[h=1]CALVIN CHENG: S'POREANS SHOULD NOT BLAME MP INTAN FOR APPEALING YANG YIN'S PR STATUS[/h]
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8 Nov 2014 - 9:38am
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My take on the Yang Yin saga so far:
1) Re letter-writing by MP Intan - She was writing for Madam Chung her resident, not for Yang Yin.
MPs are routinely asked to write appeal letters for their residents for all manners of things, including even writing appeal letters to authorities for residents or their families who actually have committed serious crimes.
Should MPs be castigated for writing these appeal letters? Obviously not. In fact, if they don't write, they will be accused of not helping their constituents.
2) Re Grassroots Leader/Volunteer status - Volunteers because they are not paid, are not subject to the same amount of scrutiny as paid employees. Volunteers are also not normally put in charge of matters where there can be a criminal breach of trust, unless they have been volunteering for a long time. When someone turns up and offers to work for free, do you ask for his resume much less ask for certified-true copies of their qualifications? No.
That said, in this new politically-contested environment where all manner of opportunists seek to pounce on any hint of a mistake, the PA and the PAP should start vetting their volunteers more carefully.
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3) Re Granting of PR - This could be a serious oversight.
Even if the PA did not need to check the authenticity of degrees for a volunteer, ICA obviously needs to in granting PRs.
Also, the falsification of accounts is of grave cause of concern if the financial health of the company was taken into consideration in granting PRs. Were the accounts audited? If so, the audit company needs to be questioned also. However, companies with less than S$5 million turnover do not need to be audited, and only need to submit management accounts. Did ICA check that these management accounts were bona fide? Why didn't they make sure?
I think it is time that the ICA has a transparent and structured process of granting PRs, instead of ostensibly leaving it to the discretion of approving officers.
4) Finally, stories abound in history and everywhere, of lonely old widows making hasty decisions with their wills because they are enamoured of the companionship of younger men.
We have to remember that it seems that the old widow was checked by several doctors and certified lucid before the LPA was granted to Yang Yin.
Sometimes I wonder if the story was that of an 87 year old man willing his money to a buxom attractive young woman, would we be as repulsed? We may even say he deserved it.
Calvin Cheng
*Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/calvinchengnmp/posts/818392704877474
