Business as usual at Sweetlands despite probe

SINGAPORE — In light of police investigations into two directors of Sweetlands Childcare over unauthorised withdrawals from several Child Development Accounts (CDAs), parents whose children are attending centres run by the childcare chain said they would watch developments closely, and the operator has issued a notice assuring parents that it is “business as usual”. 

Notices were posted outside several Sweetlands branches that TODAY visited, stating that despite the ongoing investigations, Sweetlands Children is operating “as per normal”, and urging parents not to be alarmed. 

“Rest assured that there are no implications to the daily operations of the centre, and business is as usual,” read the notice issued by the management of the childcare chain. 

“Sweetlands will be cooperating with the relevant authorities and will furnish whatever details necessary to expedite this investigation,” it added.

Sweetlands runs 11 centres in Singa­pore, and has about 780 children under its care. 

Yesterday (July 29), the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said an audit found that the Approved Persons (APs) of the childcare chain, Madam Chan Chew Shia and her husband, Mr Ho Boon Hong, had made unauthorised withdrawals from the CDAs of several children, as well as wrongful claims for childcare subsidies from the Government.

APs are authorised persons of approved institutions registered with the MSF who are allowed to make deductions from CDAs for the payment of childcare and related fees. The amount of money deposited by parents in CDAs is matched dollar-for-dollar by the Government.

Some of the parents interviewed by TODAY said they were unlikely to be affected, as they did not pay childcare fees through CDAs. Mr Eric Low, 33, who was picking up his two-and-a-half-year-old child at the Woodlands Drive 50 branch, said: “I am not worried as school fees for my child are paid by cash.”

Mr Chandra, 41, the father of another two-and-a-half-year-old, also pays childcare fees in cash. He said: “I think this childcare centre is very good.”

Ms Sally Ang, 55, who was picking up her two-year-old grandson at the centre, said: “I am not worried about this, but I hope to hear more about the progress of the investigations.”

Mr Simon Soh, 45, the father of a five-year-old child, said: “I have no choice but to wait for the investigations to be completed. I hope they (are not responsible) for committing the act.”

Staff at Sweetlands’ centres have declined to comment. 

Ms Lurvin Lee-Yuen, operations manager of Just Kids Group, which runs eight childcare centres, said each of its centres has an accounting clerk who performs audit checks on whether the monies deducted tally with the number of children signed up for CDAs. “Audit checks are done on a monthly basis because we have to close accounts every month,” she said.

Each centre has an administrator who handles CDA account deductions, which are checked by the principal. An approved list is submitted to the company’s cluster management, and extra deductions will be queried, said Ms Lee-Yuen. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LYNETTE TAN