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[h=2]What Secretary-General Lee Hsien Loong of the PAP should AIM for[/h]
January 11th, 2013 |
Author: Contributions
Tan Wah Biao
On the 8th January, Lee Hsien Loong in his capacity as Prime Minister ordered the Ministry of National Development (MND) to review “the sale of Town Council (TC) management software belonging to PAP TCs”.
This decision was taken after a rather momentous few weeks when Singapore cyberspace was saturated with critical comments of the AIM saga. Within 24 hours, he also ordered the by-election for Punggol East, hence putting to rest yet another issue of contention brought about by the Government’s initial reluctance to set a date for the event.
Watching the AIM saga from 8000 miles away, I was inspired enough to circulate my comments (written on to 5 Jan) to friends in Singapore. The short essay was eventually published in Public House Sg.
In my essay, I stated the following:
In any democratic society with a free press, one would expect the mainstream print and audio-visual media to be saturated with critical articles, demanding satisfactory responses from the prime minister downwards. Well, readers know more than me that this is not the case in Singapore.
Furthermore, in a democratic society, an issue attracting such a high level of public concern on governance would naturally propel the ruling party, for its own selfish electoral survival at the next elections, be it general election or by-election, to do any one of, if not all, of the following:
(1) The PAP should at least admit to ‘errors of judgement’, dismantle AIM, return the profits, revert to the pre-AIM status quo, and resolve the Aljunied Town Council controversy;
(2) Agree to reveal all similar commercial vehicles controlled by the PAP, or its nominees, and subject them to public scrutiny;
(3) Ensure an appropriate resignation of at least one senior minister to satisfy the public demands for accountability;
(4) Arrange a special parliamentary session for an open debate on the issue; and
(5) Order a public independent inquiry with remit to investigate not just the issues arising from the AIM saga, but all similar institutions. The inquiry should have the power to summon witnesses and demand materials; it shall have the power to coerce the co-operation of all involved. The inquiry should be televised and a report should be ready within six months.
I don’t wish to prejudge the outcome of the MND, but it’s remit falls far short of the public democratic expectation. The MND would, at the highest, investigate the AIM transaction to “satisfy itself that public funds were safeguarded and residents’ interests were not compromised”. (PM statement).
But surely there are also issues of good governance, and public concerns as to why such a PAP commercial vehicle was not previously known, and how many more similar vehicles are there, and their activities.
As AIM is a ruling party vehicle, Lee Hsien Loong as the Secretary General of the PAP, has a duty to account for it. Will the Secretary-General use the opportunity of the Punggol East by-election to clear the air?
Well, this is how politics ought to be conducted in a democracy.
.
Tan Wah Piow
On the 8th January, Lee Hsien Loong in his capacity as Prime Minister ordered the Ministry of National Development (MND) to review “the sale of Town Council (TC) management software belonging to PAP TCs”.
This decision was taken after a rather momentous few weeks when Singapore cyberspace was saturated with critical comments of the AIM saga. Within 24 hours, he also ordered the by-election for Punggol East, hence putting to rest yet another issue of contention brought about by the Government’s initial reluctance to set a date for the event.
Watching the AIM saga from 8000 miles away, I was inspired enough to circulate my comments (written on to 5 Jan) to friends in Singapore. The short essay was eventually published in Public House Sg.
In my essay, I stated the following:
In any democratic society with a free press, one would expect the mainstream print and audio-visual media to be saturated with critical articles, demanding satisfactory responses from the prime minister downwards. Well, readers know more than me that this is not the case in Singapore.
Furthermore, in a democratic society, an issue attracting such a high level of public concern on governance would naturally propel the ruling party, for its own selfish electoral survival at the next elections, be it general election or by-election, to do any one of, if not all, of the following:
(1) The PAP should at least admit to ‘errors of judgement’, dismantle AIM, return the profits, revert to the pre-AIM status quo, and resolve the Aljunied Town Council controversy;
(2) Agree to reveal all similar commercial vehicles controlled by the PAP, or its nominees, and subject them to public scrutiny;
(3) Ensure an appropriate resignation of at least one senior minister to satisfy the public demands for accountability;
(4) Arrange a special parliamentary session for an open debate on the issue; and
(5) Order a public independent inquiry with remit to investigate not just the issues arising from the AIM saga, but all similar institutions. The inquiry should have the power to summon witnesses and demand materials; it shall have the power to coerce the co-operation of all involved. The inquiry should be televised and a report should be ready within six months.
I don’t wish to prejudge the outcome of the MND, but it’s remit falls far short of the public democratic expectation. The MND would, at the highest, investigate the AIM transaction to “satisfy itself that public funds were safeguarded and residents’ interests were not compromised”. (PM statement).
But surely there are also issues of good governance, and public concerns as to why such a PAP commercial vehicle was not previously known, and how many more similar vehicles are there, and their activities.
As AIM is a ruling party vehicle, Lee Hsien Loong as the Secretary General of the PAP, has a duty to account for it. Will the Secretary-General use the opportunity of the Punggol East by-election to clear the air?
Well, this is how politics ought to be conducted in a democracy.
.
Tan Wah Piow
...what is this fella AIMing at ? Why write so cheem until macham a lawyer.Is he a lawyer or what?
