Ex-WP NCMP recounts AHTC saga, stresses residents' welfare 'should never be used as a political tool'

Following the conclusion of long-standing lawsuits between Workers’ Party leaders and the Aljunied-Hougang (AHTC) and Sengkang Town Councils (STC), Yee Jenn Jong, former WP Non-Constituency Member of Parliament expressed relief.

Recalling the saga, he mentioned Action Information Management (AIM), a company owned by the PAP, "has the ability to deny a TC of the use of the computer software in opposition-run wards with a very short notice. "

This situation, he noted, compromised the TC’s ability to maintain accurate records and report to the Ministry of National Development (MND).

He implied that this led to AHTC failing in its reporting and audits, exacerbated by a poor handover from the outgoing PAP TC to the WP TC, and resulted in intense external audits and withheld grants.

Mr Yee emphasized that matters related to residents' welfare should never be used as a political tool, no matter who they had voted for, and advocating for a non-partisan approach to governance.

'Outgoing party's mechanism to trigger destruction a 'definite NO-NO' by any standard'

In a 25 July Facebook post, Mr Yee reflected on the case's origins, noting that it spanned nearly 14 years.

He clarified that he never held any official role in the town council during this period and shared his personal perspective on the matter.

Mr Yee recalled how AIM could withdraw computer software from opposition-run Town Councils on short notice, compromising their operations and ability to maintain accurate records.

He emphasized the importance of data for TC operations, which depend on accurate records and regular reports to MND.

"I spoke once with someone senior with one of the big international consulting firms specialising in merger and acquisitions. "

"He told me that such a mechanism in which an outgoing party has a button to trigger destruction in the former company is a definite NO-NO by any standard, " Mr Yee added.

He noted that AIM did not develop the software but took it over from Horizon Technologies, a now-defunct company. This takeover occurred shortly before the 2011 General Election.

"With information failure, AHTC started to fail reporting to MND and with their audits. Other issues could also have been related to a poor handover between the outgoing PAP TC and the WP TC. "

As a result, external audits by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) and KPMG were initiated, employing forensic audit tools.

"No other organization in Singapore has faced such intense scrutiny"

Mr Yee remarked that no other organization in Singapore "has been subjected to such close scrutiny by perhaps up to 100 different audit personnels over a continuous period of time."

He recalled at the time MND withheld millions in grants to the TC, which every TC in Singapore relies on to stay solvent, otherwise "S&CC fees will balloon up, especially for the smaller type flats."

Mr Yee noted that MND officials, including Khaw Boon Wan and Lawrence Wong, accused the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) of mismanagement.

Mr Yee believed that at the time the TC had to appoint an independent panel from an MND-approved list to secure the grants and avoid insolvency, as the MND had significant influence over this decision.

The long legal battle began when an independent panel took legal action against WP leaders who were involved in TC's financial mismanagement in July 2017.

Despite being held liable for damages in the High Court in 2019, the town councillors largely succeeded in their later appeal.

In November 2023, AHTC and SKTC were ordered by the Court of Appeal to pay approximately S$388,800 (US$292,000) in costs and disbursements for the appeals.

In a comprehensive 38-page judgment issued on 29 November last year, the Court of Appeal elucidated the reasons behind mandating the payment of costs by the two councils.

The court clarified that costs are typically granted to the prevailing party. In this instance, the town councillors and employees achieved substantial success in their appeals, effectively overturning multiple findings by the trial judge.

The court struck out most of the S$33 million in questioned expenditures, emphasizing that even alleged oversight failures needed to be proven to have resulted in higher costs compared to other contractors.

Mr Yee noted that during this period, AHPETC developed an alternative software that has been operating effectively for several years and is now utilized by opposition wards.

"Opposition wards can use the software. It should never have been a tool for politics - residents' welfare have to be taken into account, no matter who they had voted for. This is not the Singapore that we want."

2013 Review clears controversial 2010 sale of PAP Town Council Software to AIM

In 2010, 14 PAP-run town councils, including Aljunied Town Council, sold their town council management software (TCMS) to Action Information Management (AIM) Pte Ltd, a company owned by former PAP members of parliament, for S$140,000 through a single bid. The town councils then leased the software back at a similar cost.

The TCMS software was originally developed for PAP town councils by National Computer Systems (NCS).

AIM, which had only two part-time staff and was directed by former PAP MPs S. Chandra Das, Chew Heng Ching, and Lau Ping Sum, came under scrutiny when the Workers' Party, which took over the town council management after the 2011 General Election, cited difficulties in developing new IT systems as a reason for AHTC's poor performance.

During the Punggol East by-election in 2013, WP Chairman Sylvia Lim criticized the sale of the AIM software, alleging it was created with taxpayers' money and then sold to a PAP-affiliated entity.

In response, Dr Teo Ho Pin, then Coordinating Chairman of PAP Town Councils, clarified that AIM was awarded the contract through an open tender and did not profit from it, asserting that AHTC had terminated the contract, not AIM, and that AHTC's financial issues were unrelated to AIM.

In May 2013, the Ministry of National Development released a review report on the controversial sale of PAP town council software to AIM, confirming that there was no conflict of interest or misuse of public funds.