Sengkang Town Council appoints independent panel to handle upcoming court appeals
SINGAPORE — The new Sengkang Town Council (SKTC) has appointed an independent panel to make decisions on its behalf for matters relating to upcoming appeals against a High Court judgement involving the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC).

With Punggol East ward being part of Sengkang Group Representation Constituency, the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council’s transfer of the area’s assets and liabilities to Sengkang Town Council include pending appeals related to a High Court judgement.
SINGAPORE — The new Sengkang Town Council (SKTC) has appointed an independent panel to make decisions on its behalf for matters relating to upcoming appeals against a High Court judgement involving the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC).
SKTC said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Sept 8) that senior counsels Kenneth Tan and Lok Vi Ming, as well as Dr Kevin Tan, a law professor with the National University of Singapore, were appointed on Sept 5.
It added that the appointments followed its previous public statement that it is fully committed to ensuring that all decisions taken in relation to the appeals are “fair, transparent and in accordance with the law”.
On Oct 28, PRPTC will be transferring all assets and liabilities relating to areas that were once part of Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Punggol East Single Member Constituency (SMC) to SKTC on Oct 28.
SKTC was formed to manage Sengkang GRC, a newly formed constituency that was won by the Workers’ Party (WP) during this year's General Election.
Sengkang GRC is made of parts of the Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC before the new boundaries were drawn, along with Sengkang West SMC and Punggol East SMC.
Punggol East SMC was run by WP, under the combined Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol Town Council, when WP member Lee Li Lian won the seat in the 2013 Punggol East by-election.
After the ruling People’s Action Party wrested back Punggol East in the 2015 General Election, Punggol East was then managed by PRPTC, which have sued WP’s former chief Low Thia Khiang, WP’s chairman Sylvia Lim, WP’s current chief Pritam Singh and other town councillors for losses the SMC incurred while it was under their watch.
With Punggol East now part of Sengkang GRC, PRPTC’s transfer of the area’s assets and liabilities to SKTC include the pending court appeals.
In its statement on Tuesday, SKTC said that the independent panel will at all times act independently and impartially in the best interests of the town council.
The three members on the independent panel for SKTC have also agreed to not be paid for their services.
“SKTC expresses its deep appreciation and gratitude to Mr Kenneth Tan SC (Senior Counsel), Mr Lok Vi Ming SC and Dr Kevin Tan for agreeing to take up their respective appointments,” its Facebook post read.