Shanmugam, Low continue war of words over AHPETC

SINGAPORE — Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam today (Sept 4) rebutted Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang’s claims that the accounts of the Hougang Town Council were in surplus when it merged with Aljunied Town Council in 2011, as the verbal sparring continued between the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the WP over the financial management lapses at the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).

Speaking to reporters in Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency — where the WP also turned up to canvass for support — Mr Shanmugam pointed out that Hougang Town Council’s annual report for the year ending March 31, 2011 showed that it had an operating deficit of S$91,800, and an accumulated deficit of S$8,700 for that financial year.

“It really troubles me that Mr Low will mislead Singaporeans … he must think that Singaporeans cannot read accounts,” said Mr Shanmugam, who spoke to the media on the AHPETC issue on two separate occasions today.

He also asked Mr Low “not to engage in a smoke and mirrors exercise”. “Treat Singaporeans with respect. And respect means being honest,” he said. Mr Shamugam added: “Ask (Mr Low) if he dares to read out to Singaporeans what his auditors said about the state of Hougang’s finances as of March 31, 2011 and the concerns they express about Hougang Town Council as a going concern. I think people who understand accounts will understand what (the auditors) mean.”

Today, Mr Low said he was “getting tired” of the PAP’s questioning on the matter, and accused the ruling party of “going in circles” after the opposition party had already provided answers.

In response, Mr Shanmugam said the PAP was keen to focus on Singapore’s future in the elections but he pointed to the fact that it was the WP which had raised the AHPETC issue at its first rally on Wednesday, and the PAP had to respond because the WP had “said things which we thought were not accurate”.

“It was they who started out on their rally and spent a long time in the rally talking about it. And because they said things which we thought were not accurate, we had to respond,” said Mr Shanmugam, adding that “integrity is a key issue”.

He added: “The record is there. What they have said in Parliament, what is said earlier, people can read it themselves ... In our view, the focus should be on the future, who can best serve Singapore, who can best represent residents in Parliament ... If you look at the speeches of the Prime Minister, we have been focusing and we will continue to focus on what this election means for Singaporeans.”

Mr Low, who was lending his support to the WP Nee Soon GRC candidates, said it was “unproductive” to continue engaging the PAP on the issue. “We have actually answered the questions, but they keep on coming back (with) the same questions, looking at the same angle, and I think there is no end to it,” said Mr Low.

He added that the issue had already been discussed “over and over again”, including at a two-day debate in Parliament. “What they are coming up (with now) is basically the same thing again. I am getting tired of this ... I think it is very unproductive to do this in the election. We would like to move on to the issues we want to focus on, and our campaign theme,” he said.

Mr Low reiterated that the town council’s latest audited accounts for the financial year 2014/15 have been submitted and made public. Singaporeans can “make (their) own judgment”, he said.

“Rather than we going round and round in circles and there’s no end to it ... This is an election, the election is important. I expect this to be a landmark election, and our campaign theme is ‘Empower Your Future’, we want to look towards the future,” he said.

At the WP’s first rally on Wednesday, party chairman Sylvia Lim sought to debunk what she described as “myths” about AHPETC that were spread by the PAP.

Yesterday, the Ministry of National Development issued a point-by-point rebuttal, in which it referred to an article by The New Paper which stated, among other things, that the AHPETC had tried to claw back S$450,000 from its former managing agent, FM Solutions & Services.

At a walkabout in Fengshan with other WP candidates today, Ms Lim was asked by the media to comment on the MND’s rebuttal. She said: “I’m just appalled that the ministry is asking us to confirm a New Paper report which has a lot of inaccuracies.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AMANDA LEE