured products. The lion's share of $12 million is from Holland-Bukit Panjang ($8 million) and Pasir Ris-Punggol ($4 million). Dr Teo Ho Pin, then chairman of the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council as well as coordinating chairman for the 14 PAP town councils, disclosed this in response to Senior Minister of State (National Development) Grace Fu queries if whether a stricter cap on risky investments was needed.
How are Town Councils Held Accountable?
In the case of non-payment of service and conservancy charges, the Town Councils are also empowered to recover such debts by:
Recovering the arrears due in a Small Claims Tribunal;
Applying to Court for a writ of seizure and sale of property belonging to the owner; and
Imposing a charge and, upon expiry of the notice of intention to sell, dispose of the flat.
Town Councils are also required to keep proper accounts, which must be audited annually. Each year, the Town Council will also display for public inspection estimates of its revenue and expenditure and a list of works proposed to be undertaken for the next financial year. Audited reports must be submitted to the Ministry for National Development for tabling to parliament. The Ministry will then make public its concerns and observations for the benefit of the residents, and publish the Town Council Management Report so residents can keep track of the performance of their Town Council.
FACT 3: REAL PURPOSE OF TOWN COUNCIL SYSTEM
PAP's View:
There are two main reasons for setting up the town council system, as stated by Minister for National Development, Mr Khaw Boon Wan in 2013:
Town Councils were set up to give authority and responsibility to elected Members of Parliament (MPs) to take charge of their constituents’ estate and to allow each Town to develop its own distinctive character under the MPs’ leadership.
Town Councils, so set up, made MPs accountable to their voters for the running of the estate, as these voters can take the MPs’ performance into account when they next go to the polls.
WP's View:
Ms Sylvia Lim, Chairman of Workers' Party in response to MND's claim of Gross Profiteering (make or seek to make an excessive or unfair profit, especially illegally) by former AHPETC's agents FMSS profits in 2013. It is unfortunate that the political environment has put non-PAP town councils at a financial disadvantage due to the lack of competitive bidders. Your Ministry ought to recognise the existence of an imbalanced system and take into consideration the political reality of the situation
NMP's View
Town Councils are inherently political was evident from the outset, and it would be naive to think otherwise. While the main intent of the TC framework was to provide for the decentralisation of the control, management, maintenance and improvement of Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates, the political consequences were even more significant. SMU Associate Professor of Law and Nominated MP Eugene Tan
MND's View
Life is More Complicated than Black and White. You learn to live better with ambivalence, stress and the tensions of sometimes morally difficult situations at a personal level, even though at a professional level you are supposed to be firm, decisive and clear in direction. Town Councils, in the words of Ministry of National Development Permanent Secretary Benny Lim, “were set up for, and fulfil a political purpose”.
Your View ?
This is not a be all and end all article, to reiterate, it aims to present the facts and figures before you for your analysis and judgement. Please feel free to provide your preservative and comments for the learning and education of all electorates. As Voters we have the responsibility to vote wisely and carefully for the future of our nation and for our children. Thank you once again
Whats your view of the town council system .. feel free to comment and share. thank you
Singapore My Home at 20:55
http://sg50election.blogspot.sg/2015/08/3-must-know-secrets-about-how-ahpetc.html?m=1
on the contrary it showed badly of PAP's bullying
When LKY thumbed down first time incumbent Chiam See Tong as having only O-level it backfired & brought in avalanche of sympathy votes... the rest is history
When LKY threatened Al residents that they will regret it............ what happened? GY & party got to look for new job!!
Up for awareness.very well written...informative and hit to the point.Saturday, 29 August 2015
How AIM-AHPETC Affects Your Life and Your Town Council
Preamble: This article aims to provide a True and Fair View of the entire episode of AIM-AHPETC issues. It might take 10 minutes of your valuable time. This article aims to present the facts and figures before you for your analysis and judgement.
AIM and the S$25 million Dollar Question? Why ?
People's Action Party (PAP) town councils had spent over $25 million dollars of residents' money to build a Management System to track payment and maintenance of town councils. The system was build by National Computer System (NCS). In 2010, a strange tender was call to sell the Town Council Management Software and lease it back, there was only 1 bidder, Action Information Management (AIM), a $2 paid up capital shell company whose three directors are former PAP MPs.
