If one day you kana sue in the same situation like the WP members and you cannot afford a lawyer, you can put up a fierce fight against the prosecutor to show that you are very competent and very capable
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Chitchat Oppie Low Admits That He Was Irresponsible! Getting Ready To Pay Back $33M To Aljunied Voters! Return Us Our Bloodsweat Money!
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If one day you kana sue in the same situation like the WP members and you cannot afford a lawyer, you can put up a fierce fight against the prosecutor to show that you are very competent and very capable
If one day you kana sue in the same situation like the WP members and you cannot afford a lawyer, you can put up a fierce fight against the prosecutor to show that you are very competent and very capable
I no lawyer, but I can read n it's obvious WP is failing badly. And
I am saying Silvia lim is a lawyer n she should see through Bayi's ruse. If she can't ..wat hope WP have? She knows the law, she has lawyers...it's obvious from this trial they are not doing their jobs. It seems that the Bayi is running rings round WP. WP has gone to trial, they should be more prepared. Bayi is not infallible. WP should have done better.
Well said. That is the point I have been stating. N wp could have handled themselves better with regards to the bayis assault but the r letting the bayi pulverised them. They seem to do better in parleement than in court.
WP isn't going out without a fight. UMNO tried to disband PH and looked what happened.
Guess which one is Low Thia Khiang?
so far Dato Singh is taking the baits.
waiting for Low tk and Slim to give KO punch.
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WP 's Secret Weapon
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WP 's Secret Weapon
.
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Teochew Low TK and Team will Prevail...
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Teochew Low TK and Team will Prevail...
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so far Dato Singh is taking the baits.
waiting for Low tk and Slim to give KO punch.
Lol.... u joker. Low ToKok and Saliva Lim are being rammed so hard that the umpire has to stop the match before someone gets killed!
According to Expert Chinese Miltary Strategists Dato Singh will finally suffer and taste the mother of all court room defeat. His Time Bank will be of Zero Value after this Defeat.
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Mr Singh said: “In other words, before the 13th of May when this letter was sent out, it had already been decided that the Hougang Town Council computer vendor would be asked to upscale the computer system, right?”
Isn't that proof of great foresight on the part of WP ? They read AIM's mind to perfection and AIM's subsequent notice of termination proved WP was right on the spot.
As a responsible town councilor if you know a contractor is going to sabotage your residents, and I repeat, as a responsible town councilor you should always get your Plan B ready.
A decision was made to upscale the computer system in anticipation of AIM's termination. It's different from saying AIM terminated the contract because WP made clear its intention to AIM that the latter would not be required.
You should not penalize WP for having great foresight. It's not a case of AHTC jumped off the cliff before they were pushed. AHTC got their parachute ready and when AIM proceeded to push AHTC landed safely.
Isn't that proof of great foresight on the part of WP ? They read AIM's mind to perfection and AIM's subsequent notice of termination proved WP was right on the spot.
As a responsible town councilor if you know a contractor is going to sabotage your residents, and I repeat, as a responsible town councilor you should always get your Plan B ready.
A decision was made to upscale the computer system in anticipation of AIM's termination. It's different from saying AIM terminated the contract because WP made clear its intention to AIM that the latter would not be required.
You should not penalize WP for having great foresight. It's not a case of AHTC jumped off the cliff before they were pushed. AHTC got their parachute ready and when AIM proceeded to push AHTC landed safely.
Mr Low is very honest & responsible. There is no real necessity to read the contract between the CPG & the previous losing TC management in 2011. Since CPG is unwillingly to carry on .. its make sense to appoint a new managing agent.
Remember it is the Aljunied residents who voted for a change ....
Bro, you know since 2011 an average sinkie is able to hold his head high in his own country. Another by-election in 2013 was a surprised outcome.
They are serious oppositions that served the Singaporeans very well. We are very grateful to them
Bro, you know since 2011 an average sinkie is able to hold his head high in his own country. Another by-election in 2013 was a surprised outcome.
