It should be noted that the Straits Times article of May12th reported that the properties were empty for years before the Ministers moved in: “Meanwhile 31 Ridout Road had been vacant for more than six years” and “26 Ridout Road, the Agency said the property had been vacant for more than four years”. I used the terms “for many years” based on the reported SLA statement. However, sources close to the location on Ridout Road have informed me that at least one of the properties may have been empty but ihad been inhabited by an expat hedge fund manager who was then squeezed out by unreasonable terms imposed by SLA, which as we know is headed by Shanmugam. This freed up the property for the senior Ministers. Were the same onerous terms applied by Shanmugam to his own tenancy? Whatever went on here somehow the properties became attractive enough and stable enough that the the Ministers were able to confidently make them their main residence. We can only look at the photographic evidence and draw our own conclusions.

I can’t verify the neighbourhood source but the UK government website Companies House publicly lists two corporate officers with a business correspondence address registered as 26 Ridout road. Questions need to be asked about their tenancy. I am reminded of the Bible tale of King David who sent Uriah to the front line where the fighting was fiercest with instructions to withdraw from him so that he would be killed, in order to free up Uriah’s wife Bathsheba for himself.

Published by kjeyaretnam

I'm a Singaporean economist who became an opposition activist. I blog to provide an alternative to the porkies that the Pinkies tell. It just so happens that my alternative is the truth. That's why I've never been sued in any civil or criminal court no matter how hard hitting my criticism. I'm quoted and interviewed and asked to speak across the world but largely censored in Singapore in an effort to silence my political opinions. The left hate me because they think I split their vote and because I eschew their outmoded economic models. Models that don't work. The Right and the Conservatives hate me because I'm a liberal. I'm not sure what the middle think of me. I don't think there are more than a handful of people in the middle, here in Singapore. I'm a Singaporean born and bred, dual heritage, my parents Singaporean established here before the State of Singapore was created. I'm not Eurasian. I read economics at Cambridge and could be broadly described as from the Keynesian school but I believe in interventions. I was formerly a successful hedge fund manager. After economics and politics my greatest interests are history, film and Makan. I run but I run so I can eat like a Singaporean. View all posts by kjeyaretnam