Build by NCS, Sold to AIM whom engaged NCS to maintain the System?
Political Round Tripping?
The PAP Town Council Application Software was built by National Computer Systems (NCS) for a princely sum of over $25 million of residents' money.
PAP has sold the rights of the entire computer software managing the Town councils to AIM Pte Ltd for a measly S$140,000 despite spending over $25 million dollars of residents' money building the system
After securing the deal, AIM signed an agreement with PAP town councils whom will pay monthly retainer fees to AIM
AIM then engaged NCS to maintain the system on a retainer basis
Selling $25 million worth of investment for $140,000
Yet, AIM was deemed qualified to meet the stringent criteria set by the 14 PAP town councils to be worthy of being awarded the contract to purchase the computer system for just $140,000 (where the $140,000 came from was never explained) which cost almost S$25 million, funded by monthly S&CC collections from residents.
So what real value does AIM Bring to the Table ?
AIM Pulling the Plug on WP's Aljunied GRC Town Council
When WP won Aljunied GRC in 2011, AIM terminated their contract with Aljunied GRC and pull the plug on WP's access to vital data from the Town Council software, giving WP only 1 month to migrate the data and built an entire new software concurrently.With the removal of the system, all the data had to be to manually extract, exported and manually key into the newly built software.
WP's Appointment of FMSS as Managing Agent
FM Solutions & Services Pte Ltd (FMSS) was the sole bidder for WP's tender for Adjunied GRC maintenance services. One of the reasons given by WP for engaging its managing agent, FMSS in the first place was that WP had problems finding a managing agent to run AHPETC.
In the words of WP Chief Low Thia Khiang in parliament, “Nobody wants to work for me…That is the problem, Prime Minister!”
Is the reason valid?
Of course. There are a total of 16 town councils in Singapore, with 15 run by the People’s Action Party (PAP) and one by the WP. Imagine if you are a managing agent in Singapore – would you want to incur the wrath of a big client by working with its competitor?
WP's Failing - Failure to Disclose
FMSS is majority-owned by husband-and-wife team, Mr Danny Loh and Ms How Weng Fan. They were both employed by AHPETC with Mr Loh been secretary and Ms How been deputy secretary and general manager of the town council. The couple are long-time WP supporters, and were assentor and proposer to the WP candidates who contested Ang Mo Kio GRC in the 2006 General Election.
It is not uncommon for party supporters or members to be hired by town councils or to be closely involved with the managing agents appointed by town councils. Mr Ho Thian Poh, who is secretary of the People's Action Party-run Jurong Town Council, is a member of the party. He is also the managing director of the town council's managing agent, Esmaco Township Management.
AGO's Finding
But the Auditor-General's Office said AHPETC did not properly disclose or manage potential conflicts of interest, leading to situations where the same individual issued an invoice for work done by FMSS, and then approved payment from the town council for that work.
Final Outcome: AHPETC in the Pink of Health
AHPETC reports a surplus for FY2014/15, taking into account the govt grant of $7.2m, withheld by the MND (All town councils - including PAP Town councils- are in the red before receiving govt grants)
Workers' Party MP Png Eng Huat said he would leave it to the residents to decide if there had been an improvement in AHPETC and it's financial position from previous years.WP chairman Sylvia Lim said, "Looking at the recent events AHPETC has been targeted for, we can see the huge deviation from the original purpose of town councils," adding that 'one can only assume they (MND) are in overdrive to try to find something before polling day'. She said the report would give everyone 'updated audited information' about the town council.
Despite the release of the report, Lim said she expected the issue to be raised during the upcoming election campaign, and the WP was 'always prepared to discuss and engage it'. Referring to similar lapses in People's Association Town Council which had been flagged by the Auditor-General’s Office, Ms Lim said "I think there is a desire, certainly in many Singaporeans, that we will have to talk about the broader national issues and where our country is going... that's the purpose of elections"
Comparing AIM to FMSS
FMSS is a registered Government Supplier under the Supply Head of EPU/SER/30 which is for the supply of Management Services such as real estate management, management of car parks, etc. FMSS Financial Category is S8 which requires a Net Tangible Asset of $250,000 and an annual turnover of $5,000,000. FMSS also claim to have a team of more than 130 staff with individually proven track record bonded together to deliver a comprehensive service covering Property Maintenance and Management, Accounting and Finance, Contracts Administration, Lifts Maintenance, Information Technology, Public Relations and Project Management.
