I am doing this not for TOC, not for my cat or fish but for Myself! Yes, I owe it to myself. – Comment posted on TOC. (See below)
Last week, TOC published an editorial entitled: Our money, our right to know. This highlighted the inadequate response of the coordinating chairman for the PAP Town Councils (TC), Dr Teo Ho Pin when queried about TC investments. He stated that he could not reveal TC investment strategies.
Subsequently, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan has publicly contradicted that position, telling the Sunday Times that:
‘Each town council has the duty to explain to its residents how it invests its funds, what is its philosophy, what are the risks it takes’. (Sunday Times, Nov 23)
Some may be tempted to be cynical, and dismiss this statement by Minister Mah as an attempt to bring closure to this issue. But TOC believes that this is a good opportunity for citizens to demand some accountability from our elected representatives.
Hence, we have prepared a template letter that you can use to request your own TC for full information on investments that they may have made. The MPs are our elected representatives, it is our money that they are investing, and it is our right to have this information.
You may cut and paste the template provided below and either email or snail-mail to your respective TCs. If possible, please send an email copy to TOC ( theonlinecitizen@gmail.com ), so that we can track the number of queries that have been sent. Please also keep TOC updated on any responses that you receive; we will collate this information on the investment of public funds, and make it publicly available. Singaporeans deserve this transparency.
Choo Zheng Xi/Editor-in-Chief
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Template
To: The Town Council Chairperson
Re: Investments of sinking funds
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am a resident of the Town Council which you chair. In light of the recent revelations in Parliament about certain Town Councils having exposed their sinking funds to troubled structured products that may now be worthless, I would like to ask for details on how the funds that have been collected from residents over the years are being invested.
Specifically, I would like to request for the following information:
1) Full and transparent disclosure of all investments currently held by the Town Council (whether they are structured products, stocks, bonds, fixed deposits or others), made using sinking funds
2) In particular, whether sinking funds have been used to invest in any structured products that are not related to Lehman Brothers, but which may now be at risk
3) The performance of the Town Council’s investments over the past three years, and whether these performance figures are based only last audited figures or include recent investment losses and/or write-offs
4) What would the performance have been, if the Town Council had used all investable funds to purchase 10-year SGS bonds instead
5) Who were the qualified persons who had advised the Town Council on its investments, and how were they appointed
6) Whether the Town Council had purchased securities or otherwise placed any investments with these qualified persons, and if so, how the Town Council had addressed the apparent conflict of interest
7) Whether the Town Council believes that it had been missold any investments (whether related to Lehman Brothers or otherwise), and if so whether the Town Council intends to take action for such misselling.
8 ) Whether there are any minutes or records of the Town Council’s deliberations on decisions to invest in structured products, and if so whether the Town Council intends to disclose them
I would like to remind you of the statement made by Minister for National Development Mr Mah Bow Tan:
“Each town council has the duty to explain to its residents how it invests its funds, what is its philosophy, what are the risks it takes”. (Sunday Times November 23)
I trust that you would agree that we residents deserve nothing less than full transparency and a complete accounting of what has happened, so that we can rest assured that our sinking funds have been appropriately handled.
I look forward to your early reply.
