Commentaries
$56,000 for 3 “work plans” retreats for grassroots organisations?
In his response to questions on the Auditor General’s Office (AGO) report on the People’s Association (PA), Mr Lim Swee Say gave a detailed breakdown of the nature of the reimbursements involving the former chairman of the Admiralty ward’s Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC).
Mr Tonic Oh, the chairman in question, had written and signed off on cheques totalling some $114,000, which were from seven reimbursement claims, to himself.
According to Mr Lim, two out of the seven claims were not substantiated with proper receipts or supporting documents.
One of these was the money for a funeral wake which a needy family required immediately.
Mr Lim said there was no supporting document for the claim but the amount given was “witnessed by a few volunteers.”
Is this enough substantiation for the PA to pay out reimbursements to Mr Oh – that the claim was “witnessed by a few volunteers”? Who were these “few volunteers”? Were they or are they closely related to Mr Oh? What are their positions in the PA or the CCC?
And how much was this claim?
Mr Lim did not say.
The other incident which was not substantiated with documentary proof were three claims for “workplans” retreats by the grassroots organisation (GRO).
While Mr Lim did not specify which GRO it actually was, it is presumed that it was Mr Oh’s own CCC.
The Straits Times reported:
“Four claims were for retreats to discuss workplans. Only one had supporting documents. The receipts for the other three, totalling $56,050, were misplaced but the CCC later verified the sums with proof of payment from the vendor.”
One would first question how much was the claim for the one which had supporting documents – Mr Lim did not say.
As for the other three,while the CCC later verified the sums with proof of payment from the vendor – which Mr Lim, incidentally, did not name – the obvious question one would ask is:
Why does it cost $56,050 to hold three workplans retreats?
That works out to an average of $18,680 for each retreat.
Where were these retreats held? Were they overseas trip? If they were, are these necessary?
GROs have indeed held such retreats overseas through the years, and questions about them have been raised in the past.
For example, in 2014, members of the public queried the Member of Parliament and grassroots adviser for Sengkang West, Lam Pin Min, on whether it was necessary for his GROs to hold its “retreat” in Taipei, Taiwan.
Dr Lam, who is also Minister of State for Health, had uploaded some photos of the trip on his Facebook page. (See here: “Grassroots leaders like to go overseas to do planning“.)
TR Emeritus also reported at the time:
“If everyone in the photo is paying from their own pockets, then I have nothing to say. But if even 1 cent has been used to sponsor this retreat, I would like Dr Lam to tell us more about it,” [a] reader said.
Apparently, according to the website of People’s Association [Link], grassroots leaders and their MPs do regularly go for overseas retreat to “work”. They will also bring along their family members too.
For example, from 12 to 14 Dec, Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan went with his grassroots leaders and family members to Batam.
The purpose was for them to meet and create the work plan for next year – “to plan the direction for 2015.″
Such “retreats” by the GROs have also taken place in other overseas locations, such as in Indonesia and Thailand, and has been going on for quite a while now.
For example, in a letter to the Straits Times Forum page in 2006, Mr Ang Hak Heng asked why “100 grassroots leaders from Cheng San”, in the then PAP-run Aljunied GRC, needed to conduct their retreat in Pattaya, Thailand.
“Assuming the cost at $100 per grassroots leader and 10 cents per card, it would be $10,000 and $8,000 respectively,” Mr Ang wrote. “The actual costs may be higher. Is it really necessary to conduct the discussion at a foreign resort in the first place? There are resorts in Singapore and there’s Sentosa. It could save them travel time and also support local businesses and stimulate our economy if the session was held in Singapore.”
He added: “The money saved could be used to help needy residents, students, the elderly and unemployed. It will certainly increase the sense of well-being and happiness for some, if not all Aljunied residents.”
The PA’s response to Mr Ang’s letter was that the grassroots leaders “co-pay” for such overseas trips.
Still, it raises the question of why the need to go overseas at all for such “workplans” meetings.
And how much indeed has been spent by all the 1,800 GROs on such things.
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