I have never seen a bunch of more white washed, pussy questions that an oppo party can table to the PAP under Parliamentary privlege. These questions are shit useless in trying to put the PAP on the hotseat. If anything, they are so stupid that it makes the PAP answers look like geniuses.
For example,
MP for Aljunied Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for Transport whether members of the PTC, Board members of SMRT and the LTA and the management of Temasek Holdings were aware of both (a) the faults being discovered on trains supplied to the LTA by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang in 2013; and (b) the subsequent train recall exercise.
Do you know what the PAP answer will be? Yes and Yes. And that's it. I humbly suggest that WP take their tabled questions and burn them and use PAPsmearer's questions instead.
1) Why was the contract not awarded to the lowest bid Hyundai Rotem from South Korea and instead awarded to CSR Sifang? The PAP will answer with the only answer they can give. Which is that the CSR bid was of higher quality. In which case the WP should say, "Really". does not seem so.
2) Was there any QC control written into the contract to allow LTA to monitor the production and have access to samples tests of the aluminum and steel used on the production of the trains? If not, why not? Who was responsible for drafting the contracts? And if it was, why did the testing not revealed the defective aluminum?
3) If it was already known in July 2013 about the hairline cracks on car body bolster, and the cracks were so serious that the trains were returned to China starting July 2014, why did LTA place a further order of 91 4 car trains from the same Kawasaki CSR conglomerate in May 2014 worth $749 million? The order further notes that CSR will assemble the aluminum body for the trains. LTA already has documented evidence that CSR aluminum cannot be trusted and yet rewarded this company with a very large contract for shoddy work.
4) What is the relationship between SMRT and LTA in writing specs for rolling stock to be used in singapore. Are the technical specs and the tender details written by SMRT on behalf of LTA? Does SMRT have any say in the awarding of the tenders? Does SMRT have tell LTA what trains from what companies to buy?
5) When can the LTA show the public all the bids from the all the tenders for these trains, including the techincal specs and the bids from other companies that lost?
6) Why was the public not informed about the defects right away and allowed to continue to ride the trains? Why is there such an element of secrecy surrounding these trains? The secrecy extends from the day the bid was announced (no detailed information on why the CSR bid was superior), all the way to the non disclosure to the public of the defects and finally the shipping back of the trains to China. If an independent news network based in HKG had not broken the news, we would still be in the dark. Why is a stat board operating in such secrecy?
7) Has the CPIB and the Auditor General's office been engaged to look into the behaviour and manner in which the bid was awarded, the secrecy surrounding the whole affair, and awarding of subsequent bids to the same train maker? There is obvious suspicious activities here, primarily the continued awarding of large hundre million $ to the same company, for the same product, who in the past have been proven to sell shoddy products to the LTA.
8) What is Chew Hock Yong, Saw Phaik Hwa and Desmond Kuek roles in this debacle? Saw Phaik Hwa left SMRT in Dec 2012 after 2 orders were placed for trains from the same company. Chew Hock Yong was Chief executive for LTA until 2014, he was the one present for all the earlier train orders. What did he know? Why did he order these trains? What was his decision tree?
9) Why did the 2011 COI not mention the defective trains at all, as a possible and probable cause of the widespread breakdowns? Was it wihte washed COI? Will future COI be conducted by an international independent committee instead of from the same people who have a potential conflict of interest?
I think these are the really relevant questions that need to be asked. Not the 2 cents cheap shit questions. Before Scroobal and his buddies on this forum get their panties wet, thinking WP will "humtam" the PAP, I ask them to think again.