This letter is sent to us by National Solidarity Party’s Mr Tony Tan.

I refer to the news report on 25 Mar 2011 “MOM to get ergonomic chairs”.

photo credit: ST

“The ministry is buying 472 Herman Miller chairs (photo), each priced at $575, for general office use for its staff. The chairs, which are not delivered yet, will cost $271,400 in total.”

This is not the first time that government expenditure from the perspective of a taxpayer has started bordering on whether the expenditure is justifiable.

It reminds me of the expensive chairs for the Changi Airport Terminal 3. Please see here.

My concern is that this the beginning of a designer chairs buying frenzy by all ministries.

Under normal circumstances, after a ministry has adopted a spending practice without question as to whether it is financially prudent, another ministry will come to view this as an acceptable practice.

A check indicates that there is a total headcount of 123,899 for 2011 in all the government ministries. Currently 472 chairs have been purchased for a headcount of 2,388 in MOM, this works out as roughly 20% of the total headcount. If we are to adopt the same practice for the other ministries – assuming a justification based on “ergonomic design, durability and value for money” – the government would have to procure another 24,307 designer chairs at a cost of around $14m based on our 20% headcount estimate.

$14m may seem a small sum, except that it is also about 50% of the budget allocated for the elderly and the disable. To give you a further sense of proportion expenditure budget allocated for gambling safeguards is only $2.9m in 2011 Singapore Budget.

It is clear that when the government feels it is justifiable, the cost is not an issue, and the taxpayer’s money is spent. Similar instances of being cavalier with taxpayer money includes the YOG and the naming of Marina Bay.

Going forward however, Singaporeans should start querying such expenditure. The government, for its part, must understand that our silence is not our consent, when it comes to spending the taxpayer money. Specifically in this case, we would like MOF’s view on whether this spending practice of procuring designer chairs is a good and acceptable practice.

And is the sum of money ($271,400) spent part of the FY 2010 budget or FY 2011 budget? If it is part of the FY 2010 budget, then it must be asked whether the spending is meant to soak up the unused FY 2010 budget before the workyear ends on 31st Mar 2011.


Tony Tan Lay Thiam

 

 

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

耕“犁”还是耕“黎”?昇菘超市红包贺词有错别字?

据《8视界新闻》报导,有网友李小姐发现,昇松超市今年送给顾客的红包封上疑似出现错字。 根据李小姐提供的照片,红包袋上除了印有牛图案外,还有贺词,写着“勤耕黎来丰收年”。 他认为其中“黎”是错别字,应该是“犁”。 耕犁是指耕作,原意为“勤劳付出,来年就有好收获”的好意头。 不过,若把“勤耕”与“黎来”拆解,也可解作鼓励人们勤奋耕耘,黎明即将到来。至于题词人是否是这个意思,就不得而知了。 根据《辞海》,原来古代汉语“黎明”亦通“犁明”,意思是“及至天明也”。《史记-齐太公世家》亦有记载: “太公闻之夜衣而行,犁明至国” 【索隐】:犁犹比也。一云犁犹迟也。

Author of “Crazy Rich Asians” has not entered Singapore since 2000: Ministry of Home Affairs

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has declared yesterday (28 Aug) that…

害怕失业被遣返回国 大部分女佣难拒绝“额外工作”

虽然清楚了解自己的权利和工作准则及合约规定,但是许多外籍女佣仍在被强迫进行“额外”工作时,不敢拒绝雇主,更别说向人力部或相关单位投报。 本地数家非政府组织在接受《亚洲新闻台》访问时指出,外籍女佣清楚了解自己的权利、工作准证和合约规定的工作,但是在面对雇主要求做出准证以外的工作时,她们就算知道不该,却也不敢拒绝或投诉。 受访组织包括有情义之家(HOME)、外籍女佣援助与技能培训协会(FAST)和新加坡劳务中介协会(AEAS)。 FAST协会高级执行员Seira Ong指出,协会每月会接到月200至300通投诉电话,比疫情前的投诉电话多了一倍多,有近三成被转介到人力部。而该协会所接到的求助电话中,有低于两成是和额外工作或工作量过多至无法应付有关。 她指出,较多女佣在被迫进行“额外工作”时不敢拒绝雇主,因为担心会被雇主认为他们是在偷懒,而不敢拨电投诉或求救,则是怕会被遣返回国,尤其是在受到疫情影响的现在,要回到我国觅职就更加难了。 而情义之家的个案经理Jaya Anil Kumar也有同样的答案,即女佣害怕在做出投诉后会失去工作,或者自己反成为被调查的一方。 “向情义之家求助的女佣中,每四人中就有一人表示曾到住家以外的地点,或被载到雇主的公司工作,但是只有小部分案件交给人力部调查。当局多年来都接到相当数量的投诉案件。” 工作界线模糊 AEAS主席K…

若开建军10周年庆在民众俱乐部举行 人协:申请者以“健康讲座”为由预订场地

日前,内政部采取行动,对付数名缅甸人,他们涉嫌利用新加坡作为平台,组织和争取支持,以武装暴力对付缅甸政府。 这批缅甸人也被涉及在新加坡举办若开军和若开民族联盟10周年庆祝活动,出席者也穿上印有若开军标志的服装。而会上有人穿军服、手持仿冒枪械表演若开军与缅甸军交战场面,还有与若开军领袖进行直播,呼吁若开人团结,透过武装斗争争取若开邦独立。 在本周二,一名读者在《海峡时报》质问,基于有关庆祝活动,乃是在人民协会民众俱乐部(Community Club, CC)举行,为此俱乐部的职员究竟以什么准则,批准让外籍人士使用俱乐部场所办政治性质活动? 对于读者的提问,人协回应,有关若开军十周年庆活动的主办方,假以健康讲座为由申请场地。 民众俱乐部不可进行政治活动 但人协和警方强调,在民众俱乐部的申请表格,清楚阐明设施不可用于宗教、政治或不法活动。而申请者也应申请其他所需的准证和执照。 人协指申请者都应如实申报活动目的,而人协也保留权利可取消任何违反条规的预订;也呼吁如有民众发现在这些民众俱乐部如有发现异常活动,可提醒值班职员。 “涉及或由非新加坡人举办,并最终导向政治目的的集会,包括支持或反对他国政治议程,警方都不会发出准证。” 至于不愿具名的民众俱乐部职员,告知《海时》,通常人们都租借俱乐部场地举办婚礼或生日派对。要租借剧场和多功能礼堂则必须亲自现身申请,并在表格中阐明活动目的。 但是,不是所有俱乐部管理委会都会一一审批这些场地申请,一些职员也只会口头通知特定的申请个案。其中一个俱乐部表示不会安排职员在租借场地的私人场合,但另一家俱乐部则表示,会在之前和活动进行时进行突击检查,如果发现有人违规,例如在多用途礼堂内烹煮,就会立即喊停活动。