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Singapore

Ridout Road review demonstrates 'stringent standards' set

by PAP: PM Lee
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign
Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan retain his full confidence.

03:37 Min

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday (Jul 3) that the review into the rental of state properties by two Cabinet
ministers was a demonstration of how the People’s Action Party (PAP) is determined to uphold its “stringent”…see more

Chew Hui Min

03 Jul 2023 08:49PM | (Updated: 04 Jul 2023 09:08AM)

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SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday (Jul 3) that the review into
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People’s Action Party (PAP) is determined to uphold its “stringent” standards.

“This accounting in Parliament is not just to resolve the issue of the rentals on to black and
white properties in Ridout Road, important as that is. It's also a demonstration of how the
PAP is determined to uphold the standards, which it has set itself from the beginning in
1959,” said Mr Lee.

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“This government has not and will never tolerate any compromise or departure from the
stringent standards of honesty, integrity and incorruptibility that Singaporeans expect of
us.”

Mr Lee had on May 17 tasked the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) to conduct
a formal investigation into any possible corruption or wrongdoing when Law and Home
Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan each
rented black-and-white bungalows, which are state properties.

Last week, the report issued by CPIB concluded that there had been no abuse of power or
conflict of interest resulting in the ministers gaining any unfair advantage or privileges.

Mr Lee had also asked Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean to conduct a separate review in
order to address wider potential process or policy issues beyond the scope of CPIB’s
investigation. That review also cleared the two ministers of any improper conduct. 

Related:

Empathy and ability to serve does not depend on how rich or poor one is, says Shanmugam

'Leave my family alone': Shanmugam denies allegations that son’s firm renovated Ridout Road
bungalows
 Shanmugam says he rented Ridout Road property to prepare for sale of family home, not
profiting from rental

During a debate on theBest issue in Parliament

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Singapore's anti-graft body to establish definitively if there was any corruption or
wrongdoing.

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“Why CPIB? Because CPIB is independent. It has built up a strong reputation as an anti-
corruption outfit and it has the necessary legal powers guaranteed in the Constitution to
carry out a thorough investigation,” he said.

“Everybody in Singapore knows what it means when CPIB invites you to "lim kopi" (drink
coffee). And they can invite anybody - ministers, officials, businessmen, ordinary
Singaporeans - whoever it is necessary for them to interview in order to establish the facts
and the truth, and whether there's culpability.”

The investigation and review also went beyond criminal conduct to look at whether there
had been preferential treatment enjoyed by the ministers, whether any privileged
information had been disclosed to them, whether the ministers had abused their position
in the process of the rentals, or if there had been any other misconduct or impropriety.

Some Members of Parliament had questioned if Mr Teo was suitable to lead the review as
he was one of the ministers informed of the rental transaction when it took place in 2018.  

Mr Shanmugam had instructed his ministry to go to then Senior Minister of State of Law
Indranee Rajah in the event that any matter had to be referred to the minister. If any
matter had to go beyond Ms Indranee, she was to approach Mr Teo. However, there was
no matter raised by SLA to MinLaw about the rental.

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Mr Lee said that Mr Teo was the “backstop” and nothing about the rental was raised to
him, so he did not consider Mr Teo to have been involved in the transaction.

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Singapore's biggest challenge is to keep bringing in the best people to serve: SM Teo

Highlights: Parliament debate on ministers' rental of Ridout Road bungalows

“I appointed him to show that I had every intention to maintain the government's and the
PAP’s longstanding, high and stringent standards of integrity and propriety. I wanted to
put my most experienced, most qualified, for this purpose, most capable person on the
job,” said Mr Lee.

On why he had asked a minister to conduct the review, rather than the Attorney-General’s
Chambers, Mr Lee said that the courts are the arbiter of what is legal or illegal, but that
was not all that was at stake here.

“Ethics and standards of propriety - those are the prime minister's responsibility. I have to
set the standards of what's ethical, what's proper - I cannot outsource them,” he said. 

Based on the CPIB findings, Mr Teo’s review then confirmed that there was no conflict of
interest or unfair advantage given to the ministers, and all procedures were complied with,
said Mr Lee.

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“The ministers, Minister Shanmugam and Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, have done nothing
wrong, and they retain my full confidence,” he said.

Mr Lee also said that where ministers choose to live is a personal matter, provided “all
procedures are followed”. They are paid a “clean wage”, and it’s up to them to decide how
to save or spend it, said the Prime Minister.

“Therefore, where ministers decide to live, whether they want to rent, whether they want to
buy, these are personal choices. And thus, I see nothing wrong with ministers renting
properties from SLA, or for that matter from a private landlord, provided it's properly done,
and all procedures are followed,” he added.
 Ridout Road debate: PM Lee says ministers Shanmugam, Balakrishnan retai…
retai…

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Following Mr Lee’s speech, MPs rose to ask more questions, including the Leader of the
Opposition Pritam Singh (WP - Aljunied) and Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai.

“I don't think many would disagree that from this episode, there is a perception of an
amount of conflict of interest and unfairness in the process of renting the two bungalows,”
said Mr Leong.

Although there was no outright misconduct of any public servant, the result was that there
was a perception of possible misconduct.

“From this episode, would you … commit that from now on, the code of conduct (COC) of
the PAP government will be applied more stringently, learning from this episode?” he
asked the Prime Minister.

“If this episode doesn't show any shortcoming … in the application of the COC - this is a
kind of standard we cannot expect from the PAP government, we will take it as that.”

Mr Lee said that Mr Leong alleges there was a perception of wrongdoing even after
government ministers had spent more than five hours in the House explaining why there
were no actual or potential conflicts of interest in the rental transactions.
“Therefore, when he says the PAP code of conduct, do I intend for it to be stringently
applied, what he really means is: Should I or should I not allow ministers to rent GCBs
(Good Class Bungalows) or to rent black-and-whites. My answer is, I do not object to
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ministers renting black-and-whites,” said Mr Lee.
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“They live within their salary, they live within their means … They comply with the laws, they
do things properly. And most importantly, they continue to do their duties as the minister
and to serve constituents and to serve Singaporeans.”

Mr Lee added that there is a phrase in the ministers’ swearing-in text which states “in all
things to be a true and faithful minister”.

“That’s what we expect of all PAP ministers,” said Mr Lee.

Source: CNA/hm(ac)

Related Topics

Ridout Road Lee Hsien Loong Singapore politics

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