By Tan Jee Say –
Someone using the moniker of 'Tan Roar' has posted the following 'smear message' against my wife Patricia on my Facebook (2 October 2012) –
{ " Tan Roar – There is also an erroneous reporting that Tjs’s wife was an investment banker. This is inaccurate. Pls verify for yourself which investment bank she was employed under. In fact, Mrs tjs abused her position when she was with their 4th child. NTUC Income would not grant her paid maternity leave so she took unpaid leave but traded on her information from the NTUC Income equity positions she managed to make money for herself. In whatever manner one looks at this, this is a conflict of interest. " }
This seems like an extract from an earlier 'smear letter' by self-styled "TheRealTruth" who circulated it during last year's Presidential election campaign. I had then issued a rebuttal (reproduced below) which focused on the first 3 points simply to demolish his credibility without bothering to answer his other points, but despite my rebuttal Tan Roar has now decided to resurface his allegations against Patricia so as to hit at me indirectly. I had not rebutted these specific allegations earlier but will do so now to clear all doubts –
Point 1 – "There is also an erroneous reporting that Tjs’s wife was an investment banker. This is inaccurate. Pls verify for yourself which investment bank she was employed under."
Answer – Patricia worked for the Daiwa Securities Group and United Merchant Bank.
Point 2 – "Mrs tjs abused her position when she was with their 4th child. NTUC Income would not grant her paid maternity leave so she took unpaid leave but traded on her information from the NTUC Income equity positions she managed to make money for herself. In whatever manner one looks at this, this is a conflict of interest."
Answer – Patricia was investment manager of the fixed income portfolio when she took unpaid maternity leave for our 4th child. The fixed income portfolio consisted of bonds, corporate loans, treasury and cash, and this portfolio was different and separate from equities portfolios which were managed by different persons. So "Tan Roar" was completely wrong to allege Patricia "traded on her information from the NTUC Income equity positions she managed to make money for herself." In any case, Patricia was on maternity leave and her portfolio was taken over by someone else to manage in her absence.
Why old smear restarts
I have decided to post this rebuttal because I sense a restart of a smear campaign against me as I rejoin the political arena to prepare for GE 2016. For this reason, I am reproducing below my earlier rebuttal of the original smear letter dated 15 August 2011. (This rebuttal also appeared in my book "A Nation Awakes".)
{ " Tan Jee Say is GOD
By TheRealTruth 15 August 2011
Dear Fellow Singaporeans
In the interest of transparency and in the spirit of being the voice of conscience, this is to correct the false impression that is conveyed in the Sunday Times article about Tan Jee Say (tjs). Tjs has no moral righteousness, compass or anchor and blows where the winds of opportunity takes him. He quit the government when it became apparent that he would not become permanent secretary. After quitting the government, he first joined Morgan Grenfell, then Peregrine Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and finally AIB Govett.
When Morgan Grenfell came knocking, tjs jumped at the chance. He promised them to bring in much monies from the Malaysian conglomerates which he came into contact with during his tenure at the Ministry of Trade & Industry. His results at Morgan Grenfell speak for themselves, tjs did not deliver the monies and his peers soon found that he was a light weight load of hot air. His stay at Peregrine Bank was just as short lived. In fact, he had a contributory role in Bank Peregrine’s eventual demise. His poor judgement resulted in his failure to dispense proper advice that the investment into an Indonesian concern was not viable. Tjs, the person responsible failed to do appropriate due diligence. Peregrine's subsequent bankruptcy saw him packing his bags again. At AIB Govett, it was reported that his strength was in policy making. This firm collapsed whilst others survived. Obviously tjs’s policies were wrong. This forebodes poorly on the potential for tjs to be EP as at every employment stop he has demonstrated poor judgement. Translate this into safeguarding our nation’s reserves and it will result in disastrous consequences………………"
Self-styled “TheRealTruth” continued with a long list of other untruths that I consider to be unworthy of reproduction here. Initially I brushed it off as inconsequential internet chatter, but when concerned friends told me that it had been widely circulated such that even the media queried me about it, I decided to issue a rebuttal:
1. "When Morgan Grenfell came knocking, tjs jumped at the chance. He promised them to bring in much monies from the Malaysian conglomerates which he came into contact with during his tenure at the Ministry of Trade & Industry. His results at Morgan Grenfell speak for themselves, tjs did not deliver the monies and his peers soon found that he was a light weight load of hot air."
My reply: Morgan Grenfell did not need TJS to bring in business from Malaysian conglomerates; it had an office in KL and great contacts with Malaysian government and conglomerates. Morgan Grenfell was more interested in TJS's Singapore contacts especially with major privatisations, and he did not disappoint them when he helped to win the SingTel privatisation, the first-ever telecom privatisation deal that Morgan Grenfell ever won worldwide and the Group was immensely proud of TJS. He went on to win other deals for Morgan Grenfell.
2. " His stay at Peregrine Bank was just as short lived. In fact, he had a contributory role in Bank Peregrine’s eventual demise. His poor judgement resulted in his failure to dispense proper advice that the investment into an Indonesian concern was not viable. Tjs, the person responsible failed to do appropriate due diligence. Peregrine’s bankruptcy saw him packing his bags again."
My reply: TJS was not involved with Peregrine's "investment" in the Indonesian concern that triggered Peregrine's collapse. It was a fixed income deal, not an equity one and so was outside his purview, and was handled directly by the Fixed Income Desk in Head Office together with the Jakarta office. He left Peregrine well before, not after, its collapse as wrongly claimed.
3. " At AIB Govett, it was reported that his strength was in policy making. This firm collapsed whilst others survived. Obviously tjs’s policies were wrong."
My reply: AIB Govett was bought over by another fund management group in the UK during a time when there was consolidation in the industry which saw many fund management companies being acquired by other firms. The new owner decided to close down the Singapore office. This occurred a few years after TJS had left AIB Govett.
There was no need for me to go further and rebut the other falsehoods. The facts I provided threw TheRealTruth’s credibility into doubt. Earlier at the press conference when this was raised, I invited the person behind ‘TheRealTruth’ moniker to reveal himself and repeat his allegations rather than hide behind the anonymity of the internet. He did not take up the challenge and nothing was heard from him thereafter. But it did reveal the amount of fear I had struck into my opponent(s). I had established myself as a formidable candidate. But the path had not been smooth. }