Maybe it was just his bad hair day, if you think he has any at all on his shiny pate. Shanmugam raved and ranted like he lost his favourite dog, raining all sorts of scurrilous accusations, short of blaming it on the smell of alcohol drifting in from Little India. He must have really blew his gaskets when Pritam Singh said he will be doing the explaining to his residents.
All the opposition party members did was to support the findings of the Auditor General's report. It was their version of "Well, we’re sorry we didn’t get it exactly right, but I hope you’ll understand and bear with us, because we’re trying our best to fix the problems." Problems which stemmed from a $2 company which creamed off an undisclosed fee to act as middlemen for a Town Council software transaction when it had neither technical expertise or staff to deliver the goods. Shanmugam may not have realized it when he was busy hyperventilating, all the brickbats he was hurling could have easily been aimed at another party.
And that bit about related parties involved in arms' length transactions could also bring in Chandra Das into the debate, but was not. It could also stir up fresh discussions about a father being chairman of a government investing corporation, daughter-in-law in charge of another asset management entity, and son signing off for the country's billions of reserves. Some things are best aired outside of parliament.
The ultimate threat came from National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan who said that he will be withholding about $7 million of S&CC grants for the financial year 2014 from Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), his version of Goh Chok Tong promising to turn a constituency into a slum. And he can do it too, since his party dominates parliament house. All sorts of laws can be inked and rubber stamped, like sending 75 year old Ah Kong to jail if he defaults on his $1000++ a year Medishield Life premiums. That's the extent to which these guys will go so that the old man can see through his electoral threat of making Aljunied repent.
All the opposition party members did was to support the findings of the Auditor General's report. It was their version of "Well, we’re sorry we didn’t get it exactly right, but I hope you’ll understand and bear with us, because we’re trying our best to fix the problems." Problems which stemmed from a $2 company which creamed off an undisclosed fee to act as middlemen for a Town Council software transaction when it had neither technical expertise or staff to deliver the goods. Shanmugam may not have realized it when he was busy hyperventilating, all the brickbats he was hurling could have easily been aimed at another party.
And that bit about related parties involved in arms' length transactions could also bring in Chandra Das into the debate, but was not. It could also stir up fresh discussions about a father being chairman of a government investing corporation, daughter-in-law in charge of another asset management entity, and son signing off for the country's billions of reserves. Some things are best aired outside of parliament.
The ultimate threat came from National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan who said that he will be withholding about $7 million of S&CC grants for the financial year 2014 from Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), his version of Goh Chok Tong promising to turn a constituency into a slum. And he can do it too, since his party dominates parliament house. All sorts of laws can be inked and rubber stamped, like sending 75 year old Ah Kong to jail if he defaults on his $1000++ a year Medishield Life premiums. That's the extent to which these guys will go so that the old man can see through his electoral threat of making Aljunied repent.