AIM had a paid-up capital of S$2. It didn’t have its own mailing address (its address was the same as the PAP’s headquarters’ in Bedok), it has No office, No website, No Full time staff (except for 3 directors who are also ex-PAP MPs and 2 Part timer), No hardware, No developers. It didn’t seemed to have engaged in any businesses since its inception, and it also didn’t seem to have any experience in managing town councils or the running of any IT systems.
Prime Minister Office Ordered MND to Review AIM Transaction
In Jan 2013, Prime Minister Lee had tasked Ministry of National Development (MND) to review this transaction fully, and satisfy itself that public funds were safeguarded and NO residents’ interests were not compromised in a deal between People's Action Party (PAP) town councils and the party-owned company, Action Information Management (AIM).
In a strongly-worded response in Parliament, WP's Chairman Ms Sylvia Lim questioned numerous aspects of the AIM deal, including the terms of the tender, the nature of AIM and the one-month termination clause in the event the town council changed hands.On the tender, she stressed that no software company could have fulfilled the tender specification other than AIM, since it required all directors of the company to have town council experience. She also said there was no reason given for the need for the one-month termination clause - and added that the MND report did not address this issue.
First Thing First - Simi is a Town Council?
A Town is an area comprising any constituency. A Town Council’s role is primarily estate management such as cleaning services of the common areas, building maintenance, horticultural landscaping, electrical and mechanical maintenance and estate improvement works including provision of amenities such as covered walkways, playgrounds
The Purported Reason behind Setting up Town Council
Prior to the establishment of Town Councils, the common areas of HDB estates were maintained by HDB, in a centralized, apolitical (politically neutral) system. The establishment of Town Councils shifted the responsibility for estate management from HDB to the Town Councils. It was deemed that although the HDB was successful in providing public housing to the local population, the standardised rules that the board had set for all housing estates made HDB towns monotonous in appearance and that HDB was slow in making decisions to address problems faced by residents and in responding to their complaints. So the decision to handover the baton of the dreary daily affairs of running to the Town Council, freeing up precious time and resources for HDB to focus on building more public housing.
The First Town Councils - Taking Over from HDB
The 1st town councils were established in September 1986, Ang Mo Kio West, Ang Mo Kio East and Ang Mo Kio South in Ang Mo Kio new town. It was perceived that under this management style, public housing estates would be less monotonous as each estate could develop a distinctive character of its own according to local conditions and the desires of its residents.This concept was put forth and spearhead by Mr Chandra Das former MP and one of the 3 director of AIM Pte Ltd.
Who are the members of the Town Council?
The elected members of parliament of that town will be members of the Town Council. The Chairman will be appointed from those elected members. The Chairman can then appoint other members to the town council, numbering not less than 6 and not more than 30, or up to 10 members per MP, whichever is greater. At least 2/3 of the appointed members must be residents of the Town, to ensure that the interests of residents are represented.
Powers of a Town Council
To fulfill its functions, the Town Council is conferred with certain powers through the Town Councils Act where the Town Council has the powers to:
with the prior written consent of the Board, maintain facilities on or make improvements to the common property of the residential and commercial property for the benefit of residents of housing estates of the Board within the Town;
with the approval of the Minister and the consent of the owner of the property on which the facilities are or to be erected, installed or planted, erect, install, plant, repair and maintain facilities within the Town.
acquire and hold property of any description if, in the opinion of the Town Council, the property is necessary for the accommodation of the Town Council or for the performance of any purpose which the Town Council is permitted by this Act.
impose charges for such use of any part of the common property as the Minister may prescribe, or for the use of any facility or service provided, or for any improvements to the common property made, by the Town Council as it considers necessary.
appoint agents to carry out its functions under this Act or any other Act;
accept gifts and donations whether of property or otherwise and whether subject to any special trust or not; and
FACT 2: How are Town Councils Funded?
