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[h=2]CPIB conveniently ‘forgets’ to invite former director to its 60th anniversary celebration[/h]
September 28th, 2012 |
Author: Editorial
CPIB 60th anniversary celebration with the 3 PMs (past and present) and former CPIB directors except one, attending
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) celebrated its 60th anniversary at the Istana on 18 Sep last week. The guests of honour included all 3 Prime Ministers of Singapore, past and present: PM Lee Hsien Loong, ESM Goh Chok Tong and former MM Lee Kuan Yew.
PM Lee Hsien Loong later even wrote on his Facebook page, “Not so often that all three of us attend a ceremony together.”
Other invited guests included all the former CPIB directors except one. For some strange reasons, the current CPIB director Eric Tan seemed to have ‘forgotten’ to invite Mr Yoong Siew Wah, a former CPIB director from 1968 to 1971. Mr Yoong was the first non-expatriate to hold the CPIB directorship after the independence of Singapore.
In fact, Mr Yoong only came to know about his exclusion from the CPIB 60th anniversary celebration from a Straits Times’ news report 1 day after the event.
Mr Yoong said on his blog [Link], “For some strange reason, the current director Eric Tan saw it as ‘prudent’ to withhold invitation to me probably because of the likely presence of Lee Kuan Yew at the celebration, although I was a former director.”
“I was not at all surprised at my exclusion but I was particularly angry that the insensitive Director Eric Tan had not the courtesy to inform me beforehand that I could not be invited to the celebration and that I had to learn of it from the press.”
Mr Yoong made no bones about his disgust with former MM Lee Kuan Yew.
He said, “True, my disgust of the hubristic Lee Kuan Yew could make my presence at the celebration a big embarrassment to him.”
He then wrote a letter to Director Eric Tan on 19 Sep to voice his resentment at Mr Tan’s lack of civility in dealing with the matter.
In the letter, Mr Yoong said, “I was not surprised but extremely disappointed that you had, whether wittingly or unwittingly, excluded me from your invitation of former CPIB directors to your glitteringly celebration… you may have been put in an invidious position, and I sympathised with you, to have to make that unkind decision because of your awareness of my not infrequent castigation of the highfalutin Lee Kuan Yew in my blog. My presence at the anniversary celebration would have caused not inconsiderable embarrassment to that demigod. I do not wish to discuss my reasons for my utter disgust of this man.”
“Instead of reading it in the press, would it not have been more gracious of you to have the courtesy to inform me beforehand of your well-advised decision of not inviting me to the celebration because of possible embarrassment to Lee Kuan Yew?”
Mr Yoong added that in any case, his health condition would not have allowed him to go to the celebration and that he would have politely declined the invitation anyway. Mr Yoong is currently more than 80 years old.
Mr Yoong then ended the letter by saying, “I do not have any grudge with you (Eric Tan). I only hope that you will show more consideration to me if there is any such misunderstanding in future.”
Almost 10 days have passed since Mr Yoong wrote the letter to Director Eric Tan and he has not received any reply from the Director.
Mr Yoong wrote on this blog, “Is it arrogance or lack of civility or a combination of both that prompted the intransigent behaviour of Director Eric Tan in not replying to a former director and a former colleague? Could recent publicity about the CPIB have gone into his head?”
In the days before the Internet, such incidents would have been swept under the carpet and not been noticed or reported. But thanks to the Internet and social media, Mr Yoong can report this news himself on his own blog, with social media and alternate sites picking it up and helping to transmit it to the public to read.
Director Eric Tan does owe Mr Yoong an explanation and it is only courteous that he replies to Mr Yoong’s letter. Perhaps the Director thought that Mr Yoong’s letter to him will never be noticed or reported?
.
Editor’s note: Mr Yoong Siew Wah was the Director of Singapore’s Internal Security Department (ISD) from 1971 to 1974. Before his stint with ISD, he was the Director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) from 1968 to 1971. The SPH book “Men in White”, alleged in page 441 that Mr Yoong was asked to quit CPIB in 1971 after he was “suspected” of using his personal influence to assist his friend Mr Francis Seow, then the ex-Solicitor General of Singapore in a case. Mr Yoong rebuked the allegations as baseless on his blog. He is now retired and blogs at http://singaporerecalcitrant.blogspot.com.