They are serious oppositions that served the Singaporeans very well. We are very grateful to them
Yes bro BNB .. if Mr Low was to born in Malaysia, he will become the Prime Minister there
Than why the WP team is soo ineffective against the Bayi? They should have bought this point up.
Another noose around WPs neck
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AHTC trial: Sylvia Lim admits to breaching town council financial rules by not calling for tender
SingaporeAHTC trial: Sylvia Lim admits to breaching town council financial rules by not calling for tender
Former Aljunied-Hougang Town Council chairman Sylvia Lim admitted to breaching the Town Councils Financial Rules by not calling for a tender for managing agent services in 2011. Ariel Lim reports.
2related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
By Lydia Lam
and Jalelah Abu Baker
19 Oct 2018 08:49PM(Updated: 19 Oct 2018 11:33PM)
Share this content
SINGAPORE: Former Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) chairman Sylvia Lim on Friday (Oct 19) admitted to breaching the Town Councils Financial Rules (TCFR) by not calling for a tender for managing agent services in 2011.
According to the TCFR, tenders must be called for services that are estimated to cost more than S$70,000. However, AHTC did not call a tender for managing agent services costing S$92,000, which were provided to the town council by FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) for the month of June 2011.
The rules which govern town councils allow waivers of tenders, but only in "very special circumstances" that are "fully justified", and such circumstances and justifications must be recorded.
However, there was no such discussion over the waiver of this tender, Ms Lim admitted.
The Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament made the admission on the witness stand while being cross-examined by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh on day 11 of the AHTC trial.
READ: Sylvia Lim avoided calling for tender for new managing agent despite having time do so: Davinder Singh
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"Was there a discussion about waiver of tender? Yes or no?" asked Mr Singh, who acts for Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC).
"No," Ms Lim conceded.
"So being aware, as you claimed this morning, of the town council rules, you disregarded them. You breached them, right?" Mr Singh charged.
"I exercised my authority," Ms Lim replied. She had told the court earlier that the town council had delegated to her authority to exercise the powers, functions and duties in AHTC's name to better facilitate the handing over of Aljunied Town Council from the People's Action Party (PAP) to the WP, after they won the ward in the 2011 General Election.
"Answer my question please," Mr Singh repeated. "You breached them, right?"
"I waived the tender in circumstances of urgency," Ms Lim maintained.
"Ms Lim. We are now just before the 15th of June (2011). Let's take ourselves back in time. We are now on the 13th and 14th ... You've already waived, or decided no tender, and there is nothing on the record about a waiver, right?" Mr Singh pressed.
"At this point, no," Ms Lim agreed.
"So that's a breach, right? You know the rules," Mr Singh said.
"I have to agree, technically, yes," Ms Lim conceded.
"It's a breach of the rules, correct?" Mr Singh asked.
"At this point, yes," Ms Lim said.
READ: Davinder Singh accuses Sylvia Lim of lying to town council members, court and Parliament
A Jun 30, 2011 invoice for services provided by FMSS to AHTC for the month of June is listed in a report by auditor KPMG as problematic as it was unsupported by a contract.
The contract for FMSS to provide managing agent services for AHTC as a whole kicked in only on Jul 15, 2011, while its provision of services for Hougang division set in on Jun 15, 2011.
The KPMG report forms part of the basis for the two lawsuits that Ms Lim and her fellow defendants are facing.
PRPTC and AHTC are suing WP MPs Ms Lim, Low Thia Khiang and Pritam Singh, along with others, for breaches of fiduciary duties in the appointment of FMSS and some S$33 million in “improper payments” made by the town council, mostly to FMSS.
YOU WOULDN’T GIVE A GARDENER CARTE BLANCHE TO HIRE PEOPLE: DAVINDER SINGH
Mr Singh also took aim at a provision AHTC gave to FMSS when it appointed it as managing agent with effect from Jul 15, 2011 - this provision allowed FMSS to “engage new staff as necessary for the preparation of handing and taking over and shall claim such staff costs on a full reimbursement basis”.
