Media both foreign and local – but always state – has been drip-feeding us information on the CPIB probe and Iswaran’s appearance in court last Thursday, where he faced 27 corruption charges (reduced from 36). He was charged, among other things, with receiving free London theatre and Premier League tickets, a flight on tycoon Ong Beng Seng’s private jet to Doha, a complimentary suite at the Four Seasons Doha and a business class ticket back to Singapore, complimentary tickets to the Singapore Grand Prix, including to the VIP suite and the level immediately underneath that. One final charge relates to obstruction of justice.

While not minimising the gravity of the charges he’s facing, I can imagine Iswaran might feel a bit aggrieved at the sums involved were he to look back at Ong Ben Seng’s role in what came to be known as the Nassim Jade scandal.

Back in 1995 LKY’s brother Lee Suan Yew was a director of Hotel Properties Ltd, a listed company but majority owned and controlled by Ong Beng Seng (OBS). At some point the protected conservation building at 3 Nassim Road known as House of Jade in a gazetted area was de-gazetted allowing HPL to convert it into luxury apartments in an upscale neighbourhood in Singapore. Both LKY and LHL bought more than one multi-million dollar units at 5%, 7%, and 12% discounts on the properties at Nassim Jade and also Scotts 28 developments in a kind of soft launch before the public launch date.  LSY as a director was a connected person and OBS should not have allowed discounts to him his son and nephew and reportedly a whole slew of Lee family relatives. Disgruntled HPL shareholders began to complain as all 39 units of Nassim Jade were snapped-up without a public launch and news of the Lees’ purchases leaked out.

The PM at that time Goh Chok Tong did not call for a CPIB probe. There was an MAS investigation and a Parliamentary debate on the issue at which both LHL and LKY spoke.

I’m grateful that there was a parliamentary debate then and more recently on Ridoutgate because the written records in Hansard give us an amusing rare insight into the private lives of Ministerial Spouses and their activities.

In his Parliamentary explanation re Nassim Jade, LHL said that, prior to his purchase;

“my wife [Ho Ching] scanned the classified advertisements and visited possible properties. On weekends, she went to open houses. She also drove around to look for signboards for new developments. When she spotted any possibilities, she would make discreet telephone enquiries using her maiden name.“

Hansard

Now compare and contrast that with Vivian Balakrishnan describing in Parliament how his wife had fortuitously stumbled upon the vacant and run-down Black and White property at 31 Ridout Road. Vivian said that he and his wife were looking for a larger home for their extended family and were aware that there were hundreds of “rustic” Black and White bungalows scattered throughout Singapore. They did their due diligence by going through the SPIO website. But crucially, Balakrishnan says:

“Mrs Balakrishnan then drove past 31 Ridout Road on her way to a friend’s place one day in September 2018. She saw a ‘For Lease’ sign on the property and decided to call the phone number on it.

Hansard

LHL seems to leave looking for property investments to his wife while Vivian Balakrishnan presumably also enjoys using his wife to distance himself from the circumstances in which he managed to rent 31 Ridout Road. How amusing! Ministerial Spousal Drive-By Acquisition, decades apart. Maybe there’s a PAP Good Wives Handbook out there that they all follow. Lee Kuan Yew even said in his statement in May 1996 that his wife Kwa Geok Chew handled the transactions in his name.

Ironically LHL said that as Deputy PM in charge of economic policy he could not be actively trading shares. Why would that restriction not also apply to property, an asset whose price the Government directly controls through its ownership of 80-90% of the land in Singapore and indirectly through taxation and spending decisions? There is no such as a free market in land in Singapore, whose price the Government has a vested interest in pushing up so it can channel more money through the Budget to “subsidise” both HDB and Singaporeans so they can pay inflated prices. The money then goes into the reserves.

Clearly The PM and his Ministers should be required to put their investments into a blind trust as is the case in the US (though that hasn’t stopped Trump from benefiting when foreign government officials stay at his hotels.) At the very least their assets and income tax returns should be made public.

I am still left wondering why Iswaran and Ong Ben Seng were both arrested and PM Lee consented to a CPIB probe whereas PM Goh declined to call a CPIB probe after news of the Nassim Jade/HPL scandal broke. OBS was directly involved. Indeed the fact that both men purchased properties from him must have benefited OBS and his business interests as it was an endorsement of the quality of the developments. Goh Chok Tong later wrote in his book:

My concern was that Ong Beng Seng, being a shrewd businessman like all developers, might be using them, doing a favour for them, without their knowing it. And I knew that OBS was a friend of Lee Kuan Yew.