.
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The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) celebrated its 60th anniversary at the Istana on 18 Sep last week. The guests of honour included all 3 Prime Ministers of Singapore, past and present: PM Lee Hsien Loong, ESM Goh Chok Tong and former MM Lee Kuan Yew.
PM Lee Hsien Loong later even wrote on his Facebook page, “Not so often that all three of us attend a ceremony together.”
Other invited guests included all the former CPIB directors except one. For some strange reasons, the current CPIB director Eric Tan seemed to have ‘forgotten’ to invite Mr Yoong Siew Wah, a former CPIB director from 1968 to 1971. Mr Yoong was the first non-expatriate to hold the CPIB directorship after the independence of Singapore.
In fact, Mr Yoong only came to know about his exclusion from the CPIB 60th anniversary celebration from a Straits Times’ news report 1 day after the event.
Mr Yoong said on his blog [Link], “For some strange reason, the current director Eric Tan saw it as ‘prudent’ to withhold invitation to me probably because of the likely presence of Lee Kuan Yew at the celebration, although I was a former director.”
“I was not at all surprised at my exclusion but I was particularly angry that the insensitive Director Eric Tan had not the courtesy to inform me beforehand that I could not be invited to the celebration and that I had to learn of it from the press.”
Mr Yoong made no bones about his disgust with former MM Lee Kuan Yew.
He said, “True, my disgust of the hubristic Lee Kuan Yew could make my presence at the celebration a big embarrassment to him.”
He then wrote a letter to Director Eric Tan on 19 Sep to voice his resentment at Mr Tan’s lack of civility in dealing with the matter.
In the letter, Mr Yoong said, “I was not surprised but extremely disappointed that you had, whether wittingly or unwittingly, excluded me from your invitation of former CPIB directors to your glitteringly celebration… you may have been put in an invidious position, and I sympathised with you, to have to make that unkind decision because of your awareness of my not infrequent castigation of the highfalutin Lee Kuan Yew in my blog. My presence at the anniversary celebration would have caused not inconsiderable embarrassment to that demigod. I do not wish to discuss my reasons for my utter disgust of this man.”
“Instead of reading it in the press, would it not have been more gracious of you to have the courtesy to inform me beforehand of your well-advised decision of not inviting me to the celebration because of possible embarrassment to Lee Kuan Yew?”
Mr Yoong added that in any case, his health condition would not have allowed him to go to the celebration and that he would have politely declined the invitation anyway. Mr Yoong is currently more than 80 years old.
Mr Yoong then ended the letter by saying, “I do not have any grudge with you (Eric Tan). I only hope that you will show more consideration to me if there is any such misunderstanding in future.”
Almost 10 days have passed since Mr Yoong wrote the letter to Director Eric Tan and he has not received any reply from the Director.
Mr Yoong wrote on this blog, “Is it arrogance or lack of civility or a combination of both that prompted the intransigent behaviour of Director Eric Tan in not replying to a former director and a former colleague? Could recent publicity about the CPIB have gone into his head?”
In the days before the Internet, such incidents would have been swept under the carpet and not been noticed or reported. But thanks to the Internet and social media, Mr Yoong can report this news himself on his own blog, with social media and alternate sites picking it up and helping to transmit it to the public to read.
Director Eric Tan does owe Mr Yoong an explanation and it is only courteous that he replies to Mr Yoong’s letter. Perhaps the Director thought that Mr Yoong’s letter to him will never be noticed or reported?
.
Editor’s note: Mr Yoong Siew Wah was the Director of Singapore’s Internal Security Department (ISD) from 1971 to 1974. Before his stint with ISD, he was the Director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) from 1968 to 1971. The SPH book “Men in White”, alleged in page 441 that Mr Yoong was asked to quit CPIB in 1971 after he was “suspected” of using his personal influence to assist his friend Mr Francis Seow, then the ex-Solicitor General of Singapore in a case. Mr Yoong rebuked the allegations as baseless on his blog. He is now retired and blogs at http://singaporerecalcitrant.blogspot.com.
.
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