Updated: 03/12/2014 19:34 | By Channel NewsAsia
Witness says NParks director did not insist on hiding their friendship
SINGAPORE: The National Parks Board (NParks) assistant director implicated in the controversial Brompton bikes case did not insist on hiding his friendship with the supplier of the bicycles.
The court heard this on day two of a trial where 42-year-old Bernard Lim Yong Soon is fighting two counts of giving false information to officers from the Ministry of National Development (MND), who were conducting an internal audit into NParks' purchase of 26 Brompton bikes between June and July 2012.
Bikehop Singapore, the supplier of the bikes, had won the tender.
Bernard Lim, who was overseeing the purchase, had allegedly denied being a friend of the director of Bikehop, Mr Lawrence Lim Chun How.
Bernard Lim is accused of getting Mr Lawrence Lim to give the same false information to the MND auditors.
On Tuesday, 42-year-old Lawrence Lim said the accused had asked him to try and not mention their friendship to NParks or MND auditors.
But on Wednesday, the witness testified that Bernard Lim had at no time insisted he lied to authorities.
During the defence's cross-examination, the witness also agreed that there was no assurance on either side for him to lie, and that no agreement was made between the two to hide their friendship from officers.
On 22 June 2012, it was reported in Lianhe Zaobao that the cost of the bicycles and the article drew public flak.
Mr Lawrence Lim told the court on Tuesday that as the online chatter grew louder, Lim had asked the witness to unfriend him from his Facebook.
The witness eventually came clean about their friendship after seeking legal advice.
Later in the day, two other witnesses took the stand.
Mr Yong Fook Chyi, resource management director at NParks, said he was roped in at that time to review procurement processes.
Mr Wesley Su, then-manager at NParks, was involved in the tender at the centre of the case.
He told the court that the accused had asked him to award the tender as soon as possible, after learning that the quotation was within the budget.
The trial continues on Thursday with MND officers slated to take the stand. - CNA/gn