Town Councils are primarily funded by:
Conservancy and Service Charges levied upon every flat in any residential or commercial property, and every stall in any market or food centre of the HDB within the town, at such rates determined by the Town Council.
Government Grants – grants are disbursed through the Ministry of National Development (MND), to the grassroots organisations. The 12 members committee which oversees the approval of funds is Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC) are overwhelming make up by PAP members with no opposition members representation
How are the funds used
Town Councils are also required to set-up and maintain sinking funds to enable the carrying out of cyclical repair works
Town Councils may borrow money to carry out its duties, or invest surplus funds in trustee stocks
8 PAP Town Council Lose S$16,000,000 in Risky Financial Products
IN 2008, eight town councils (TC) run by the People's Action Party lose $16 million of sinking funds invested in troubled structured products. The lion's share of $12 million is from Holland-Bukit Panjang ($8 million) and Pasir Ris-Punggol ($4 million). Dr Teo Ho Pin, then chairman of the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council as well as coordinating chairman for the 14 PAP town councils, disclosed this in response to Senior Minister of State (National Development) Grace Fu queries if whether a stricter cap on risky investments was needed.
How are Town Councils Held Accountable?
In the case of non-payment of service and conservancy charges, the Town Councils are also empowered to recover such debts by:
Recovering the arrears due in a Small Claims Tribunal;
Applying to Court for a writ of seizure and sale of property belonging to the owner; and
Imposing a charge and, upon expiry of the notice of intention to sell, dispose of the flat.
Town Councils are also required to keep proper accounts, which must be audited annually. Each year, the Town Council will also display for public inspection estimates of its revenue and expenditure and a list of works proposed to be undertaken for the next financial year. Audited reports must be submitted to the Ministry for National Development for tabling to parliament. The Ministry will then make public its concerns and observations for the benefit of the residents, and publish the Town Council Management Report so residents can keep track of the performance of their Town Council.
FACT 3: REAL PURPOSE OF TOWN COUNCIL SYSTEM
PAP's View:
There are two main reasons for setting up the town council system, as stated by Minister for National Development, Mr Khaw Boon Wan in 2013:
Town Councils were set up to give authority and responsibility to elected Members of Parliament (MPs) to take charge of their constituents’ estate and to allow each Town to develop its own distinctive character under the MPs’ leadership.
Town Councils, so set up, made MPs accountable to their voters for the running of the estate, as these voters can take the MPs’ performance into account when they next go to the polls.
WP's View:
Ms Sylvia Lim, Chairman of Workers' Party in response to MND's claim of Gross Profiteering (make or seek to make an excessive or unfair profit, especially illegally) by former AHPETC's agents FMSS profits in 2013. It is unfortunate that the political environment has put non-PAP town councils at a financial disadvantage due to the lack of competitive bidders. Your Ministry ought to recognise the existence of an imbalanced system and take into consideration the political reality of the situation
NMP's View
Town Councils are inherently political was evident from the outset, and it would be naive to think otherwise. While the main intent of the TC framework was to provide for the decentralisation of the control, management, maintenance and improvement of Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates, the political consequences were even more significant. SMU Associate Professor of Law and Nominated MP Eugene Tan
MND's View
Life is More Complicated than Black and White. You learn to live better with ambivalence, stress and the tensions of sometimes morally difficult situations at a personal level, even though at a professional level you are supposed to be firm, decisive and clear in direction. Town Councils, in the words of Ministry of National Development Permanent Secretary Benny Lim, “were set up for, and fulfil a political purpose”.
Your View ?
This is not a be all and end all article, to reiterate, it aims to present the facts and figures before you for your analysis and judgement. Please feel free to provide your preservative and comments for the learning and education of all electorates. As Voters we have the responsibility to vote wisely and carefully for the future of our nation and for our children. Thank you once again
Whats your view of the town council system .. feel free to comment and share. thank you
Singapore My Home at 20:55
http://sg50election.blogspot.sg/2015/08/3-must-know-secrets-about-how-ahpetc.html?m=1
一针见血。
Majulah Singapura
Singaporeans man your battle stations!