Yours Sincerely,
(Name)
(Address, Constituency)
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Addresses and emails of town councils and Members of Parliament
Aljunied TC
Serangoon North Office, Blk 147 Serangoon North Avenue 1, #01-421 , S550147
Fax: 6288 2009
Chairman: MDM CYNTHIA PHUA : cynthia.phua@aljuniedgrc.org.sg
Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang Town Council
Ave 10 Office
Blk 528 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, #01-2385, S 560528
Tel: 6456 1633, Fax: 6456 1225
Chairman: MR INDERJIT SINGH : inderjit@singnet.com.sg
West Coast-Ayer Rajah Town Council:
Clementi Office
Block 444 Clementi Avenue 3, #01-123/125
S 120444
Tel: 1800-776 0271
Fax: 6775 1814
Chairman: MR ARTHUR FONG : arthur39@singnet.com.sg
Tanjong Pagar TC:
Block 166 Bukit Merah Central, #03-3527 , Singapore 150166
Tel: 6272 6415, Fax: 6272 6415
Chairman: ASSOC PROF KOO TSAI KEE : kootk@mindef.gov.sg
Hong Kah Town Council
309 Choa Chu Kang Ave 4, #02-02 Choa Chu Kang Centre
Singapore 680309
Tel: 6764 3295, Fax: 6764 7208
Chairman: MR ANG MONG SENG : amshktc@singnet.com.sg
Jurong Town Council
Main Office
Blk 255 Jurong East Street 24, #01-303 , Singapore 600255
Tel: 6561 2222, Fax: 6562 4997
Chairman: MDM HALIMAH YACOB : halimah@ntuc.org.sg
Pasir Ris-Punggol TC
Pasir Ris Office
Blk 577 Pasir Ris St 53, #01-88, Singapore 510577
Tel: 6585 4938, Fax: 6585 4937
Chairman: DR AHMAD MOHD MAGAD : amm@ii-vi.com.sg
Sembawang TC
Woodlands Office
Blk 306A Woodlands St 31, #02-00, S(731306)
Tel: 6368 3100, Fax: 6368 2271
Chairman: MR HAWAZI DAIPI : hawazi@mom.gov.sg , hawazi@moh.gov.sg
Bishan Toa Payoh TC
Toa Payoh Office :
Blk 125A #01-134, Toa Payoh Lorong 2, Singapore 311125 Tel : 6259 6700, Fax : 6259 9626
Chairman: MR ZAINUDIN NORDIN : zainudin_nordin@pa.gov.sg
Jalan Besar TC
Geylang Bahru Office , Blk 70, Geylang Bahru , #01-2719
S(330070)
Tel: 62989222 / 1800-2989603
Fax: 6293 2117
Chairman: DR LILY NEO : dr.lilyneo@gmail.com
Vice-Chairman: MS DENISE PHUA LAY PENG : dphua@starhub.net.sg , denisephua@pathlight.org.sg
Marine Parade TC
Main Office
Blk 50 Marine Terrace, #01-265, Singapore 440050
Tel: 6241 6044, Fax: 6444 0919
Chairman: DR ONG SEH HONG : sehhong_ong@renci.org.sg
Holland-Bukit Panjang TC
Ulu Pandan Office
170 Ghim Moh Road, #06-02, Singapore 279621
Tel : 6 416 7900 , Fax : 6416 7911
Chairman: Teo Ho Pin : TEO_Ho_Pin@pa.gov.sg
East Coast TC
Block 206 Bedok North Street 1 , #01-353 , Singapore 460206
Tel: 1800 444-9549 , Fax: 6444-0775
Chairman: MS TAN SOON NEO, JESSICA : jesstansn@hotmail.com
Tampines TC:
Block 136 Tampines Street 11, Singapore 521136
Fax : 6783 2208
Chairman: MR ONG KIAN MIN : ongkm@singnet.com.sg
Potong Pasir TC:
Tel: 6284 5000
Fax: 6284 5161
MR CHIAM SEE TONG : chiamco@singnet.com.sg
Hougang TC
Hougang Avenue 2
Singapore 530701
Tel: 6286 3533
Fax: 6283 2678
MR LOW THIA KHIANG : ltk@wp.sg
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“iT does not reflect well on Singaporeans at all. Look at it this way, you need to be given a template just to ask questions. You may not know what to ask, but there is no harm in doing some research and forming your own questions. Are Singaporeans a lazy lot? ”
Internet age lah. You learn faster this way. Now where got lazy or not ? Or clever or not clever ? Or talent or not talent ? Information and knowledge have now become cheap commodities. It is the relationship that counts.
Singaporeans can formulate a lot of good questions. Somehow, the good answers are not forthcoming anyway.
I have sent the following questions to Pasir Ris Punggol Town Council and also to its chairman Dr Ahmad Magad on 26 Nov using the template from TOC and modifying it slightly:
1) What is the exact amount of investments that have been lost to these structured products by PRPG-TC? Are there other paper losses PRPG-TC has incurred in other investments besides the material loss to structured products?
2) Will S&C fees be increased to cover for the losses made by the Town Council? If no, how will the Town Council ensure that residents are not penalised for the losses incurred?
3) If S&C fees are to be increased to cover for the losses, by how much would the residents have to pay?
4) If S&C fees need not be increased to cover for the losses, has the Town Concil been overcharging the S&C fees for the residents of Pasir Ris-Punggol?
5) Who were the qualified persons who had advised the Town Council on its investments, and how were they appointed?
6) Will the maintenance of our estate be affected and compromised in light of these losses? If not, how will the Town Council ensure that the service standards and maintenance of the estate is not affected through these losses?
7) Does the Town Council believes that it had been missold any investments (whether related to Lehman Brothers or otherwise), and if so whether the Town Council intends to take action for such misselling?
