Singapore held its 51st birthday celebration for the second time which was hosted by President Dr Tony Tan at the National Day Reception at Garden By the Bay on Wednesday (10 August).
One highlight of the event was the cutting of a giant birthday cake by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his wife and CEO of Temasek Holdings, Ho Ching, President Dr Tony Tan and his wife, Mrs Mary Tan, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and his wife, Mrs Goh.
The Music and Drama Company of the Singapore Armed Forces performed several pieces at the celebration, in particular, the National Day Parade Theme Song, Tomorrow’s Here Today.
Representations of social enterprises, which aims are to help people like finding employment for single mothers or teach English to migrant workers, were invited to the celebration.
Jovin, who will be representing Singapore at the upcoming Paralympics in Rio also attended the celebration. Mr Lee and Jovin had a conversation and Mr Lee wished Jovin and his fellow athletes the best.
The Garden by the Bay, which project was handled by the National Parks Board (NParks), was opened in Singapore in June 2012. As much as S$1.03 billion was spent to build this tourist attraction.
In two of its audits in 2014 and 2015, AGO found out there was an indication that an NParks officer might have backdated documents to give the impression that they existed at the time when the relevant transactions took place and that three consultancy services contracts worth a total of S$20.77 million being awarded via waiver of competition without compelling reasons( see details here).
Recognizing the serious matter, the Ministry of National Development (MND) and NParks supervising ministry conducted an internal inquiry and that the company, Gardens by the Bay, which manages the Gardens, had taken the necessary disciplinary actions against the officer (presently its staff) for the misconduct.
MND also informed the Committee that NParks and Garden by the Bay would tighten their internal procurement, project management and contract management processes to prevent future recurrence.
