Credit should always be given where credit is due. And Mr Lye deserves to be thanked for highlighting the fact that disputes over hawker centre cleaning and trade fairs are attributable to politicisation of grassroots organisations. It's an anomaly we have lived with for so long, we forget it's an aberration in civil society - People's Action Party (PAP) members of parliament (MP)s are appointed grassroots advisers, but opposition MPs are not. Even when in wards where the PAP incumbent has long been kicked out of the turf.
Sylvia Lim was once a police officer and a practising lawyer. She should appreciate the ruckus some picky law enforcer could kick up over a safety issue such as anchoring a tentage rope to a railing instead of a proper peg in the ground. The terminology in the Town Councils Act clearly spells out obstruction and safety risks. The kind of construction and safety risks that, when not properly paid heed to, left one foreign worker dead and 10 others injured at the Palawan Beach worksite on Sentosa island. The death of the worker at Sentosa brings the number of fatalities at worksites to nine this year. Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin warned that irresponsible contractors who cut (safety) corners will face harsh penalties under the law, including imprisonment.
The Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) duly served notice of the infringement to the Kovan Mechants' Association. Not surprisingly, the response came not from the Kovan Merchants, but a chairman of the Bedok-Reservoir-Punggol Citizen Consultative Committee (CCC). And not just any chairman, but the one who assumed the PAP chairmanship from ousted George Yeo, who was so forcibly ejected by the electorate, the trajectory propelled him all the way to Hongkong. For a classic example of politicisation in print, don't miss out on Lye's letter to the forum (ST Tues 4 Feb).
For further clarification of the status quo, Baey Yam Keng will be more than glad to oblige, "And you have to take my word for that because I know more than you on CCC.”
Sylvia Lim was once a police officer and a practising lawyer. She should appreciate the ruckus some picky law enforcer could kick up over a safety issue such as anchoring a tentage rope to a railing instead of a proper peg in the ground. The terminology in the Town Councils Act clearly spells out obstruction and safety risks. The kind of construction and safety risks that, when not properly paid heed to, left one foreign worker dead and 10 others injured at the Palawan Beach worksite on Sentosa island. The death of the worker at Sentosa brings the number of fatalities at worksites to nine this year. Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin warned that irresponsible contractors who cut (safety) corners will face harsh penalties under the law, including imprisonment.
The Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) duly served notice of the infringement to the Kovan Mechants' Association. Not surprisingly, the response came not from the Kovan Merchants, but a chairman of the Bedok-Reservoir-Punggol Citizen Consultative Committee (CCC). And not just any chairman, but the one who assumed the PAP chairmanship from ousted George Yeo, who was so forcibly ejected by the electorate, the trajectory propelled him all the way to Hongkong. For a classic example of politicisation in print, don't miss out on Lye's letter to the forum (ST Tues 4 Feb).
For further clarification of the status quo, Baey Yam Keng will be more than glad to oblige, "And you have to take my word for that because I know more than you on CCC.”