For over a week, the People’s Action Party has remained silent about the dishonest conduct of its Member of Parliament for Choa Chu Kang GRC, Mr Alvin Yeo Khirn Hai. Ironically, the PAP has always prided itself for being a transparent and accountable party that Singaporeans can trust.
Last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong earnestly promised:
“
If any of my PAP colleagues is accused of lying, I will investigate and get to the bottom of the matter. If he has lied, there is only one option – he has to go. If he is innocent, I will insist that he clear his name publicly. The matter has to be resolved one way or other. It cannot be left as an “I say, you say” matter of opinion, which leaves a permanent question mark hanging over his reputation, and the reputation of my government.”
Today, Singaporeans are still waiting for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to say a word about MP Alvin Yeo. It has been a week now and he has not fulfilled his promise.
Last week, MP Alvin Yeo was found guilty by the court for grossly overcharging his client by a million dollars. Following the court’s decision, scores of netizens demanded that MP Alvin Yeo should step down as a MP should basically be a person of integrity.
Some netizens were from the constituency of Choa Chu Kang GRC which MP Alvin Yeo is in charge of. They voiced strong disapproval to his conduct and doubted if he could still be a good MP.
MP Alvin Yeo can always claim that his firm, Wong Partnership, prepared the bills and not him. But as a MP and a Senior Counsel, he should have been able to see that the legal fees he was charging were ridiculously high.
In one of their bills, they had charged some $77,102 for each day they were in court. In another bill, it was
$46,729 for each day in court. And the third bill claimed that the lawyers’ charges amounted to $100,000 per hour of hearing.
One netizen had commented “$100,000 per hour to talk? Is his mouth made of gold?”
Alvin Yeo’s unethical overcharging is a serious offence and lawyers like Andre Arul have been punished for overcharging. It makes a mockery of the legal system that MP Alvin Yeo can walk away scot-free when he has blatantly overcharged his client.
Alvin Yeo should have realized that as a MP, he is a public figure and people expect him to be a model leader of our society.
Letting Alvin Yeo remain as a MP while remaining silent is not an option for the PAP. MP Alvin Yeo’s professional misconduct raises doubt about the integrity of our MPs and the reputation of the PAP government. Several residents in Choa Chu Kang GRC are now hesitant about approaching MP Alvin Yeo for help.
When MP Choo Wee Khiang was accused of cheating, he resigned as a MP as an interim measure while the court case went on.
When MP Michael Palmer graciously resigned following an extramarital affair, in December 2012, PM Lee urged all PAP MPs to uphold the highest standards of personal conduct.
The PAP has nothing to fear about sacking MP Alvin Yeo because Choa Chu Kang is a GRC. Yet it has not done so.
It seems strange that MP Alvin Yeo, a mere PAP cadre, is too powerful for the PAP’s Central Executive Committee to take disciplinary action against him. Is PAP CEC even able to control its cadres? What is the point of having a CEC if the PAP sees individual cadres as indispensable despite their failings? Have they thought about what message this sends to the PAP members who are working hard on the ground in every ward? Why do ordinary members have to maintain personal conduct when parachuted MP candidates can become entrenched regardless of their conduct? Has the PAP become the party of the rich and mighty? Aren’t all comrades equal like we are made to believe?
More importantly, is PM Lee really still in charge of the PAP?
An Activist
* Submitted by TRE reader
http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/10/10/pm-are-you-going-to-say-something-about-alvin-yeo/[