Parliament yesterday approved a $79.7 billion Budget trained on transforming the economy and building a more caring and resilient society.

These twin spirits of enterprise and care for one another are what will enable Singapore to thrive for another 50 years, said Leader of the House Grace Fu as she wrapped up the debate on the Government’s spending plans.

MPs filed 499 cuts to ministries’ budgets this year, the highest in the past five such debates. Each cut lets them speak on the policies and programmes of the ministries.

Among other things, the ministries laid out their policies on helping retrenched workers upgrade themselves and get new jobs, stamping out diabetes and supporting parenthood.

Ms Fu, who is Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, said: “The challenges we face today cannot be solved by the Government alone.”

She called on Singaporeans to work with the Government to tackle issues such as changing mindsets on education.

Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, in her wrap-up speech, said the Budget would be remembered as one that slew not one but two sacred cows.

She cited the change in the Primary School Leaving Examination grading from numerical scores to letter grades, and the move to give unwed mothers the same 16 weeks of maternity leave that married mothers get.

MPs had long championed these changes, said Madam Halimah, who praised the moves for “placing children at the heart of what we do”.

This year’s Budget was presented and discussed later than usual, because of the heavy parliamentary schedule after last September’s General Election. As a result, the Budget was passed only after the start of the Government’s financial year on April 1.

But the Government had temporary access to various government funds to keep public services running as normal, under a constitutional provision.

Article 148B(4) of the Constitution states that the Finance Minister, with the Cabinet’s approval, can authorise such spending until the Supply Bills controlling each ministry’s spending are passed.

However, the amount that can be spent this way must not exceed a quarter of the total sum approved in the past year’s Budget.

Rounding up the fortnight’s debate, Madam Halimah said: “The challenge now is to help people navigate this period of disruption and transformation to a better future.”

This article was first published on April 15, 2016.
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The town council run by the Workers’ Party (WP) will be receiving long-awaited grants from the Ministry of National Development (MND), which says it is now satisfied that safeguards are in place to ensure the proper use of the money.

The Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) will get $12.9 million, said the ministry without disclosing when the money will be handed over.

Another $1.8 million is earmarked for Punggol East constituency, which was previously part of the WP’s Aljunied- Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).

This sum will go to the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) as the constituency was won by the People’s Action Party in last year’s general election.

The ministry held back a total of $14.7 million in operating grants for the financial years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. Yesterday, it noted that AHTC has said it “fully accepts all conditions set by MND in relation to the grants”.

The conditions include appointing independent accountants, setting up segregated bank accounts to receive the grants, and getting the accountants to sign off on large payments from the accounts.

AHTC hired a team of accountants from KPMG last month to look into its books.

This followed a Court of Appeal order for the town council to appoint a Big Four accounting firm to help establish whether any past payments it made were improper and if money should be recovered, among other things.

“With these safeguards in place, the ministry will be disbursing the grants to AHTC,” said MND.

When contacted, Punggol East MP Charles Chong welcomed the disbursement of the grants.

But he noted that PRPTC had not received the full amount of Punggol East’s sinking funds due from AHTC.

He said in 2013, $22.5 million in sinking funds had been handed over to the WP-run town council, after the opposition party won Punggol East in a by-election that year.

But AHTC has so far transferred back only an “interim amount” of $10 million in sinking funds, he said, adding that the exact amount owed is still being worked out.

“The sooner this is resolved the better, as we have to get back what is due to us to be fair to the residents,” Mr Chong said.

The WP did not respond to media queries by press time.

The MND had earlier withheld the grants due to lapses in financial governance in AHPETC identified by its own auditors and a special Auditor-General’s Office report released in February last year.

The ministry and the Housing Board subsequently applied to the courts to appoint independent accountants to inspect AHPETC books and rectify the lapses.

After months of disagreements, the Court of Appeal ordered AHTC to select one of the Big Four accounting firms.

At a hearing on the issue, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said in January this year that the accountants’ task “should not be underestimated” because they had to ensure a public body was meeting its legal obligations and using its public funds properly.

They would also have to look into whether any past payments made by the town council “were improper and ought therefore to be recovered”.

This article was first published on April 15, 2016.
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The People’s Association (PA) plans to upgrade 24 community clubs to cater to the needs of the increasingly sophisticated population but it remains a non-partisan organisation.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said this in reply to Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC), who questioned the “ever-increasing” budget and asked if the PA had “deviated from its mandate” of fostering social stability.

Ms Lim, the Workers’ Party (WP) chairman, said during the debate on the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s spending plans on Wednesday that some PA activists may have felt that their role included “advancing the ruling party politically and undermining the work of opposition MPs”.