This was akin to handing FMSS a blank cheque to hire as many employees as they wanted, at the expense of residents, Mr Singh charged.
Ms Lim disagreed.
"Would you, by way of analogy, tell your gardener: Go ahead and hire as many as you like and I’ll pay. Would you?" Mr Singh asked.
Chuckling, Ms Lim said: "I am not sure about the gardening."
READ: Low explains reason for distrust of CPG, Davinder Singh says he's lying to the court
Mr Singh pressed, but Ms Lim said the gardening analogy was not applicable and did not agree with it. She said the allowance for FMSS to hire was limited to a period of time, but Mr Singh said in that time FMSS could have hired as many as they liked.
He persisted: “Would you tell your gardener - who tells you that he needs manpower to help him do your garden - please, I give you one month, go and hire as many as you like and I will pay, but you don’t have to check with me, you don’t have to come back with me on experience, how much they cost ... go forth and hire. Would you?”
“No,” Ms Lim replied.
Mr Singh asked her why she said no to the gardening analogy but yes to FMSS when they asked for "carte blanche" to hire new staff.
He then suggested to her: “Ms Lim, the difference is that the first example of the garden is your money. The second, AHTC, is not your money. It’s other people’s money. Which is why you so readily agreed to give carte blanche, hire as many as you like, for this period, not to worry, the residents will pay for it.”
“I disagree with you,” Ms Lim answered.
READ: Low Thia Khiang ‘directed’ FMSS before it was appointed managing agent, says lawyer
Mr Singh also charged that Ms Lim withheld the FMSS' proposal to provide managing agent services from her fellow town councillors until she received the delegation of authority to act on behalf of the town council.
"You got delegation of authority on the basis of concealed matters. You got them to delegate authority to you in relation to a proposal without coming clean to them on that proposal," Mr Singh charged. "You did a dirty on your own town council."
“I disagree, Mr Singh, I disagree totally,” Ms Lim replied.
She explained that she had told only her fellow elected MPs at first as they were "answerable to voters", and "later on the (town) councillors would be told".
He went on to say that the reason she and her elected MPs did it was that they were “all aware that this was a dodgy deal”.
“No tender, no basis to waive, passing the profit to a new company helping WP supporters, all with the residents’ monies," Mr Singh charged.
“I reject that entirely," Ms Lim replied.
IMPRESSION GIVEN TO CPG THAT 'NOTHING HAD CHANGED' AFTER FMSS APPOINTED
To prove that Ms Lim was concealing information from CPG Facilities Management, Mr Singh zoomed into the June invoice for the provision of management agent services to AHTC.
CPG, Aljunied Town Council’s managing agent - which was on contract to provide services at the time - did not know that FMSS had been appointed as managing agent.
The document was signed off by employees of FMSS, including Ms How Weng Fan, who held dual roles as AHTC’s deputy secretary and shareholder of FMSS.
READ: Defence rebuts PwC's findings that invoices issued breached financial rules
She had signed off as general manager, a role she held previously at Hougang Town Council (HTC).
Ms How was moved out of HTC to FMSS, but the appearance that was given to CPG was that nothing had changed, Mr Singh said.
Mr Singh alleged this was done to hide the fact that "no tender was done or was going to be done".
Ms Lim's explanation was that an old chop was used on the invoice.
“There’s nothing sinister about it, Mr Singh," she said.
"This entire arrangement was done to also not disclose to CPG the fact that while you had been talking about doing this in-house, you had actually entered into a managing agent contract," Mr Singh charged.
Ms Lim disputed this.
The trial continues on Monday with Ms Lim on the stand.
Source: CNA/ll(hm)
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AHTC trial: Sylvia Lim admits to breaching town council financial rules by not calling for tender
SingaporeAHTC trial: Sylvia Lim admits to breaching town council financial rules by not calling for tender
Former Aljunied-Hougang Town Council chairman Sylvia Lim admitted to breaching the Town Councils Financial Rules by not calling for a tender for managing agent services in 2011. Ariel Lim reports.