Singapore needs you now!
It is ok if they want to plagiarised what I have been shouting from top of the soap box here.
I happily donate all rights to all that I wrote to Singapore and Singaporeans
OPPOSITIONS ARE THE DIFFERENT FACES OF THE TRUE SINGAPORE
PAP IS THE FACE OF SEPTIC OVERFLOWING TOILET BOWLS AND CORRUPTIONS AND OF STINKAPORE
Cleanse PAP Stinkapore into Singaporeans Singapore.
Vote only opposition
Vote out all the fucking corrupt PAPs
This fight is not just your voting for opposition, any opposition against the PAP
Singaporeans must do much more than just relying on their single vote.
Give them the money to support them in the fight.
Give them your time and energy to support them in the fight
They fight for you Singaporeans
They fight our common enemy
They fight the PAP and cronies, corrupt and rotten to the core, who stole over 180 billions from Singaporeans, and intent on stealing even more from us.
Support Opposition, any Opposition, all Opposition
Regardless if they have primary school, or O levels or A levels or PhD
Regardless if they wear singlets, or tuxedos
Support Opposition, any Opposition, all Opposition
Regardless if they wear slippers, or wear sneakers or shoes
Support Opposition, any Opposition, all Opposition
Even if a rat crawl out of a sewer and stand as Opposition
Even if a cockroach with 6 legs and 2 long feelers at the head become Opposition
They will be much better for Singaporeans than the fucking corrupt perverted PAPs who only think of laughing all the way to their banks and back from the banks
Under the fucking PAP, Singaporeans are the 4th class citizens in their own land stolen from them by PAP
PAPs are the 2nd class citizens with the Lee family as the first class aristocrazies
Fts are taken in as the 3rd class citizens kicking singaporeans into the 4th class and sinkies good only to go head down down and arseholes up high high to be fucked and tiewed by PAPs laughing all the way to their banks.
Singaporeans man your battle stations!
Singapore needs you now!
http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/08/31/urgent-need-for-volunteers-to-help-the-opposition-repost/
[h=2]Urgent need for volunteers to help the opposition (repost)[/h]
August 31st, 2015 |
Author: Contributions
Dear
fellow Opposition supporters,
I have a message that I urgently want to share. The time has come for us to
do our part for Singapore. Nevertheless, we must not repeat the mistakes of
2011.
At the last general elections in 2011, 39.9% voted for the opposition and
this resulted in the opposition winning 6 out of 87 seats. After the election
results, opposition supporters were quick to blame the 60.1% for giving the PAP
such a large majority in parliament and the mandate for unpopular and unwanted
policies like the Population White Paper. Rather than blame the 60.1% for the
results, many of the 39.9% of opposition voters should also blame themselves for
doing nothing except voting against the PAP. Yes, you guys voted against the
PAP. But that is not enough if you want real democratic progress.
How many of the 39.9% actually volunteered to help the opposition parties
they were supporting? Only a small minority! Did you really think your pathetic
one vote was going to be enough to topple the PAP? The GRC system has already
diluted the value of your vote, so your one vote is insufficient. That is why it
is so important for the opposition parties to cover as much of the GRC as
possible during the short 9 day campaign period! If you want to send a strong
message to the PAP, you have to go all out and help the opposition parties to
get the necessary manpower to cover ground. Their activists will be tired and
overstretched as the campaign goes on. Your single contribution may actually
change the outcome in a hotly contested constituency like East Coast GRC,
Holland-Bukit Timah GRC or Marine Parade GRC.
What if an opposition party lost narrowly just because they did not manage to
cover certain parts of your GRC in the short election period? What if the few
house visits that you helped the party conduct garnered that last bit of support
necessary for them to cross the 50% mark?
All you have to do is distribute flyers, hang banners, be a polling agent or
spend a few hours doing house visits. You can even choose what you want to do.
The real battle is not fought at the rally stage but at the HDB heartlands, at
the door of every HDB unit. You do not have to volunteer every single day! You
just need to dedicate an hour or two of your free time to help the opposition
party you believe in. Who knows? You may even get a free party T-shirt as a
souvenir.