She cited PA activists being mobilised to campaign for People’s Action Party candidates during elections as an example.

Responding yesterday, Mr Chan, the PA deputy chairman, said its mission is to strengthen the social fabric through community events, communicating government policies and residents’ feedback.

As a statutory board, the PA executes the directions from the government of the day. But it does not allow any political activity or canvassing on its premises, or in its activities, he told her.

“The PA does not check on the political allegiance of the participants of our activities, nor do I or anyone know their voting preferences. It is not relevant to our work,” he said.

“When I see my own residents, participants of my PA activities, supporting the opposition, I can only ask myself how I can work harder to win them over… We certainly do not mobilise anyone for any political party.

“If Ms Lim has any such evidence of wrongdoing, you can let me know and I guarantee you I will follow up. I will be the last person to ever allow the PA to be politicised.”

Ms Lim complained that government agencies recognised only PA-related organisations and not the MP as “proper channels”on matters such as infrastructural projects in constituencies.

Mr Chan, who said he has heard “both sides accusing each other of being uncooperative”, urged them to put residents’ interests first.

“When things get done, there’s never a shortage of people who will claim credit. When things are not done, there’s always a shortage of people who will claim responsibility. This is not the way we want to go. This is bad politics and this is not leadership,” he said.

As for her questioning if the PA’s $900 million budget for the 2016 financial year was justified, he said it was actually about 5 per cent lower than in the previous financial year.

The bump last year was not, as Ms Lim suggested, due to the Golden Jubilee celebrations, which cost an extra $4 million. Rather, most of the PA’s budget was to set up the Pioneer Generation Office and build Tampines Hub and Wisma Geylang Serai Civic Centre.

This year’s budget is intended to cover plans to upgrade 24 community clubs.

Ms Lim “might ask” if this is the right time, he said, but explained that there is a schedule for upgrading and that the PA weighs factors including opportunities during a slowdown “to lock in good prices” for its projects.

This article was first published on April 15, 2016.
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The legal troubles facing Art Heritage Singapore, the firm behind the private museum Singapore Pinacotheque de Paris which closed on Monday after barely a year in business, are piling up.

The Straits Times has learnt that two more lawsuits were filed against the company, by a security company and a media house, bringing the number of reported lawsuits to four so far.

The total sums claimed come up to almost $900,000.

The Ministry of Manpower also told ST that eight employees have lodged salary claims against Art Heritage Singapore.

A former employee said he was asked to go on “half-time contract” on reduced pay between April and August last year.

He quit last August, nine months after joining the museum in November 2014. “Visitor attendance was a concern among the staff members, as we noticed it was low,” he added.

Art Heritage Singapore chairman Marc Restellini told ST in an e-mail interview from Paris that he will “do my best to convince all the partners to pay the salaries as soon as possible”.

The firm’s shareholders include KOP Properties, entrepreneur Alain Vandenborre, a Singapore-registered investment holding company Art Museum Diffusion Group, of which Swiss businessman Yves Bouvier is the sole shareholder, and a Netherlands-registered organisation called The Art Heritage Group N.V.

Mr Restellini said the museum attracted between 250 and 400 visitors on weekends following the museum’s opening last May. But in the last six months, daily visitor numbers were “usually around 25 to 40” people.

The two new lawsuits were filed in the weeks leading up to the museum’s sudden closure on April 11. Security company Jasa Investigation and Security Services is seeking a sum of about $89,000 in a suit filed on March 29.

Media house Burda Singapore, whose magazines include Prestige and August Man, filed a claim for just over $14,000 on April 4. The case involves advertisements placed with it.

Last week, The Straits Times reported two ongoing lawsuits against Art Heritage Singapore. One was filed by media and digital agency Mediatropy over a sum of about $110,000 and another by Italian company Arthemisia Group over about €435,000 (S$668,000).

Housed in Fort Canning Arts Centre, Pinacotheque Singapore was the only overseas outpost of the Pinacotheque de Paris in France, which closed on Feb 15 due to falling visitor numbers.

The museums focused on showing Western masterpieces from private collectors around the world and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) facilitated the setting up of the museum in Singapore.

A 2014 New York Times report said that Singapore Pinacotheque cost US$24 million (S$32 million). Both museums were set up by Mr Restellini, who is a French curator and art historian.

STB’s executive director of arts, entertainment and integrated resorts Carrie Kwik said the board provided funding that was used solely for the redevelopment of the Fort Canning Arts Centre, and that STB would work with relevant agencies, such as NParks, to “identify other meaningful concepts that could add value to the centre”.

• With additional reporting by Huang Lijie

This article was first published on April 15, 2016.
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