8 ) Are there any minutes or records of the Town Council’s deliberations on decisions to invest in structured products, and if so whether the Town Council intends to disclose them?
9 ) What is the average annual expenditure by the Town Council over a 10 year period as compared to the average annual revenue collected from the residents?
10) Will residents be informed beforehand in future when the Town Council decides to make investments in risky products like equities, stocks, unit trust funds or structured products?
11) Will the Town Council be implementing any controls to prevent such losses to its sinking fund in future?
So far I have only received an automated response from Dr Ahmad’s mailbox stating that he is out of office from 25 – 29 Nov. No response from the TC yet.
Coffee Bean (#51),
Having a template is convenient.
aiyoyo
is there some qualified/registered accountants checking on the TC books?
aiyoyo
aiyoyo
“Subsequently, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan has publicly contradicted that position, telling the Sunday Times that:
‘Each town council has the duty to explain to its residents how it invests its funds, what is its philosophy, what are the risks it takes’. (Sunday Times, Nov 23)”
how in the 1st place the investment loss issue being brought to light??
that person(s) that bring up this issue is really very helpful!!
aiyoyo
This is a fantastic idea to rate if we’re a maturing society, whether we can overcome our fear of backlash and have the courage to pose tough questions to the elite. Please remember that they are paid to serve us, and they’re justly rewarded for their effort. There’s nothing to fear in the first instance.
I have just sent the e-mail to my town council, and looking forward to seeing their response.
I think TOC can easily monitor how many e-mails were being sent, and from which town. This can easily be done with a petition-like format, where we can check-off the relevant box, like which town, any response etc.
Hi Jenson,
Would you like to forward the email to us? We’re keeping track of the emails which our readers have sent so far. We can be reached at: theonlinecitizen@gmail.com .
Thanks.
Hi Zheng Xi,
So have you and the members of your editorial board on TOC written to your own TCs. Can you provide the general statistics of the emails sent, to which TC’s, the responses if any, etc… for the people who read your blog. You have indicated that 14 people have written to their TC’s. Doesn’t this show that there is still the fear which is pervasive under the decades of rule in Singapore?
I will be surprised if there is any credible answers that will be forthcoming. You should also keep track of these people who have written and check with them in the future if there are suddenly (i) check and/or visits to their premises if they are living in HDB’s to see if they are following the full regulations of the HDB (Mah Bow Tan has ensured that all loopholes are closed with new additional regulations recently) lest they be kicked out on a technicality (ii) problems that they never had before sending the email to the TC’s
Singapore is practically a police state. All information about Singaporeans lies with their NRIC, the digits to the government. There is practically no individual privacy. All your bank accounts, tax information, etc.. are easily accessible by the govenrment, and linked and possibly the reason that they do not want to have a second party to shadow them and have access to this. Try leaving Singapore for not paying a road traffic fine which is overdue. They will be at the immigration counter to stop you from leaving. Without the extensive information and the linking, I cannot imagine how this is possible. Even Andrew Kuan the aspiring Presidential candidate had his employment information splashed all over the state controlled media where his superiors find his work lacklustre but continued to pay him performance bonuses at the tax payer’s expense. Where is the accountability of his superiors if this has been the case that his performace was poor? Why wait till he is offering himself for the election of the President to resort to such tactics.
@SooJenn >>>> Doesn’t this show that there is still the fear which is pervasive under the decades of rule in Singapore?
Yep.
Perhaps MISS PAYING the next Town Council fee and you will get a reply….guaranteed. ;)
>>>>There is practically no individual privacy.
You are right. I was aghast when my ex-employer forwarded my contacts to other colleagues without first informing me. I was even more aghast to realise that managers are criticising job applicants right after they left, IN FRONT of other subordinates. WHERE IS RESPECT FOR PRIVACY?? What is the meaning of PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL?
The old saying will serve you well, “When living in safety, be aware of danger.”
>>>>>Even Andrew Kuan the aspiring Presidential candidate had his employment information splashed all over the state controlled media where his superiors find his work lacklustre but continued to pay him performance bonuses at the tax payer’s expense.
Good point! Why employ one when you know his work is lacklustre. Anyone can memorise a bible and still not understand what it really is about. Singaporean employers (many) fail to see that.
WU ZHE TIAN (Empress Wu Jao from 7th century China) would not hesitate to use a talented (even inexperienced) hardworking honest personnel over one who is experienced, highly-qualified but (really) inefficient or lazy.