If you do nothing other than cursing the PAP online every single day, that is
not going to help make things better for you or anyone else. General elections
come only once every 4 or 5 years. If you are frustrated with the government’s
policies but are not willing to spare even 1 hour during a special 9 day
election period that only occurs once in 4 or 5 years, you cannot say that you
have truly contributed to the Opposition cause. You would then have only
yourself to blame for the election outcome.
If you do not have confidence in the opposition party contesting in your
area, you can always volunteer to help out elsewhere. For instance, my area is
being contested by the NSP. I am going to volunteer with the WP and/or SDP.
Whatever help you render, it beats staying at home and being a passive
observer.
Some among us do not know how to volunteer with an opposition party. Is it so
hard? Nope. You just have to fill up an online form and they’ll contact you.
Here you go!
To volunteer with the Workers’ Party (WP), please fill up this form:
docs.google.com/forms/d/1G-GeVdzvbp2A24sPCnjZcXNjPVtiG7hZIXemkhjUOQ0/viewform
To volunteer with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), please fill up this
form:
secure.jotformpro.com/form/52098152576966
To volunteer with the Singapore Peoples’ Party (SPP), please fill up this
form:
www.spp.org.sg/volunteer-spp
To volunteer with the Singaporeans First party, please fill up this form:
singfirst.org/how-you-can-help
To volunteer with the Peoples’ Power Party (PPP), please fill up this
form:
forms.zohopublic.com/lizixu/form/VolunteerForm/formperma/Ef446mA3k1hA3h4g28BC4fd44
To volunteer with the Reform Party (RP), please fill up this form:
docs.google.com/forms/d/16SxO5fHtXVy8X7UeZN1X08JjA5vOD_tayMitkppRj5o/viewform?c=0&w=1
I strongly recommend volunteering with the WP, SDP or SPP since they will be
involved in the hottest contests this GE and they have the highest chances of
winning. Your single contribution might be crucial in moving the votes in favour
of the opposition. Every one of us, regardless of race, language or religion is
valuable to the opposition cause.
Let’s work together to ensure that we have a better Singapore after this
general election. Thank you.
David
Tan
* Submitted by TRE reader.
It is ok if they want to plagiarised what I have been shouting from top of the soap box here.
I happily donate all rights to all that I wrote to Singapore and Singaporeans
OPPOSITIONS ARE THE DIFFERENT FACES OF THE TRUE SINGAPORE
PAP IS THE FACE OF SEPTIC OVERFLOWING TOILET BOWLS AND CORRUPTIONS AND OF STINKAPORE
Cleanse PAP Stinkapore into Singaporeans Singapore.
Vote only opposition
Vote out all the fucking corrupt PAPs
This fight is not just your voting for opposition, any opposition against the PAP
Singaporeans must do much more than just relying on their single vote.
Give them the money to support them in the fight.
Give them your time and energy to support them in the fight
They fight for you Singaporeans
They fight our common enemy
They fight the PAP and cronies, corrupt and rotten to the core, who stole over 180 billions from Singaporeans, and intent on stealing even more from us.
Support Opposition, any Opposition, all Opposition
Regardless if they have primary school, or O levels or A levels or PhD
Regardless if they wear singlets, or tuxedos
Support Opposition, any Opposition, all Opposition
Regardless if they wear slippers, or wear sneakers or shoes
Support Opposition, any Opposition, all Opposition
Even if a rat crawl out of a sewer and stand as Opposition
Even if a cockroach with 6 legs and 2 long feelers at the head become Opposition
They will be much better for Singaporeans than the fucking corrupt perverted PAPs who only think of laughing all the way to their banks and back from the banks
Under the fucking PAP, Singaporeans are the 4th class citizens in their own land stolen from them by PAP
PAPs are the 2nd class citizens with the Lee family as the first class aristocrazies
Fts are taken in as the 3rd class citizens kicking singaporeans into the 4th class and sinkies good only to go head down down and arseholes up high high to be fucked and tiewed by PAPs laughing all the way to their banks.
If the founder of a political party was a bully, the political party and its members would inevitably also pick up on the bullying DNA.
You can't change their nature.
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