2related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
By Lydia Lam
and Jalelah Abu Baker
19 Oct 2018 08:49PM(Updated: 19 Oct 2018 11:33PM)
Share this content
SINGAPORE: Former Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) chairman Sylvia Lim on Friday (Oct 19) admitted to breaching the Town Councils Financial Rules (TCFR) by not calling for a tender for managing agent services in 2011.
According to the TCFR, tenders must be called for services that are estimated to cost more than S$70,000. However, AHTC did not call a tender for managing agent services costing S$92,000, which were provided to the town council by FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) for the month of June 2011.
The rules which govern town councils allow waivers of tenders, but only in "very special circumstances" that are "fully justified", and such circumstances and justifications must be recorded.
However, there was no such discussion over the waiver of this tender, Ms Lim admitted.
The Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament made the admission on the witness stand while being cross-examined by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh on day 11 of the AHTC trial.
READ: Sylvia Lim avoided calling for tender for new managing agent despite having time do so: Davinder Singh
Advertisement
"Was there a discussion about waiver of tender? Yes or no?" asked Mr Singh, who acts for Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC).
"No," Ms Lim conceded.
"So being aware, as you claimed this morning, of the town council rules, you disregarded them. You breached them, right?" Mr Singh charged.
"I exercised my authority," Ms Lim replied. She had told the court earlier that the town council had delegated to her authority to exercise the powers, functions and duties in AHTC's name to better facilitate the handing over of Aljunied Town Council from the People's Action Party (PAP) to the WP, after they won the ward in the 2011 General Election.
"Answer my question please," Mr Singh repeated. "You breached them, right?"
"I waived the tender in circumstances of urgency," Ms Lim maintained.
"Ms Lim. We are now just before the 15th of June (2011). Let's take ourselves back in time. We are now on the 13th and 14th ... You've already waived, or decided no tender, and there is nothing on the record about a waiver, right?" Mr Singh pressed.
"At this point, no," Ms Lim agreed.
"So that's a breach, right? You know the rules," Mr Singh said.
"I have to agree, technically, yes," Ms Lim conceded.
"It's a breach of the rules, correct?" Mr Singh asked.
"At this point, yes," Ms Lim said.
READ: Davinder Singh accuses Sylvia Lim of lying to town council members, court and Parliament
A Jun 30, 2011 invoice for services provided by FMSS to AHTC for the month of June is listed in a report by auditor KPMG as problematic as it was unsupported by a contract.
The contract for FMSS to provide managing agent services for AHTC as a whole kicked in only on Jul 15, 2011, while its provision of services for Hougang division set in on Jun 15, 2011.
The KPMG report forms part of the basis for the two lawsuits that Ms Lim and her fellow defendants are facing.
PRPTC and AHTC are suing WP MPs Ms Lim, Low Thia Khiang and Pritam Singh, along with others, for breaches of fiduciary duties in the appointment of FMSS and some S$33 million in “improper payments” made by the town council, mostly to FMSS.
YOU WOULDN’T GIVE A GARDENER CARTE BLANCHE TO HIRE PEOPLE: DAVINDER SINGH
Mr Singh also took aim at a provision AHTC gave to FMSS when it appointed it as managing agent with effect from Jul 15, 2011 - this provision allowed FMSS to “engage new staff as necessary for the preparation of handing and taking over and shall claim such staff costs on a full reimbursement basis”.
This was akin to handing FMSS a blank cheque to hire as many employees as they wanted, at the expense of residents, Mr Singh charged.
Ms Lim disagreed.
"Would you, by way of analogy, tell your gardener: Go ahead and hire as many as you like and I’ll pay. Would you?" Mr Singh asked.
Chuckling, Ms Lim said: "I am not sure about the gardening."
READ: Low explains reason for distrust of CPG, Davinder Singh says he's lying to the court
Mr Singh pressed, but Ms Lim said the gardening analogy was not applicable and did not agree with it. She said the allowance for FMSS to hire was limited to a period of time, but Mr Singh said in that time FMSS could have hired as many as they liked.
