SAA owes its president $120,000 in entertainment expenses
By Desmond Ng
HE BELIEVES the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) is playing "hardball" with him by auditing his association's accounts.
But the man in the firing line, Singapore Athletics Association (SAA) president Loh Lin Kok, refuses to be cowed.
Mr Loh himself confirmed that the audit report mentioned several "irregularities".
His take on the audit?
"It's no big deal," the 62-year-old said in an exclusive interview with The New Paper yesterday. "We're taking action to contain and confirm all the irregularities."
The SAA was handed the draft audit report on 28 Dec, and was told to respond to it within 30 days.
Sources told The New Paper that a glaring item in the audit is a sum of about $120,000 that is owed to Mr Loh for his entertainment expenses accumulated over four to five years before 2008.
Mr Loh confirmed that this amount is owed to him.
When asked how this big sum came about, he said: "I spent my own money on this association.
'None of my business': "It's up to me whether I want to claim it or not. I've not decided yet because it's my money and it's not their (SSC) business to tell me to write it off or to claim it."
- Singapore Athletics Association president Loh Lin Kok
"For example, the closing dinner of the marathons, business discussions, foreign guests in town, we have to host them and I pay for these dinners and lunches at restaurants and hotels.
"These are legitimate entertainment expenses. I don't spend on myself."
He explained that the SAA does not have a fund for him to claim for entertainment expenses. But he listed them down as he had spent his own money.
Does he plan to claim the money back from the SAA?
Said Mr Loh: "It's up to me whether I want to claim it or not. I've not decided yet because it's my money and it's not their (SSC) business to tell me to write it off or to claim it.
"I have receipts for everything. I've not decided whether to claim it back or write it off."
Mr Loh has had a running battle with the SSC over the past year after funding for the SAA was withdrawn due to its failure to submit budget proposals on time.
The issue became heated last month after the SEA Games in Laos where Singapore won only two gold medals out of the 45 on offer in track and field.
Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), said then that Singapore could not be called a sporting nation unless "things are sorted out in athletics".
"High-risk practices"
Apart from the money owed to Mr Loh, the audit report also highlighted some "high-risk" practices by the SAA, according to sources.
But Mr Loh said his reading of the report was that it vindicated his and the SAA's integrity.
"The objective is to see (if there's) any financial impropriety and excessive expenses. If there was any suggestion of such things, impropriety involved, I would have been closed down long ago," he said .
But the veteran athletics chief didn't hide his displeasure at being audited, which he said was the first time it has happened in the SAA's 75-year history.
Mr Loh has been the SAA's president since 1982, except for a brief hiatus from 2004 to 2006.
He said the SSC sent seven people from its audit team to SAA's office to review their documents in October, a process that lasted about a month.
"All these years, my management committee has been managing the finances. Suddenly,you put in an audit. You go down to the lowest point possible, to the bottom of the barrel, looking for dust," he said.
According to him, the audit uncovered only some"minor housekeeping" issues.
Among them were transport claims for taxi fares and mileage which were not properly justified.
The New Paper understands that some were submitted late and others did not indicate the purpose of the trips taken. SAA's practice of tipping at restaurants was also questioned. Tips of up to $600 were paid at various functions and restaurants without proper documentation.
Said Mr Loh: "All these are housekeeping matters. No one is perfect. Some of these receipts may not have been kept properly. For mileage claims, do they (SSC) expect the staff to put down everything?"
Asked if he would step down because of the audit and the questions it raised about the management of the SAA, Mr Loh said he wouldn't.
He said he was confident because the findings are not significant.
He added: "It (the audit) is the least of my worries. It doesn't compromise my or SAA's integrity. Their own audit shows us to be honest.
"The most important is financial impropriety, such as theft and criminal breach of trust. But none of these things came up, which confirms the association's integrity."
Challenge for his post
But Mr Loh is likely to face a challenge for his post as earlier this week former national runner Cheah Kim Teck, 57, indicated his interest in running for the SAA presidency. The SAA election must be held by June.
Mr Loh's take on Mr Cheah's challenge? "This is a prospective leader. For me, I would love to meet him and see what he stands for, to understand each other and discuss everything," he said.
The SSC, when contacted, declined to comment on the audit report and said this was a matter between it and the SAA. Yesterday, Mr Teo said at the sidelines of a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) event at Republic Polytechnic that SAA needs to respond to the audit to receive funding.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary added: "This partnership (between SSC and SAA) has been going on for a very long time, but they (SAA) must implement the plans that they promised to go through with in order to receive the funding again.
"Because the money is from tax-payers and the public, they have to be very careful of where it goes.
"SAA just needs to submit their audit, work out their plans so that the funding can continue again."
