Ridout Road properties: 6-hour discussion focuses on potential conflicts of interest, political optics and independence of investigations. But were there possible conflicts of interest, and did the ministers address them? ridout singapore
MPs engage in lengthy debate over ministers K. Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan's rental of Ridout Road properties.
As for Foreign Affairs Minister Balakrishnan, his family decided to rent 31 Ridout Road so that they could live together while his grandchildren are still young. Rather than directly contacting the SLA, Shanmugam instructed the deputy secretary to inform the permanent secretary. This way, the permanent secretary could report to the head of the civil service or PM Lee if deemed necessary.
On the decision by Shanmugam to ask the then-deputy secretary of Ministry of Law for a list of state properties available for the public to rent, Pritam questioned its appropriateness, saying that it is incongruous, in the eyes of many, for a minister to be asking a civil servant details which pertain to information for personal use.
Shanmugam also insisted that his empathy for the people did not decrease as he went from living in a rental flat as a child to living at Ridout Road. "My residents judge me by my heart and my commitment to serve, not by how much I earn and where I live," he said.Some MPs had suggested that SM Teo, whom PM Lee had, may not be sufficiently independent to conduct the probe.
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