He persisted: “Would you tell your gardener - who tells you that he needs manpower to help him do your garden - please, I give you one month, go and hire as many as you like and I will pay, but you don’t have to check with me, you don’t have to come back with me on experience, how much they cost ... go forth and hire. Would you?”
“No,” Ms Lim replied.
Mr Singh asked her why she said no to the gardening analogy but yes to FMSS when they asked for "carte blanche" to hire new staff.
He then suggested to her: “Ms Lim, the difference is that the first example of the garden is your money. The second, AHTC, is not your money. It’s other people’s money. Which is why you so readily agreed to give carte blanche, hire as many as you like, for this period, not to worry, the residents will pay for it.”
“I disagree with you,” Ms Lim answered.
READ: Low Thia Khiang ‘directed’ FMSS before it was appointed managing agent, says lawyer
Mr Singh also charged that Ms Lim withheld the FMSS' proposal to provide managing agent services from her fellow town councillors until she received the delegation of authority to act on behalf of the town council.
"You got delegation of authority on the basis of concealed matters. You got them to delegate authority to you in relation to a proposal without coming clean to them on that proposal," Mr Singh charged. "You did a dirty on your own town council."
“I disagree, Mr Singh, I disagree totally,” Ms Lim replied.
She explained that she had told only her fellow elected MPs at first as they were "answerable to voters", and "later on the (town) councillors would be told".
He went on to say that the reason she and her elected MPs did it was that they were “all aware that this was a dodgy deal”.
“No tender, no basis to waive, passing the profit to a new company helping WP supporters, all with the residents’ monies," Mr Singh charged.
“I reject that entirely," Ms Lim replied.
IMPRESSION GIVEN TO CPG THAT 'NOTHING HAD CHANGED' AFTER FMSS APPOINTED
To prove that Ms Lim was concealing information from CPG Facilities Management, Mr Singh zoomed into the June invoice for the provision of management agent services to AHTC.
CPG, Aljunied Town Council’s managing agent - which was on contract to provide services at the time - did not know that FMSS had been appointed as managing agent.
The document was signed off by employees of FMSS, including Ms How Weng Fan, who held dual roles as AHTC’s deputy secretary and shareholder of FMSS.
READ: Defence rebuts PwC's findings that invoices issued breached financial rules
She had signed off as general manager, a role she held previously at Hougang Town Council (HTC).
Ms How was moved out of HTC to FMSS, but the appearance that was given to CPG was that nothing had changed, Mr Singh said.
Mr Singh alleged this was done to hide the fact that "no tender was done or was going to be done".
Ms Lim's explanation was that an old chop was used on the invoice.
“There’s nothing sinister about it, Mr Singh," she said.
"This entire arrangement was done to also not disclose to CPG the fact that while you had been talking about doing this in-house, you had actually entered into a managing agent contract," Mr Singh charged.
Ms Lim disputed this.
The trial continues on Monday with Ms Lim on the stand.
Source: CNA/ll(hm)
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Sylvia Lim avoided calling for tender for new managing agent despite having time do so: Davinder Singh
SingaporeSylvia Lim avoided calling for tender for new managing agent despite having time do so: Davinder Singh
h
02:48
Former Aljunied-Hougang Town Council chairman Sylvia Lim admitted to breaching the Town Councils Financial Rules by not calling for a tender for managing agent services in 2011. Ariel Lim reports.
2related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
By Jalelah Abu Baker
and Lydia Lam
19 Oct 2018 04:50PM(Updated: 19 Oct 2018 11:35PM)
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SINGAPORE: Former chairman of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) Sylvia Lim “dishonestly” put in effect a plan to avoid a tender for a new managing agent, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh said on Friday (Oct 19).
On the second day that Ms Lim took the stand, Mr Singh, the lawyer representing Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC), posited that right from the beginning, Ms Lim had considered waiving a tender.
