S Iswaran has decided to do the best thing, sparing himself, the party and the country a waste of time and money following a trial that would likely have been lost after the prosecution dropped the most serious corruption charges under Section 6 of Prevention of Corruption act.
Back in January I observed that it is very unlikely that S Iswaran could be charged for outright corruption since to prove it prosecutors would have to provide evidence that Ong Beng Seng received something in exchange for his tickets and fancy wines.
That allegation looked dead on arrival, considering the paltry value of the gifts, provided over five long years, in proportion to ministerial salary.
It just didn't make any sense that a cabinet minister would peddle political favours for tickets to musicals, football games and F1 races.
Now, Section 165 of the Penal Code is much broader and this is where Iswaran decided it made no sense to challenge it.
It outlaws accepting anything from people a public servant is involved with in a professional capacity – whether it was a bribe or not. Just don't do it, or you face up to 2 years in prison.
We know that Ong Beng Seng has interacted with Singapore government, including S Iswaran, on matters like bringing Formula 1 to the country or organising ABBA Voyage concerts here.
It would be hard to defeat the charge that Iswaran did not receive favours from him while being involved in professional matters as well.
In theory, the defence could attempt to show how dates of those interactions did not overlap, but given that billionaire businessmen usually have continued interest in contacts with the government, it could always have been alleged that a cabinet member remains in a potential conflict of interest at all times.
This is why the prescribed behaviour is not to accept anything from anyone, not even as a lowly civil servant, let alone a minister.
Iswaran should have known better but he became careless. He didn't say no to gifts from someone he considered a friend, assuming that any corruption charge for such relatively inexpensive presents would seem preposterous.
Well, it didn't to the prosecution.
Perhaps he had become too complacent. A high ranking long-time PAP minister surely could afford to be more casual with a rich pal. That was his downfall.
The good news is that Singapore remains as clean as it's ever been. Nobody bribed the minister in the end. Nobody obtained any favours, which would hurt public interest or result in loss of public money.
Singapore's law is so strict that even in the absence of corruption it still punishes impropriety, even if it wouldn't be considered a crime anywhere else.
Perhaps that's the reason people trust its government more than anybody else in the world trusts theirs.