By Desmond Ng
HE BELIEVES the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) is playing "hardball" with him by auditing his association's accounts.
But the man in the firing line, Singapore Athletics Association (SAA) president Loh Lin Kok, refuses to be cowed.
Mr Loh himself confirmed that the audit report mentioned several "irregularities".
His take on the audit?
"It's no big deal," the 62-year-old said in an exclusive interview with The New Paper yesterday. "We're taking action to contain and confirm all the irregularities."
The SAA was handed the draft audit report on 28 Dec, and was told to respond to it within 30 days.
Sources told The New Paper that a glaring item in the audit is a sum of about $120,000 that is owed to Mr Loh for his entertainment expenses accumulated over four to five years before 2008.
Mr Loh confirmed that this amount is owed to him.
When asked how this big sum came about, he said: "I spent my own money on this association.
'None of my business': "It's up to me whether I want to claim it or not. I've not decided yet because it's my money and it's not their (SSC) business to tell me to write it off or to claim it."
- Singapore Athletics Association president Loh Lin Kok
"For example, the closing dinner of the marathons, business discussions, foreign guests in town, we have to host them and I pay for these dinners and lunches at restaurants and hotels.
"These are legitimate entertainment expenses. I don't spend on myself."
He explained that the SAA does not have a fund for him to claim for entertainment expenses. But he listed them down as he had spent his own money.
Does he plan to claim the money back from the SAA?
Said Mr Loh: "It's up to me whether I want to claim it or not. I've not decided yet because it's my money and it's not their (SSC) business to tell me to write it off or to claim it.
"I have receipts for everything. I've not decided whether to claim it back or write it off."
Mr Loh has had a running battle with the SSC over the past year after funding for the SAA was withdrawn due to its failure to submit budget proposals on time.
The issue became heated last month after the SEA Games in Laos where Singapore won only two gold medals out of the 45 on offer in track and field.
Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), said then that Singapore could not be called a sporting nation unless "things are sorted out in athletics".
"High-risk practices"
Apart from the money owed to Mr Loh, the audit report also highlighted some "high-risk" practices by the SAA, according to sources.
But Mr Loh said his reading of the report was that it vindicated his and the SAA's integrity.
"The objective is to see (if there's) any financial impropriety and excessive expenses. If there was any suggestion of such things, impropriety involved, I would have been closed down long ago," he said .
But the veteran athletics chief didn't hide his displeasure at being audited, which he said was the first time it has happened in the SAA's 75-year history.
Mr Loh has been the SAA's president since 1982, except for a brief hiatus from 2004 to 2006.
He said the SSC sent seven people from its audit team to SAA's office to review their documents in October, a process that lasted about a month.
"All these years, my management committee has been managing the finances. Suddenly,you put in an audit. You go down to the lowest point possible, to the bottom of the barrel, looking for dust," he said.
According to him, the audit uncovered only some"minor housekeeping" issues.
Among them were transport claims for taxi fares and mileage which were not properly justified.
The New Paper understands that some were submitted late and others did not indicate the purpose of the trips taken. SAA's practice of tipping at restaurants was also questioned. Tips of up to $600 were paid at various functions and restaurants without proper documentation.
Said Mr Loh: "All these are housekeeping matters. No one is perfect. Some of these receipts may not have been kept properly. For mileage claims, do they (SSC) expect the staff to put down everything?"
Asked if he would step down because of the audit and the questions it raised about the management of the SAA, Mr Loh said he wouldn't.
He said he was confident because the findings are not significant.
He added: "It (the audit) is the least of my worries. It doesn't compromise my or SAA's integrity. Their own audit shows us to be honest.
"The most important is financial impropriety, such as theft and criminal breach of trust. But none of these things came up, which confirms the association's integrity."
Challenge for his post
But Mr Loh is likely to face a challenge for his post as earlier this week former national runner Cheah Kim Teck, 57, indicated his interest in running for the SAA presidency. The SAA election must be held by June.
Mr Loh's take on Mr Cheah's challenge? "This is a prospective leader. For me, I would love to meet him and see what he stands for, to understand each other and discuss everything," he said.
The SSC, when contacted, declined to comment on the audit report and said this was a matter between it and the SAA. Yesterday, Mr Teo said at the sidelines of a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) event at Republic Polytechnic that SAA needs to respond to the audit to receive funding.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary added: "This partnership (between SSC and SAA) has been going on for a very long time, but they (SAA) must implement the plans that they promised to go through with in order to receive the funding again.
"Because the money is from tax-payers and the public, they have to be very careful of where it goes.
"SAA just needs to submit their audit, work out their plans so that the funding can continue again."