It is the case of Ms Lim and her fellow defendants that the waiving of the tender was necessary because of the urgency for AHTC to find a new managing agent to replace CPG Facilities Management, which was “pulling out”.
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But Mr Singh charged that Ms Lim had already been thinking about waiving a tender even before May 30, 2011, when CPG stated it wanted to withdraw as managing agent.
“All of what you said suggests that you might think ‘we don’t want CPG because of their association with the People’s Action Party’. But that would only mean that if you go for someone new, you need a tender. My question is: How did you, on the 9th May, go from tender to waiver?” Mr Singh asked.
In response, Ms Lim said: “As I said Mr Singh, firstly, it’s a timing issue, and secondly, based on experiences of the past, we knew that very likely we’d better rely on ourselves and do risk mitigation.”
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Ms Lim, along with fellow MPs Low Thia Khiang and Pritam Singh, and AHTC councillors Kenneth Foo and Chua Zhi Hon, are being sued by AHTC and PRPTC for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty relating to the appointment of its former managing agent FM Solutions and Services (FMSS).
This, along with “flawed governance” of the town council and “improper” payments of more than S$33 million made mostly to FMSS, is the subject of two lawsuits that also are aimed at FMSS employees How Weng Fan and Danny Loh, who also held positions at AHTC.
According to KPMG, whose audit report forms part of the basis for the lawsuits, "the tender process for FMSS' initial appointment was waived without proper justification".
KPMG alleges that the contract AHTC signed with FMSS after this waiver was "improperly entered into", as procedures in the Town Councils Financial Rules (TCFR) were not followed.
KPMG said the managing agent fees proposed under this contract amounted to S$4.2 million per year for Aljunied, a sum "significantly greater" than the S$70,000 threshold that makes it compulsory for town councils to call for tenders under the TCFR.
According to KPMG's report, CPG could have been kept on as managing agent as there were two more years on its contract, while AHTC called for a tender for a replacement.
Mr Singh on day 11 of the trial proceeded to poke holes into the defence that there was not enough time to call for a tender. Ms Lim agreed that there was sufficient time.
“As of June, if you had decided to keep them until the end of August, you would have three months to do the tender, correct?” asked Mr Singh.
“In theory yes, but it would not be wise,” Ms Lim replied.
“My question is you would have had three months to do the tender. I’m not talking about theory. I’m talking about time needed for tender. Do you agree?”
To that, Ms Lim said: “I agree that the tender time would be about two months.”
When Mr Singh put it to Ms Lim that there was enough time to do a tender for companies to put in bids to provide managing agent services for AHTC, she agreed that there was. But this would be at the expense of “other critical works” and would jeopardise the town council’s interests, she said.
Mr Singh also asked if there was any written note that showed CPG requesting to be released from its contract, to which Ms Lim said there was none.
The trial continued in the afternoon with Ms Lim on the stand.
Source: CNA/ja(ra)
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Singapore Edition International Edition
Sylvia Lim avoided calling for tender for new managing agent despite having time do so: Davinder Singh
SingaporeSylvia Lim avoided calling for tender for new managing agent despite having time do so: Davinder Singh
h
02:48
Former Aljunied-Hougang Town Council chairman Sylvia Lim admitted to breaching the Town Councils Financial Rules by not calling for a tender for managing agent services in 2011. Ariel Lim reports.
2related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
By Jalelah Abu Baker
and Lydia Lam
19 Oct 2018 04:50PM(Updated: 19 Oct 2018 11:35PM)
Share this content
SINGAPORE: Former chairman of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) Sylvia Lim “dishonestly” put in effect a plan to avoid a tender for a new managing agent, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh said on Friday (Oct 19).
On the second day that Ms Lim took the stand, Mr Singh, the lawyer representing Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC), posited that right from the beginning, Ms Lim had considered waiving a tender.
It is the case of Ms Lim and her fellow defendants that the waiving of the tender was necessary because of the urgency for AHTC to find a new managing agent to replace CPG Facilities Management, which was “pulling out”.
