Imagine within 12 hours of UK referendum results, the PM, the DPM, the Defence Minister and Lawrence Wong took to the Internet to make their views known. 2 Ex Senior Civil servants also joined in to give their forthright views. In this case, not a single middle or senior member of the Public Service or members of the cabinet were prepared to face Singaporeans to address what is clearly a huge issue. It is indeed a huge issue as it involves public funds and the continued MRT mishaps for last 8 years calls for answers and transparency. The fact that no one wants to put his name to any of the explanations suggest that they have no confidence in what they have been told and probably need more time to get to the heart of it.
As this is now a national issue, and since they can't explain themselves it best to release the reports.
It will be really sad if they let time pass and let things get buried and forgotten like the call to identify those responsible for the Hep C deaths.
It appears to me that they are very busy behind the scenes, and will be making an announcement soon. My understanding is that the situation has gotten so bad because not only is it shown that they :
1) Bought defective trains and apparently did not due diligence,
2) They also did not go with the low bidder, and
3) They tried to cover it up when there were apparent safety issues due to structural cracks,
4) They appeared to have paid much more for the trains then other customers in the world,
Right now, they are negotiating the fall guy. They have to chop a head off and are busy negtiating which one it will be. The main candidates for the demotion are Khaw, Quek, Chew, and non of them want to go peacefully. Once one of them has been arrowed to take the bullet, then negotiations have to be conducted as to how much compensation they will receive and where will their new post be and how much will they earn at the new position. This is what is taking so long.
Khaw is pretty much teflon at this point, as he is a long time minister in big portfolios. Even though he fucked up everyone of them in the past, they cannot get rid of him, because that would mean the second change in transport minister in only 2 years. So for appearances sake, they will leave him there.
Dessie the Quack is the most logical fall guy, but his is the prominent face of the SMRT org, and it might actually save his ass. If he is to be fired, then his entourage from the SAF has to go to. He announced when he joined SMRT that he was bringing 4 ex RSAF jackass with him. If he is fired, then it also means that the PAP has admitted scholar generals and their minions are not suited to run GLCs. The fall out among the SAF scholar system might be huge as their iron rice bowl is now not guaranteed.
In my mind, Chew Men Leong will take the fall. Since he left the SAF in 2011, he has been moved rapidly through so many stat boards and GLCs, his head must be spinning. Although this whole mess is not of his making, he is the least prominent of the 3 monkeys mentioned above. I expect him to be re-assigned to another position soon. After he left SAF, he was CEO PUB, then BOD of Jurong Port, then CEO of EWIDC, Chairman of PUB Consultants, plus at least 2 other appointments. Moving him on will just seem like another super short temporary stay as with his other prior appointments.
