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[h=2][/h]Published by The Online Citizen on December 21, 2012
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<fb:like class="fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" width="450" send="true" fb-xfbml-state="rendered" show_faces="false"><IFRAME style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 450px; HEIGHT: 24px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" id=f9678b8da6ae69 class=fb_ltr title="Like this content on Facebook." src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?api_key=394306410608530&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&channel_url=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter.php%3Fversion%3D18%23cb%3Df1b9f73e2aa34ad%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Ftheonlinecitizen.com%252Ff25c424ed25499%26domain%3Dtheonlinecitizen.com%26relation%3Dparent.parent&href=http%3A%2F%2Ftheonlinecitizen.com%2F2012%2F12%2Fpap-mis-aimed-faces-blowback%2F&node_type=1&width=450&layout=standard&colorscheme=light&show_faces=false&send=true&extended_social_context=false" frameBorder=0 allowTransparency name=f227ec5920894f4 scrolling=no></IFRAME></fb:like><!-- AddThis Button Begin -->By Alex Au -
I am a little surprised the story about town council computer and financial systems is not getting as much traction as I think it deserves. Perhaps with the Michael Palmer affair, workers going on strike and climbing cranes, and now a school principal being investigated for corruption, it just got buried by more attention-grabbing news.However, my sense is that this has the potential to be a big story, causing enormous damage to the People’s Action Party (PAP). Possibly too, the Workers’ Party knows more than they are revealing.It began with the government trying to be too smart for its own good. The Ministry of National Development said, in its latest Town Council Management Review, that Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) got a red score — the worst band — over its management of arrears of service and conservancy charges. Its score for corporate governance was shown in the review as “pending”, with the explanation that “Aljunied-Hougang TC has yet to submit their auditor’s Management Letter, which is material to the banding of the corporate governance indicator”. Everyone knew what the message was: that the Workers’ Party, which runs AHTC, is incompetent. Many in the PAP must have been gleeful for the chance to take this potshot at the Workers’ Party.On 14 December 2012, Sylvia Lim, chair of AHTC — she is also chair of the Workers’ Party — issued a statement that attributed difficulties faced by ATHC to the sudden withdrawal of the provider of computer and financial systems just after the party took over the running of the town council. She said:
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<fb:like class="fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" width="450" send="true" fb-xfbml-state="rendered" show_faces="false"><IFRAME style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 450px; HEIGHT: 24px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" id=f9678b8da6ae69 class=fb_ltr title="Like this content on Facebook." src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?api_key=394306410608530&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&channel_url=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter.php%3Fversion%3D18%23cb%3Df1b9f73e2aa34ad%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Ftheonlinecitizen.com%252Ff25c424ed25499%26domain%3Dtheonlinecitizen.com%26relation%3Dparent.parent&href=http%3A%2F%2Ftheonlinecitizen.com%2F2012%2F12%2Fpap-mis-aimed-faces-blowback%2F&node_type=1&width=450&layout=standard&colorscheme=light&show_faces=false&send=true&extended_social_context=false" frameBorder=0 allowTransparency name=f227ec5920894f4 scrolling=no></IFRAME></fb:like><!-- AddThis Button Begin -->By Alex Au -
I am a little surprised the story about town council computer and financial systems is not getting as much traction as I think it deserves. Perhaps with the Michael Palmer affair, workers going on strike and climbing cranes, and now a school principal being investigated for corruption, it just got buried by more attention-grabbing news.However, my sense is that this has the potential to be a big story, causing enormous damage to the People’s Action Party (PAP). Possibly too, the Workers’ Party knows more than they are revealing.It began with the government trying to be too smart for its own good. The Ministry of National Development said, in its latest Town Council Management Review, that Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) got a red score — the worst band — over its management of arrears of service and conservancy charges. Its score for corporate governance was shown in the review as “pending”, with the explanation that “Aljunied-Hougang TC has yet to submit their auditor’s Management Letter, which is material to the banding of the corporate governance indicator”. Everyone knew what the message was: that the Workers’ Party, which runs AHTC, is incompetent. Many in the PAP must have been gleeful for the chance to take this potshot at the Workers’ Party.On 14 December 2012, Sylvia Lim, chair of AHTC — she is also chair of the Workers’ Party — issued a statement that attributed difficulties faced by ATHC to the sudden withdrawal of the provider of computer and financial systems just after the party took over the running of the town council. She said:After the [general election] in May 2011, the Town Council was served with a notice that the Town Council’s Computer and Financial Systems will be terminated with effect from 1 August 2011 due to material changes to the membership of the Town Council. This Computer and Financial Systems had been developed jointly by the 14 PAP Town Councils over a period of more than 15 months but was in January 2011 sold to and leased back from M/s Action Information Management Pte Ltd, a company which was dormant. This effectively meant that ATHC had to develop its own equivalent systems, in particular a Financial System, within a 2 months’ timeframe.– http://www.ahtc.org.sg/ahtc/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/TCMR-Media-Release.pdf
A few days later Action Information Management (AIM) tried to defend itself by saying that it would have continued to extend the lease of the systems to the town council if WP had asked for it.But yesterday, AIM’s chairman S. Chandra Das said in a letter to The Straits Times: “If AHTC had asked for a longer extension, AIM would have similarly agreed. However, after the second extension, AHTC did not ask for further extension.”The first extension was until Aug 31 and the next, until Sept 9, added Mr Chandra Das.Last night, Ms Lim said the first extension was achieved through an intermediary, who said the extra month had to be “fought for”.She said: “We were certainly not given to understand that there could be any extension after this.”– Straits Times, 18 Dec 2012, WP, computer firm argue over lease
The name Chandra Das would ring a bell: he was a former PAP member of parliament. In fact, it was soon revealed that AIM”s three directors were all former PAP MPs: Chandra Das, Chew Heng Ching and Mr Lau Ping Sum.Then — I think it was TR Emeritus which broke the story — it was revealed that AIM had a paid-up capital of only $2. Chandra Das and Lau each owned one share (of $1). The company’s registered office (at 36 Robinson Road #17-01, City House, Singapore 068877) was also a shell office.As Sylvia Lim pointed out, the questions have to be: Why did the PAP Town Councils relinquish ownership of the computer and financial system, and how much did they sell it to AIM for? It was probably developed with taxpayer money by the 14 town councils, with much input and support from tax-payer-paid town council staff, unless — and it is hard to believe — the PAP paid for the development of the system.What is even more curious is that the service agreement with AIM allows AIM to terminate the contract with only one month’s notice should there be a material change to the composition of the town council. As Sylvia Lim asked: “How is it in the public interest to have such a thing?” (ibid).The carcass smells even worse than a week’s garbage lying in the hot sun.TOC thanks Alex for us to republish the article, view full article on his blog here.