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But Mr Singh charged that Ms Lim had already been thinking about waiving a tender even before May 30, 2011, when CPG stated it wanted to withdraw as managing agent.
“All of what you said suggests that you might think ‘we don’t want CPG because of their association with the People’s Action Party’. But that would only mean that if you go for someone new, you need a tender. My question is: How did you, on the 9th May, go from tender to waiver?” Mr Singh asked.
In response, Ms Lim said: “As I said Mr Singh, firstly, it’s a timing issue, and secondly, based on experiences of the past, we knew that very likely we’d better rely on ourselves and do risk mitigation.”
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Ms Lim, along with fellow MPs Low Thia Khiang and Pritam Singh, and AHTC councillors Kenneth Foo and Chua Zhi Hon, are being sued by AHTC and PRPTC for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty relating to the appointment of its former managing agent FM Solutions and Services (FMSS).
This, along with “flawed governance” of the town council and “improper” payments of more than S$33 million made mostly to FMSS, is the subject of two lawsuits that also are aimed at FMSS employees How Weng Fan and Danny Loh, who also held positions at AHTC.
According to KPMG, whose audit report forms part of the basis for the lawsuits, "the tender process for FMSS' initial appointment was waived without proper justification".
KPMG alleges that the contract AHTC signed with FMSS after this waiver was "improperly entered into", as procedures in the Town Councils Financial Rules (TCFR) were not followed.
KPMG said the managing agent fees proposed under this contract amounted to S$4.2 million per year for Aljunied, a sum "significantly greater" than the S$70,000 threshold that makes it compulsory for town councils to call for tenders under the TCFR.
According to KPMG's report, CPG could have been kept on as managing agent as there were two more years on its contract, while AHTC called for a tender for a replacement.
Mr Singh on day 11 of the trial proceeded to poke holes into the defence that there was not enough time to call for a tender. Ms Lim agreed that there was sufficient time.
“As of June, if you had decided to keep them until the end of August, you would have three months to do the tender, correct?” asked Mr Singh.
“In theory yes, but it would not be wise,” Ms Lim replied.
“My question is you would have had three months to do the tender. I’m not talking about theory. I’m talking about time needed for tender. Do you agree?”
To that, Ms Lim said: “I agree that the tender time would be about two months.”
When Mr Singh put it to Ms Lim that there was enough time to do a tender for companies to put in bids to provide managing agent services for AHTC, she agreed that there was. But this would be at the expense of “other critical works” and would jeopardise the town council’s interests, she said.
Mr Singh also asked if there was any written note that showed CPG requesting to be released from its contract, to which Ms Lim said there was none.
The trial continued in the afternoon with Ms Lim on the stand.
Source: CNA/ja(ra)
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The WP should put out their own narrative to counter the story/lies made by this bayi.
It is common knowledge that the companies providing service to the previous MPs would not provide service when the WP took over. Why isn't this point not put out forcefully by the WP MPs? WP MPs need to play to the court of public opinion, challenging the lies put out by the bayi. And they should take on the bayi. Shoot back at him and throw back accusation at him ...like when bayi presses a point and call them liars, mock the bayi by calling him a great story teller or accuse him of being partisan.
WP MPs should make this trial into an expose of the PAP's evil ways.
Ask the bayi if the town councils in PAP wards would sue their MPs? Cite the overpayment of fees for estate management software as an example.
It is common knowledge that the companies providing service to the previous MPs would not provide service when the WP took over. Why isn't this point not put out forcefully by the WP MPs? WP MPs need to play to the court of public opinion, challenging the lies put out by the bayi. And they should take on the bayi. Shoot back at him and throw back accusation at him ...like when bayi presses a point and call them liars, mock the bayi by calling him a great story teller or accuse him of being partisan.
WP MPs should make this trial into an expose of the PAP's evil ways.
Ask the bayi if the town councils in PAP wards would sue their MPs? Cite the overpayment of fees for estate management software as an example.
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