Standing Tall. GCT

This Week in Asia reported a Singapore-based businessman who said; “As the Minister in charge of F1 should you be so buddy-buddy with the F1’s franchise owner?” Indeed, that is the question. Luckily LKY has already answered the buddy-buddy question. At the conclusion of the debate into the HPL properties he said:

” I can eat with OBS […] and I would still be the same person. No difference. And that is again back to character and a code of honour.“ 

This suggests that Iswaran may even now get off with a slap on the wrist. Once the probe started the PM made the decision to let Iswaran continue collecting a (reduced) salary. Naturally, because even in Singapore a man must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Yet the day before Iswaran’s appearance in court, let alone the conclusion and establishment of his guilt or innocence, the same PM acknowledged Iswaran’s intention to repay all of the monies he had received whilst under suspension. This seems contradictory. Many will see this pledge before the court case is underway as either a sign of guilt or an attempt to play the good guy in the hope that the court will go easy on him. Does repaying his salary and resigning, demonstrate a code of honour in the Lee Kuan Yew way?

Whatever your view it seems obvious that decisions to call or not to call for or approve a CPIB probe should not be in the hands of the Prime Minister of the Day. Let the CPIB have full independence.

Charge no.27 shows that Iswaran has been charged with obstruction of justice for repaying the cost of his business class flight to OBS’s company, Singapore GP Pte Ltd. Interestingly at the end of the debate into the Nassim Jade scandal both LKY and LHL were allowed to donate the discounts they had received to charity. The total amount of the discounts they received in 1996 monetary values was approx S$643,000 and S$460,000 respectively. The total monetary amount for the tickets, green room and so forth that Iswaran is alleged to have received is reported to be over S$384,000. The value of the properties purchased in 1995 has of course risen exponentially since then, showing LKY, LHL and his relatives to be canny investors.

However you look at it, Iswaran looks like a patsy, for having sacrificed his remaining Ministerial career and MPship for a few tickets to football matches and London West End shows, a one night stay in a suite at the Four Seasons Doha and a business class flight back.

The charges are quite lacking in exact dates but May 2023 does seem to have been a significant month for Singapore.

• CPIB said that they were investigating another matter and ‘stumbled’ upon something in May about Iswaran that led them to seek permission for a probe. (Incidentally netizens are convinced this other matter was a probe into former F1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone’s hidden £400 million.)
• On 17th May 2023 ,Minsters Balakrishnan and Shanmugam requested a CPIB probe into Ridoutgate and the PM gave his ascent. (Incidentally Iswaran flew back from Doha after his overnight stay in the Four seasons on 11th December 2022 and Shanmugam together with his colleague Teo Chee Hean who approved the Ridout rental and then found there was nothing wrong was in Doha from 8th-10th December for the world Cup)
• 25th May. Charge 27 tells us that on or about 25th May Iswaran repaid his business class airfare from Doha back to OBS’s company.
• 29th May. According to CNA, CPIB first began investigating Iswaran a few days later on 29 May 2023 and LHL gave his approval on 5 July at which time Iswaran was suspended. Is it that around May 25th Iswaran became aware of a potential graft probe and that he repaid the fare before the probe started and that this was deemed the obstruction of justice?

There is no doubt that Iswaran has also been caught up by Ridoutgate. On July 03 2023 PM LHL defended the incorruptibility of the PAP saying: “Government leaders don’t get perks. The government has not and will never tolerate any compromise or departure from the stringent standards of honesty, integrity and incorruptibility that Singaporeans expect of us.” Iswaran had to be hung out to dry!

In The Business Times in May 1996, OBS described the fuss over the purchases in NJ as being “damn unfair” It is widely reported that OBS told all his friends that he is untouchable because of his close relationship to the Lee family. And he had previously boasted of being bullet-proof. It must have seemed that way. LKY even praised OBS for being a good businessman. I can’t help but feel that if OBS had been held to better account in 1996 he might not be embroiled in another graft probe now. There are many who say this case is all Wayang intended to provide a dead-cat distraction and showcasing Singapore’s government as tough on corruption. It remains to be seen whether or not OBS does indeed have a, “Get Out of Jail Free, card.

We need answers and we need changes to the way we conduct probes and declare interests and conflicts but the PAP Government is never going to supply them.

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