I have to say that the whole Ridout saga is quite absurd but what makes it worse are the double standards that so many people are eager to apply to the government and opposition, while professing to care about Singapore.
And I don't mean some frothing lunatics from the political margins but many who like to portray themselves as reasonable and civilised.
THAT is the biggest problem for the country.
I can understand that not everybody may love the government or the ruling party, for whatever reason, but how can you so blatantly ignore proven transgressions of people you profess to support – bah, even believe they would be better stewards of the country!?
Another ruling in the AHTC case dropped a few days ago, finding WP leadership (with exception of Pritam) liable for negligence in payments disbursed by the Town Council.
Let me remind you that even if you believe that PAP is controlling the courts, judges and is somehow trying to "fix" the opposition, the UNDENIABLE facts of the matter are that:
- FMSS was established and run by party supporters
- It charged the highest rates in the country
- It was allowed to sign off at least some of the payments without any supervision from the WP run Town Council
This is not made up, it's just a factual reality of both negligence and incompetence, implicating WP leaders.
You can't fight it, you can't deny it.
We're talking about years and tens of millions of dollars of public money.
And yet I neither see nor hear anybody from among those so eagerly trying to establish whether min. Shanmugam and Vivian cut a few trees on a rented parcel, disowning the incompetent leaders of the Workers' Party.
Crickets.
Is this how you see the country being run? Are those your "higher standards"
Conversely, even if you mistrust the ministers renting the BW bungalows, the undeniable facts are that:
- both properties were not rented and had troubles finding tenants in the years prior
- neither of them is a luxury GCB but rather a century old house that required adapting to current living standards: with costs borne by both SLA and tenants: as documented
- neither of them was rented for a markedly lower or otherwise preferential rate to comparable properties managed by SLA
We're talking about sums of mere thousands of dollars, which are paid by ministers to the public, as they became tenants of houses previously abandoned.
The difference in magnitude between both cases is gigantic – and yet all I hear about is a flurry of unsubstantiated smears, about allegedly "palatial" living conditions, suggestions that min. Shan's son had something to do with renovation work (proven false) or that some trees had to be removed for the plots to be made liveable.
Contrast that with millions of dollars negligently spent by elected officials in AHTC, after they appointed a friendly company charging unusually high rates for its services, which were poorly supervised by the party leaders.
Even if you hate PAP, how can you not see where the real scandal is?
Look, if you want change, find yourself better idols, better people, more honest, more competent – I don't see a problem with that. Heck, start your own party, if there's nobody good enough out there. Think you can do better? Go out there and compete, prove yourself, present your ideas.
But how insane must you be to provide cover for such gross incompetence, while trying to sink PAP ministers for a BW rental?
How can you honestly claim you have the best interest of Singapore in mind?
