This letter was sent to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, members of the opposition parties and media.
By Philip Ang
E M Services Private Limited (EMS) is the managing agent of Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PR-PTC). According to its website, it manages “about half a million HDB residential units, over 9,000 retail shops and office commercial units, 6,500 market and food centre stalls and 400,000 vehicle parking lots”.
Despite being the biggest managing agent in the world, relevant information could not be found on EMS website, ie there is no information on its CEO/directors.
EMS is not a neighbourhood provision shop but a joint venture between HDB, a statutory board, and Keppel Land Limited. As such, it is obligated to be transparent.
I highlighted this issue to Mrs Ow Foong Peng, MND Perm Sec, on 16 July after EMS had refused to respond to my queries. My feedback was forwarded to Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council, which, more often than not, has continued to engage in stonewalling.
The non-transparent nature of EMS has raised the following questions:
- Why does EMS fear disclosing information on its directors?
- Why is PR-PTC condoning the non-disclosure of information by EMS and acting against residents’ interests?
The government should not condone the concealment of information which belongs in the public domain. All companies with business dealings with the government should disclose their directors on their websites, including EMS.
This letter has been edited prior to publication
Editor’s note – Mr Ang has sent letters to E M Services asking for the relevant information since July 6 and had not been given an answer.
EMS is owned 75% by the Housing Development Board and 25% by Keppel Land Limited. Workers’ Party had earlier raised the question of whether the take over of SMRT by Temasek holding would mean a reduction of transparency in the transport company.
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