One day before the Parliament sitting today (3 July 2023) that mainly deals with the Ridout Road saga, allegations that Minister K. Shanmugam’s son being involved in the Ridout Road saga surfaced. There were unfound rumours that his son, who’s allegedly the CEO of Livspace, a renovation company, was given construction contracts for the construction works done in the colonial house that the ministers rented.
The person who started the whole saga, opposition politician Kenneth Jeyaretnam, wrote another blog post about this rumour, even when he admitted in his post that he had not “independently verified” the rumours.
In today’s parliament sitting, Minister Shanmugam responded to this, and he’s definitely not happy with the rumours.
K. Shanmugam Responds to Allegations That His Son & Livspace, Are Involved in the Ridout Road Saga
After the ministers made their statements, the Members of Parliament were allowed to ask questions, and Ang Mo KIO GRC MP, Nadia Samdin, while asking about SLA’s processes relating to restoration works and maintenance for black and white bungalows, also asked about the above accusation.
The allegation, which insinuates favouritism, was fiercely refuted by Mr Edwin Tong, the second Minister of Law.
Actually, if you watch the entire sitting, you’d know that Mr Tong was one of the “fiercest” speaker today.
He categorically declared it as “completely scurrilous and unwarranted.”
Elucidating on the protocol adhered to, he said, “For 26 and 31 Ridout Road, the works that were recommended by the consultant were then done and awarded to a contractor through a tender and LivSpace was not an appointed contractor. Neither do they have any transactions with SLA as far as we can tell from the quick checks that we have done since these allegations began to surface online.”
Mr Shanmugam also voiced his standpoint on the matter, articulating a sentiment of indignation regarding the accusations levelled against his son, characterizing it as an “attack.”
He drew attention to the regulated procedures followed in the contract awarding process by statutory boards.
“My son tells me that his company does not have any contracts with the SLA nor do they do any work on the Ridout properties for SLA,” he clarified.
Now, do note that since yesterday, these were all accusations, and no one has confirmed any contracts.
Mr Shanmugam strongly criticized the accusations, describing them as “utterly false and defamatory statements.”
He raised doubts over the credibility of those making such claims, questioning, “Do these people really believe that CPIB would not have found this out if it were true?”
He then acknowledged the susceptibility of public figures like himself to falsehoods, pointing out it was “inevitable” for such unfounded information about his rentals to circulate. “This is how some conduct politics,” he said, condemning the propagation of deliberately false information with the intent to dissuade family members of those serving the public.
He then issued a stern message to his detractors: “I say to these people, you want to come after me, you come after me. I am perfectly capable of defending myself. And they will find out that I will defend myself.”
He then added, “But leave my family alone.”
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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