You ask, so we retell. The AHTC saga was started by WP-appointed auditors and ended by WP-appointed Independent Panel.

This is one saga that has wearied Singaporeans for so long, we all wish to put it behind.

One Aljunied resident who had been overseas for 10 years asked many questions about what happened. This photo sums up the major events. It should be sufficient for him.

Briefly, it started with their own auditors flagging problems with account.

When the problems persisted, AGO audited their account and flagged problems of governance.

The court then directed the town councillors to appoint one of the Big Four to audit and fix problems.

WP appointed KPMG.

KPMG completed their report.

Through the courts, the town councillors were directed to appoint an independent panel to look into improper payment.

Pritam Singh appointed the independent panel to act on behalf of AHTC, saying it would be in the best interest of AHTC.

The independent panel reviewed the KPMG Report and then sued the 3 WP MPs who were the town councillors, along with a few employees.

So that's the story. It began with their own auditors flagging problems and ended with their own independent panel suing them.

Instead of answering so many questions in messages, we decided this is a better response because there could be others with similar questions.

First Raeesah Khan, then Workers' Party lied to the whole nation

First Raeesah lied to the entire nation.

Then the WP Leadership also told 'untruths' to the entire nation to cover up their role in the persistence of the lies.

They had told Raeesah to continue with the narrative she had given to Parliament and that if Ms Khan and WP can get away with it, there was no need to clarify the lie. She was asked to 'take the information to the grave'.

One lie after another.

Leaders set the tone for the party and their supporters.

Leaders set the tone for the party and their supporters.

WP whipped up a xenophobic frenzy in 2011. This was despite the fact that back in 2010, then Finance Minister Tharman had already announced in his budget speech that the inflow of foreign workers would be tightened through a series of measures, beginning with the phased in gradual increase in levies over several years, and followed by reduced quota and etc.

The measures were phased in over several years to give businesses time to adjust and to automate. That didn't stop the WP from making political capital gain through xenophobia.

Indeed, when asked if they would ride on xenophobia for election campaigning, the answer Sylvia Lim gave was not 'no' but that they would not push it to the point where it become 'uncontrollable'. One must be a superwoman to think that there is a button where you can just pull the plug when you think xenophobia is reaching the point of being uncontrollable.

Hate is bred. It does not happen overnight. It is bred over time through constant efforts - on social media especially where many anti-establishment hate groups have sprouted up to spread their hate and extend their influence with falsehoods and misinformation, and many memes.

WP Pritam Singh responded to Minister Shanmugam's speech in Parliament saying that WP stands against racism, 'no ifs, no buts'.

Let's hope that he meant what he said and he said what he meant, and that the party, their proxies in the alternative, and their supporters will no
w move away from xenophobia and racism.

Separation of politics and religion.

Pritam asked a question on the danger of policies being influenced by religion and said he was seeking a restatement from the Government on secularism.

Back in 2019, WP Faisal Manap said that he did not fully agree with the principle of the separation of religion from politics. When pressed by Law Minister Shanmugam at that time to state his position on whether religion and politics should be separate, he refused to give a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer.

It would be good if Mr Pritam Singh can also be clear about his own party stand on secularism and the separation of religion and politics.

It would be good if Pritam can give an assurance that regardless of his party members' religious affiliations, they will always keep religion out of politics.

WP is playing political games, and not interested in outcomes

WP is not interested in outcomes. They are only interested in playing a political game. The call for an INDEPENDENT budget office to examine government expenditures and outcomes is really to try to cast doubt on the government.

If WP is truly interested in outcomes, they would have poured over the interim report- which was widely reported in the media - to examine the measures achieved. But they haven't done so.

Watch DPM Heng Swee Keat's response to WP Pritam Singh's call for an independent budget office to examine outcomes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60H9XFtDsOw

WP should hold themselves to the same standard of scrutiny

WP wants an independent parliamentary budget office to scrutinise government expenditures.

But they do not hold themselves to the same scrutiny. Each time that they had called on the government to spend more, they had never provided any estimates on costs nor explained how the spending would be funded.

Workers' Party calls for an Independent Budget Office

Singapore is one of the few triple-A credit rated countries left in the world. We are rated triple-A because of fiscal prudence and strong fundamentals.

Like DPM Heng Swee Keat said, Singapore has achieved world-leading outcomes while running one of the leanest governments in the world.

Until the pandemic, the Singapore Government has operated balanced budgets. In fact, it was the WP that was always pressurizing the Government to spend more, including more from reserves.

The WP called for an independent budget office to do what the WP MPs were elected to do. They have decided to delegate their responsibility to an independent office while completely ignoring the robust system of checks that we have. This include the Public Accounts Committee and Estimates Committee, both of which WP is also represented!

What's there left for WP to do in Parliament when government policies and budget spending will be scrutinised by an independent office?

If there is nothing left for them to do, in the name of scrutinising expenditure, we should ask why we spend so much taxpayers' money on the Leader of the Opposition and 8 WP MPs who have next to nothing to do in Parliament?

WP calls for an independent budget office to scrutinise government spending

 #overheard

I agree with Pritam.

The Government should establish Independent Parliamentary Office for Budget, Defence, Welfare, etc. manned by professionals and experts in each field.

Then we can cancel out all opposition parties especially WP. No need them anymore since the Independent Parliamentary Offices are doing the jobs that the Oppositions including WP have promised to do if elected i.e. check on the Government.

Problem solved! Yay!!!!!

Yup, folks. That's what it is.

WP is in Parliament to cast doubts, not to 'check and balance' the Government.

Pre-COVID time, they were also the ones pressurizing the Government to spend more from reserves.

Now, in a COVID crisis, and the Government allocating $24 billion over 3 years to help business and Singaporeans adapt to a post-COVID world, they suggest an independent Budget office to check on spending. What's there left for WP to do?

There is already an independent body to scrutinize spending in every ministry, statutory boards, public institutions and organisations. It's the AGO (Auditor-General's Office) which does its work without fear or favour and publishes an annual report of its audit of government ministries. That's how we hear of lapses and expect rectification from the concerned ministries.

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

It's interesting how TISG sought to give the impression that WP Pritam Singh was in discussion with Google about jobs opportunities for Singaporeans.

It is also interesting to note that in Pritam Singh's post, he omitted to mention that Skills Ignition SG was an initiative launched by government agencies in conjunction with Google.

The initiative was launched on July 20.

Read the papers, will ya, so you don't need to learn a few months later about this initiative.

Great that WP agrees that this is a great initiative that creates good jobs for Singaporeans.

Well done, EDB, IMDA, SkillsFuture SG and PAP. Thank you for 3000 good job opportunities.

Pritam Singh's minimum wage call shows he is out of touch with reality

The Leader of the Opposition is out of touch with reality calling for a universal minimum wage at this time of recession when the priority is to save jobs, not calling for a universal minimum wage to lift wages.

Throwing in words like 'moral imperative' and 'national solidarity' do not make the call wise at this time or the timing right.

Even my mother with her folksy wisdom knows that a pay cut may be necessary for her to keep her job.

Employers have been given the green light by the National Wages Council to implement temporary wage cut if it can save jobs.

The formal appointment of a Leader of the Opposition is to give expression to Singaporeans' desire for a greater diversity of ideas in politics

The formal appointment of a Leader of the Opposition is to give expression to Singaporeans' desire for a greater diversity of ideas in politics.

Make no mistake about this. No serious opposition party contests in an election without the desire to form the next government.

With the Opposition institutionalized, no longer is the role of WP merely to raise criticisms and ask questions of the government.

Their duty to Singaporeans is to put forward serious policy alternatives to be scrutinised and debated.

This way, Singaporeans will better understand the issues, choices and trade-offs.

And when we go to the polls at the next election, we can better decide for ourselves whether we want a PAP government or a WP government.

Because, to quote Calvin Cheng, 'Nowhere else in the world does a voter go to the polls and say I want Party A to govern, but I am going to vote Party B.'

Overall, the formal appointment of a Leader of the Opposition is a positive development for politics in Singapore.

The electorate must also grow in maturity to set the same standard for both the government and the opposition.

When the government and opposition are both held to the same high standard, it can only be good for Singapore.

When you praise Pritam Singh, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬.

When you praise Pritam Singh, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬.

𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬.

Together with 100% of his salary hike for 5 years in 2007, and 100% of the proceeds from the sale of 38 Oxley Road he inherited which was estimated by estate agents to be worth at least $24 millions, the Prime Minister has donated almost $30 million to charities based on publicly available information.

The Prime Minister does not always make known his donations to charities.

He only made them known when there is a point he wanted to convey.

In 2007, to emphasize that the purpose of a salary hike was not to benefit himself, he gave all his salary hikes away.

In the case of 38 Oxley Road, it is the conviction that his family must not make monetary benefits from the historical significance of 38 Oxley Road.

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: With position comes privileges, allowances, and responsibilities

With position comes privileges, allowances, and responsibilities.

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

HIS DUTIES

1. To lead the opposition in presenting alternative views in parliamentary debates on policies, bills and motions

2. To lead and organise the scrutiny of the Government’s positions and actions in Parliament

3. To be consulted on the appointment of opposition members to parliamentary select committees, including standing select committees such as the public accounts committee

4. To be called upon, on occasion, to take on other duties such as attending official state functions and taking part in visits and meetings alongside members of the Government and the public service.

HIS PRIVILEGES AND RESOURCES

1. Parliamentary privileges: He will be given the right of first response among Members of Parliament (MPs) and to ask the lead question to the ministers on policies, bills and motions, subject to existing speaking conventions. He will also have more time for his speeches, equivalent to that given to political office-holders.

2. He will receive confidential briefings by the Government on select matters of national security and external relations, and in the event of a national crisis or emergency.

3. Allowance: He will receive an allowance that is double that of an elected MP, or $385,000 a year.

4. Manpower support: He will be provided an office and the use of a meeting room in Parliament House. He will also receive allowances to hire up to three additional legislative assistants. This is in addition to the allowances all MPs receive for one legislative assistant and one secretarial assistant. He will also be provided with a secretary to support him administratively with parliamentary business.

PM Lee formally appoints Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition

At a virtual press conference held at The Treasury building at around 4.30am on Saturday (July 11), PM Lee said that with 10 opposition MPs in the next Parliament, he intends to formally appoint WP Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition.

He will also provide Mr Singh with the appropriate staff and resources.

In a Facebook post, Mr Goh Chok Tong said that this was a significant move.

"𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐏𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐂𝐌𝐏𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤-𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭’𝐬," 𝐌𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝.

All in all, this is good for democracy as Singaporeans can look forward to robust debates on government policies and their alternatives put forth by the opposition.