Lim On Arrears: What’d Happen If WP Were In Charge Of SG?
Source:
TR EMERITUS
Lim on arrears: What’d happen if WP were in charge of SG?
November 16th, 2014 | Author: Editorial
Former PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng
Yesterday (15 Nov), at a People’s Association (PA) grassroots event celebrating senior citizens in the Aljunied cluster, comprising Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC, former PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng said that the Workers’ Party owes residents an explanation for the state of its town council’s finances.
The event was attended by some 2,000 residents, grassroots leaders and PAP activists.
Signalling the close and warm relationship between PA, a statutory board, and PAP, yesterday’s event was co-organised by all the PAP branch chairmen in Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC. They are:
- Mr Victor Lye of Bedok Reservoir-Punggol ward
- Mr K. Muralidharan Pillai of Paya Lebar ward
- Ms Chan Hui Yuh of Serangoon ward
- Mr Kahar Hassan of Kaki Bukit ward (took over from Ong Ye Kung who joined Sembawang GRC)
- Mr Chua Eng Leong of Eunos ward (son of former PAP Minister Chua Sian Chin)
- Mr Lee Hong Chuang of Hougang ward (took over from Desmond Choo who joined Tampines GRC)
The PAP branch chairmen were seen accompanying the former PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng.
Mr Lim said that the WP-run town council’s (AHPETC) swing from an operating surplus to a deficit in the short span of 3 years is worrying. “It begs many questions,” he told reporters who were present.
The Aljunied Town Council had an operating surplus of $3.3 million in the 2010 financial year, when it was under PAP. In contrast, AHPETC had a deficit of $734,000 in the 2012 financial year. MND said that AHPETC had an S&CC arrears rate of 29.4% as of last year.
Mr Lim said, “I’m personally quite disturbed. To be in arrears by so much means that things are getting out of control. If it’s less than 10 per cent, you can probably manage. But once you go beyond that, you have to worry. And beyond 20 per cent, I think, is alarming.”
He said if arrears “go beyond a certain tipping point, you’ve lost control”.
“And when you’ve lost control, then things are going to be very difficult to manage,” he said.
“And if they can’t even manage a simple thing like a town council, then it begs the big question: If you put them in charge of the country, what will be the outcome?” he asked.
Contacted by the media last night, AHPETC chairman Sylvia Lim said that the town council would respond in due course. She has previously said that the town council is checking the arrears data and will address the matter later after the financial information of AHPETC has been sorted out.
S&CC arrears in AHPETC
It is a mystery why Mr Lim did not address the question why Aljunied residents are owing their town council money in recent years. This is certainly preferable to attacking AHPETC for not being an effective “debt collector”.
One of the reasons why PAP town councils do not have much problem with arrears is they have no hesitation in issuing lawyer’s letters, demanding that their residents pay up. Otherwise, they may be sued bankrupt.
A letters such as this one (‘
PAP Town Council’s way of managing arrears – send lawyer letter‘) was received by a resident in Punggol:
The Punggol resident who forwarded the above letter to TRE said:
I have attached a letter from my Town Council’s lawyer regarding 3 mths arrears of S&CC. I will go and pay it later.
The PAP town council’s way of managing arrears is by sending a lawyer’s letter of demand and residents will pay after receiving the letter. Hence it is effective! Perhaps the Workers’ Party TC may want to consider such tactics if they do not want to be rated poor in collecting arrears.
Pls remove the “account” and “ref” number when quoting. I do not want to be identified as someone who owes 3 mth arrears or trouble maker who compare governance between PAP and WP Town council.
The lawyer letter works, I am scared. I will go and pay up, including legal fee too!
Another reason why PAP town councils do not have arrears problems is the close and warm relationship between PAP and the grassroots organizations. Residents who have problems paying S&CC charges are referred by the town councils to grassroots organizations for financial help.
For example, the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) operates a “Hardship Assistance Fund”, which provides short-term hardship grants to individuals and families facing financial hardship [
Link].
CDAC, of course, is set up by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations (SFCCA) and Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI). It was incorporated under the Companies Act and later granted the status of an Institution of Public Character by the government [
Link].
CDAC, in turn, gets its funding from the public. The prescribed amount of $0.50 or $1 is automatically deducted from the salaries of Chinese Singaporeans and PRs every month unless one opts out [
Link].
It is not known if AHPETC can just as easily refer cases to grassroots organizations for financial help.
In any case, it is not known why Mr Lim was attending yesterday’s grassroots event as a VIP since he no longer holds any political positions. Following his retirement from politics after 2011, he has been given a cushy job as the Chairman of Temasek Holdings.
It is not known in what capacity Mr Lim was criticising WP.
End Of Article
