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WP MPs acted in good faith, duties within what were set in Town Councils Act: Lawyer

SINGAPORE — Countering the argument that the three Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament (MPs) had breached their fiduciary duties, or responsibilities entrusted to them in managing the finances and assets of their town council, their lawyer said that they “had acted in good faith” all along and that their actions did not contravene the Town Councils Act.

Ms Sylvia Lim, Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Pritam Singh at the Supreme Court of Singapore on Oct 5, 2018. They are embroiled in two multi-million-dollar civil lawsuits initiated by an independent panel acting on behalf of the Workers' Party-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council as well as Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council.

Ms Sylvia Lim, Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Pritam Singh at the Supreme Court of Singapore on Oct 5, 2018. They are embroiled in two multi-million-dollar civil lawsuits initiated by an independent panel acting on behalf of the Workers' Party-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council as well as Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council.

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SINGAPORE — Countering the argument that the three Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament (MPs) had breached their fiduciary duties, or responsibilities entrusted to them in managing the finances and assets of their town council, their lawyer said that they “had acted in good faith” all along and that their actions did not contravene the Town Councils Act.

Former WP chief Low Thia Khiang, its chairman Sylvia Lim, and party leader Pritam Singh are embroiled in two multi-million-dollar civil lawsuits initiated by an independent panel acting on behalf of the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) as well as Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council.

AHTC is seeking to claim S$33.7 million of “improper” payments made to AHTC’s former managing agent FM Solutions and Services (FMSS), and contractor FM Solutions and Integrated Services (FMSI).

In his opening statement on Friday (Oct 5), Senior Counsel Chelva Retnam Rajah, who is representing the WP MPs and two other town councillors, noted that there is “no basis” to imply that his clients have fiduciary duties that are over and above those set out in the Town Councils Act and the Town Councils Financial Rules.

To illustrate this, he pointed to Section 52 of the Town Councils Act.

It states that “no suit or other legal proceedings shall lie personally against any member, officer or employee of a Town Council or other person acting under the direction of a Town Council for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in the execution or purported execution of this Act or any other Act.”

On that basis, SC Rajah explained that the unique nature of a town council — set up to serve a political purpose — gives MPs “full latitude and autonomy” to manage town council affairs, with little intervention from the Government.

He said that former National Development Minister S Dhanabalan had laid this out when Parliament debated the Town Councils Bill in June 1988.

MPs running town councils can determine the people they employ as well as salaries and fees paid to employees and service providers, Mr Dhanabalan said.

SC Rajah pointed out that one of the objectives of the Government in creating town councils was to encourage residents to be careful when they vote who they want as MPs, since they will be responsible for the managing their estates.

Ultimately, “it is for the electorate to bear the responsibility of their choice in electing the MPs who would represent them”, he added.

UNWILLING AGENTS

At the heart of the WP’s MPs defence is that despite the rush to manage the affairs of Aljunied Town Council, they had acted in good faith and with honesty, while abiding by the Town Councils Act.

The WP took over the town council from the incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP) after winning the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the 2011 General Election. It then merged the town councils of Aljunied GRC and single-seat Hougang ward to form AHTC.

It was previously reported that Mr Low had cautioned his colleagues at Aljunied GRC that none of the experienced managing agents which were employed by the PAP would want to work with the opposition party.

He was speaking from experience because the managing agent of Hougang Town Council had terminated its contract after Mr Low won the ward in the 1991 polls.

SC Rajah noted that a similar scenario played out after WP took over Aljunied Town Council. The managing agent CPG Facilities Management was unwilling to continue its contract under WP, as it would be risky to its business since it also served town councils under PAP.

The urgency to manage its town council's affairs prompted the WP to appoint FMSS as its managing agent without a tender, he added.

On the issue of a conflict of interest, it was raised again in court on Friday that the WP MPs knew Danny Loh Chong Meng and his wife How Weng Fan were shareholders of FMSS, yet the couple also held key positions in the town council.

SC Rajah argued that there was a similar practice in the PAP’s town councils. The managing director of CPG, Mr Jeffrey Chua, was also the secretary for Aljunied Town Council when it was under the ruling party.

Mr Chua had told Ms Lim that there was a system to address the concern, that the town council’s chairman had the authority to make decisions, and that all Mr Chua had to do was to execute the decisions.

However, WP went to put in place an extra check by requiring all payments to FMSS to be signed by the town council’s chairman or vice-chairman, the lawyer said.

SYLVIA LIM, THE ‘SUN’

Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Workers’ Party were all smiles as they walked to the High Court on Friday (Oct 5), the first day of the trial for lawsuits brought against three of them by two town councils.

For much of the time as they faced the photographers snapping pictures of them, former party chief Low Thia Khiang appeared to be shielded by his successor Pritam Singh who is taller and larger in frame.

They and party chairman Sylvia Lim were accompanied by Mr Png Eng Huat, MP for Hougang, Mr Faisal Manap, MP for Aljunied GRC, as well as Non-Constituency MPs Leon Perera, Dennis Tan and Daniel Goh.

The public gallery in the Supreme Court building was packed to the brim, and about an hour into the hearing, a woman walked in bearing a miniature WP flag. She was told to take it out of the courtroom, and did so without fuss.

At the end of his opening statement, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, who was the lead counsel representing Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council, took issue with how Ms Lim is referred to as the “principal witness” in the defendants’ case, yet she “does not wish” to take the stand first.

He added that there was “an interesting development” last week, when he was told by the lawyers representing WP that Mr Low will be testifying first.

Then SC Singh handed the court a chart listing seven instances in which Ms Lim played a “central and pivotal role in the entire scheme” — including how she agreed to appoint the late Danny Loh Chong Meng to key positions at the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council when Loh was a shareholder of FM Solutions and Services (FMSS), which was the town council’s managing agent, as well as how she “misled” the Parliament and the public on the reasons for appointing FMSS.

The WP MPs’ lawyer, Senior Counsel Chelva Retnam Rajah, did not let this go unchallenged. At the close of his oral submissions, he said: “Do plaintiffs have the right to decide the order of witnesses? Surely, that cannot be. Especially when, in the practice of the court, it is always observed and implied that defence (reserves) the right to call witnesses as they (please).”

Pointing to SC Singh’s chart, SC Rajah stated that it might well have placed Ms Lim as the “sun” at the centre “with moons around”, but “we are of conduct that we would like to call Low first”.

“He is in the situation the longest, and he can tell the background as to why things are done (a certain way) after the elections. Then we follow with our ‘sun’, and we call the rest, the ‘moons’,” SC Rajah said to laughter from the audience in the gallery. WONG PEI TING AND FARIS MOKHTAR

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