Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong has made an announcement to the media on Thursday (10 Sept) that he will be retiring from his public service and business roles at Changi Airport Group, Surbana Jurong, Temasek Foundation, and Temasek International.

This follows the judgement from the High Court last Friday to acquit the four theft-related convictions of his former domestic worker, Ms Parti Liyani which originated from allegations of theft made by him in 2016.

Mr Liew said in his media release, “After much deliberation, I have decided to bring forward my retirement from the various public service and business roles with Changi Airport Group, Surbana Jurong, Temasek Foundation, and Temasek International with immediate effect,”

“Those who know me, will know I am passionate about the roles and missions of these organisations. I do not wish my current situation to be a distraction to their respective boards, management and staff, amidst their many critical priorities.”

He noted in the media release that he and his family members had cooperated fully with the police throughout the investigations and trial.

“The High Court has made its decision. I have faith in our legal system and respect the decision of the High Court”

“I understand that both the Attorney’s General Chambers (AGC) and the police are now conducting reviews of the matter. Should it be required, my family and I will continue to provide full cooperation to both AGC and the police.”

“Improper motive” by members of the Liew family in mounting allegations of theft

Justice Chan Seng Onn in his written judgement on Ms Parti’s case, noted the existence of “improper motive” by members of the Liew family in mounting these allegations of theft against Ms Parti as she had earlier made known her intentions of filing a complaint with MOM over the fact that she was illegally deployed to clean Karl Liew’s home and office.

Justice Chan noted:

“It is clear to me based on the evidence at the trial below that Parti was in fact made to do illegal cleaning work at Karl’s residence at 39 CL and at Karl’s office. Parti’s evidence is that she received $10 for two to three days of work, and the payment was not regular. In fact, there was a prior dispute between Parti and the Liew family over the cleaning of the toilet in 39 CL; when Mdm Ng requested Parti to do so, she refused. There was also another incident where Parti refused to cook extra food for Karl.”

He continued, “It is significant that at some time prior to her termination, Parti had expressed unhappiness for being made to do additional cleaning work at Karl’s home in 39 CL and at his office, probably without adequate compensation. It demonstrates Parti’s prior unhappiness in relation to such an arrangement, which was illegal and an offence against the MOM regulations.”

“In my judgment, there is reason to believe that the Liew family, upon realising her unhappiness, took the pre-emptive first step to terminate her employment suddenly without giving her sufficient time for her to pack, in the hope that Parti would not use the time to make a complaint to MOM,” he reasoned.

The police report lodged by the Liews after Ms Parti explicitly stated her desire to notify MOM of her illegal deployment after her sudden termination, Justice Chan observed, was a way to “ensure her return would be prevented”.

“Given the seriousness of the consequences that might follow from what Parti said she would do, I have reason to believe that the Liew family would be very concerned that Parti would carry out her threat to report the matter to MOM,” he said.

The Liew family’s decision to abruptly terminate Ms Parti’s employment, noted Justice Chan, was based on items that went missing “over the years” and not those were recently discovered to be missing around the time the termination took place.

“In my view, this is not believable and it is more likely that the fear of Parti’s complaint to MOM rendered her termination urgent, at least in the eyes of the Liew family,” he said.

Criticism and defence of Mr Liew

This case had garnered criticism on social media, with many netizens condemning Liew family and earlier asking Mr Liew to step down from his chairman position.

On the Facebook page of Changi Airport, many netizens flocked to the comment sections with angry comments, describing Mr Liew as a “disgrace” of the Company while asking him to step down from chairman position.

Earlier, Chief Executive of Temasek International,  the wholly-owned management and investment arm of Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings, Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara (Dilhan) had defended Mr Liew, by saying “There are many individuals who have contributed to both public service and to the private sector in Singapore for the benefit of Singapore and our population as a whole. (Mr Liew) is one of those persons, and his track record at CapitaLand, at Changi Airport Group, and at Surbana Jurong attest to that.”

Subscribe
Notify of
112 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Dr Tony Tan’s speech at the Singapore Management University

Dr Tony Tan’s Principles for the Future of Higher Education

“Tens of thousands of rental flats needed”

Andrew Loh/ “The problem that the HDB face is they are just…

新加坡财团参与印度安得拉邦新首府项目 五月政权易手遭新首长喊停

今年7月,凯德集团(CapitaLand)刚完成对淡马锡控股子公司星桥腾飞(Ascendas-Singbridge)的收购。这使得凯德集团总资产规模突破1230亿元,业务范围也拓展至30个国家的200多个城市。 总部位于新加坡的星桥腾飞,业务遍及新马、中国、印度、澳洲、英国和美国等11个国家。星桥腾飞236亿元的80巴仙资产总值都在商务空间。 其中,星桥腾飞也有参与印度安得拉邦(Andhra Pradesh)的新首府阿玛拉瓦提(Amaravati)起步开发项目。 原本阿马拉瓦提获得世界银行与亚洲基础建设开发银行的10亿美元资助,安得拉邦与印度政府也对该城市提供23亿美元。 世行抽走资金 然而在上月15日,印度政府取消向世行寻求资助的要求,世行也被告知,印度政府已决定不再筹备阿马拉瓦提新首府项目。 不过,世银仍会持续在医疗、农业、能源和灾害管理等领域投入约10亿美元的支持。 去年6月7日,由胜科城镇发展印度公司(Sembcorp Development India)与星桥腾飞安得拉投资控股(Ascendas-Singbridge Andhra)合资成立的公司,与印度安得拉邦政府签署阿玛拉瓦提起步开发区的股东协议与特许权开发协议。…

【选举】三年深耕波东巴西 乔立盟拼选战全力以赴

人民党主席乔立盟发文表示对选举摒息期待,会在此次的竞选之战全力以赴。 自昨日(23日)总理李显龙发表全国演说,建议解散国会后,各党也蓄势待发,为来届大选做准备。人民党主席乔立盟连续发文向支持者表达激动的心情。 乔立盟在今日(24日)发文表示自己非常期待此次的选举,经过三年在波东巴西(Potong Pasir)努力深耕社区,终于等来此次选举。 “就我们在波东巴西服务工作,已早在三年前开始,我们也相当期待此次能够在与我们心连心的地方上竞选。” 人民党于今年3月时表态,将由乔立盟竞逐波东巴西,该党前党魁詹时中已引领人民党近25年,更早在1984年,即成功赢得波东巴西议席,在该选区默默服务长达27载。 至于由该党秘书长谢镜丰领导的四人团队,将出征碧山-大巴窑集选区。其他三名成员包括邱永豪、欧斯曼(Osman Sulaiman)和41岁的副主席Williamson Lee。 乔立盟:选举可以摆脱过去的政策和思想的时候 昨日在总统哈丽玛宣布解散国会后,乔立盟也立即在脸书上发文指此次选举重要的一部,因为是可以摆脱过去的政策和思想的时候。 “此次选举将是创造更好的未来的时候,是我们摆脱过去的政策和思想的时候。”…