Lim Tean: Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done

When the Government announced the Committee of Inquiry (COI) to investigate into the matter, it had the solemn duty to Ensure that it got to the bottom of things and leave no stones unturned. No sacred cows must be spared!

The composition of the Committee of Inquiry is therefore of utmost importance! There is an aphorism in law that Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done! The appearance of total impartiality is therefore paramount. This aphorism is an important part of the Rule of Law.

Sadly, the composition of the COI once again reveals the bunker mentality of this government and how everything must be kept within the establishment. Instead of having the greatest independent experts in the World examine and investigate the fault in the system, we once again have a coterie of persons all linked or previously linked to the establishment.

Besides the Chairman Richard Magnus who was the former Chief District Judge, the other 3 members all are either linked to the establishment or were formerly liked ;

1) Lee Fook Sun, which the ST today described as the Executive Chairman of the Cyber Security solutions company Quann World was a former Brigadier General in Mindef and was with the ST Engineering Group for 17 years until he retired in 2017. He is also a board member of SMRT and DSO National Laboratries and a corporate advisor to Temasek International Advisors Pte Ltd.

2) Mr T.K.Udairam was the former CEO of Changi Hospital. He is currently the COO of Sheares Healthcare Management which is wholly owned by Temasek.

3) Ms Cham Hui Fong is the assistant secretary-general of NTUC and has been for the last 27 years.

Do you think this composition satisfies the legal aphorism I have referred to above?

We must change Singapore for the better by having a more open government and respecting the Rule of Law.

This was first published on Lim Tean’s Facebook page and reproduced with permission