Singaporean minister of transport S. Iswaran yesterday resigned after being charged with corruption in the biggest political scandal in almost four decades, which has cast a pall on the city-state known for clean governance.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) accepted Iswaran’s resignation as a Cabinet minister and lawmaker, Lee’s office said in a statement.
Iswaran, who is out on bail, rejected the 27 charges against him, including allegedly obtaining tickets to musicals and soccer matches in the UK.
Photo: AFP
“I am determined to uphold the integrity of the party and the government, and our reputation for honesty and incorruptibility,” Lee said in the statement, referring to the ruling People’s Action Party. “Singaporeans expect no less.”
Iswaran, 61, is the first key minister to get embroiled in a graft probe since 1986 when then-minister for national development Teh Cheang Wan (鄭章遠) was investigated for accepting bribes. Teh denied receiving the money and died before he could be formally charged.
Iswaran and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng (王明星) were arrested in July last year in a case that has challenged Singapore’s reputation for clean governance at a time when Lee is seeking to step aside after almost two decades leading the country.
“I reject the allegations in the charges and will now focus on clearing my name,” Iswaran wrote in his resignation letter to Lee that was made public after the charges were announced.
The former politician was slapped with an array of charges that spanned from 2015 to May last year. They included two counts of corruption, 24 counts of obtaining “valuable things” from someone he had business dealings with as a public servant, and one for obstructing justice. If convicted, he faces fines and a possible jail term.
“This is not just a legal battle for Iswaran and the public prosecutor,” said Eugene Tan, a law professor at Singapore Management University. “There is now a political battle for the government to renew trust and confidence to the voters that they have an upright system.”
Lee, 71, is expected to hand over the reins to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), by November in a long-telegraphed succession.
Wong yesterday said those plans remain on track.
“As far as the impact on succession is concerned, there will be no impact,” Wong told reporters. “Will this incident have an impact on the party and party morale? I have no doubt that it will, but we cannot allow this political hit to compromise our zero-tolerance stance against corruption.”
The charges against Iswaran include favors the former minister allegedly obtained from Ong such as tickets to musicals on the West End from Kinky Boots and The Book of Mormon to Waitress. He also allegedly obtained tickets to UK soccer matches, took a flight on Ong’s private jet, a S$4,738 (US$3,526) stay for one night at the Four Seasons Doha and tickets to the F1 in Singapore.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS