While the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) performs vital work in identifying irregularities and possible waste and fraud in the operations of the sprawling public sector in Singapore, what is more notable is how little information is conveyed. I have a few observations to make.

Firstly it audits the accounts of statutory boards on a rotating basis, and is responsible for MAS’s accounts and also of Government companies such as GIC and its many affiliates and subsidiaries. But it doesn’t provide GIC’s accounts which remain a state secret. Its report is limited to saying that it provides an unmodified audit opinion. Singaporeans have a right to know the total assets of GIC, where they are invested and how they have performed. Only then can we hold the management responsible and judge whether we can spend more from the reserves while still leaving sufficient reserves for future generations. AGO also doesn’t audit Temasek. Singaporeans also have the right to know how much the managements of GIC and Temasek, including the PM’s wife have been paid over the years and whether there are any deferred compensation schemes still in place.

Secondly AGO is supposed to audit the accounts of funds set aside for specific purposes on a rotating basis. However, going back ten years, I can find no record of AGO ever auditing the National Productivity Fund which was set up in 2010 when Tharman was Finance Minister, and after I had drawn attention to Singapore’s abysmal productivity performance. Billions of dollars have been allocated to the Fund over the years which is under the control of the Prime Minister’s Office. However it does not seem to have ever appeared in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Going back many years, I raised questions about the Fund and said that it seemed to be a black hole in the Government’s finances. Perhaps the current and former PMs can give an account of where the money has been spent?

Thirdly, the AGO does not appear to audit the accounts of MOH Holdings, the private holding company for Singapore’s public healthcare clusters yet that should be a prerequisite for it to issue an audit opinion on the financial statements of the Ministry of Health. The Government doesn’t want Singaporeans to see tha accounts of MOH Holdings because they are hidden behind a paywall at ACRA, another Government controlled statutory board, which I had to pay $70 to access per annual account. I found that in the last accounts MOH Holdings only received some $8 billion in subsidies from a healthcare budget of $17 or $18 billion. MOH Holdings also holds $8 billion or so in reserves. I have asked both the Finance Minister LW and the Health Minister repeatedly for an explanation of the difference which I’m sure is something simple or an error on my part but none has been forthcoming. The AGO should audit both sets of accounts together.

Fourthly, though this point was already raised by Sylvia Lim in a Parliamentary question, how can the Auditor General be the wife of a Minister (whom I think I know because he was part of the scholar contingent studying Economics at Cambridge when I was there)? I’m sure the Government will say that it’s the finest principle of good governance and “Ownself Check Ownself”. I know that she will perform her role without fear or favour but that’s not really the point.

Despite the splendid work performed by the AGO in rooting out low level extravagance, waste and fraud, it doesn’t really aid in bringing transparency and accountability to the really large sums of money, including at least $3 trillion in reserves, that the Government controls

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