I wasn’t even aware of this until my friend wrote me an MSN message. He is probably livid on the other end.
Dr Teo says ‘be thankful’
Some residents upset; MP points out how funds have grownOng Dai Lin
dailin@mediacorp.com.sgAS RESIDENTS of Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council reacted to the news on Monday that their constituency’s funds were exposed to Lehman-linked structured products, its chairman Dr Teo Ho Pin had this message for them: Be thankful that the funds have grown under the Town Council’s watch.
Told of the rumblings on the ground about the high-risk investment, Dr Teo said the potential $8-million loss should be viewed in the context of the $24 million in investments generated over the past six years. If the Town Council had invested all its funds in low-risk investments, it would have earned only $5 million, he said.
“They (residents) should thank the Town Council for working hard to come up with a diversified portfolio to generate income so that residents do not have to fork out more money.”
Generally, residents in Holland-Bukit Panjang and Pasir Ris-Punggol whom Today spoke to had no issue about Town Councils growing their accounts through investment.
But the 20 of them insisted that Town Councils must, nonetheless, draw the line at high-risk investments. Another clear sentiment: The Town Councils should have been more upfront about their current investment situation.
Retiree Mdm Low Li Choo, who lives at Holland Avenue, said: “The Town Councils were not honest and sincere enough by not revealing the details of their investments right from the start.”
Restaurant manager Dhanie Herman, who lives at Pasir Ris, also said: “Town councils should reveal from the start so that we can have a clearer picture of their investments.”
Why didn’t the Town Councils keep residents in the loop?
According to Dr Teo, it was because Town Councils cannot reveal their investment strategies and, anyway, Town Councils abide by the proper financial reporting system.
Details of their Lehman-linked investments were revealed on Monday by Senior Minister of State (National Development) Grace Fu in response to a question in Parliament. Prior to that, letters had been written to the press after Dr Teo, the coordinating chairman for the 14 People’s Action Party Town Councils, had responded to media queries to say that these investments amount to “a couple of percentage” of funds.
Overall, they accounted for 0.6 percent of the Town Councils’ total funds available for investment. In Holland-Bukit Panjang’s case, it was 6.7 percent ($8 million) of its funds and for Pasir Ris-Punggol, $4 million (2.6 percent)
Yesterday, Tanjong Pagar Town Council, one of six other Town Councils with exposure to Lehman Brothers, said that $250,000 has been invested by its fund managers in the bankrupt institution’s bonds – or 0.14 percent of its total sinking funds.
Pasir Ris-Punggol MPs Teo Ser Luck and Penny Low said that residents’ sentiments were fair, but urged them to understand that the Town Councils did not foresee the financial tsunami and its impact on complex structured products.
On the timeliness of making information available, Mr Teo said that “we will definitely have to inform the residents as soon as possible at a timely time”, but “we need to first make assessments to know what has happened before making announcements”.
Both Mr Teo and Ms Low assured residents belonging to both Town Councils that upgrading and maintenance works in the estates will not be affected.
Customer service representative Nura Fadhlin, who lives at Pasir Ris Drive 6, said: “It is unfortunate that there is a financial crisis now and the Town Council lost money, they couldn’t have predicted it… but I’m concerned that we don’t know what they are doing with our money.”
And thus is the Gospel of Teo Ho Pin, that we should actually be grateful he didn’t lose everything because he would have made lesser had he not been greedy! On top of that, he seems to be saying he has a right to gamble with that money because, had he not done so we would actually be paying more!
When I first read this nonsense, this was what I said. (To listen, click the speaker icon and download this short sound clip: 
.)
It should be apparent by now – if it hasn’t been so a long time ago – that the Tali-PAP has forgotten that we put them there to work for us, and not to lord over us. Are they trying to hint that we are being ungrateful here by asking for some accountability? If so, it would almost seems like we citizens are being held in contempt simply by asking for that! Is it a wonder why Baby Lee recently tells us again why a two-party political system is bad for us yet again? No second party – no need for accountability. And all Singapore could do is sing this to the tune of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 – lan lan lan lan…
Let me also say this. Why stop at ensuring that we don’t have to pay more, Teo Ho Pin? Is that all you, being one of the top talents the Tali-PAP touted to us, is capable of? Let me tell you the conditions where I will be grateful to you! And that is when the reason why I don’t even need to pay a single cent for my conservancy charges is because of the returns of the town council’s investments! Now, don’t blame me for being unreasonable here because I wasn’t the one who brought up the matter of being grateful in the first place!
Anyway, we residents understand the need for a sinking fund, but really couldn’t fathom the justification to keep it growing. Having no limit on it makes it feels like throwing money into a deep hole where no one can see its bottom [深不見底]. I reiterate my call to put a cap on Town Council sinking funds and this cap should be revised every few years with respect to inflation and the economic conditions. It shall also be determined what is the minimum required to be done to preserve the value of this fund in the face of inflation. What good is having all that money when it is nothing but a figure – ‘good to see but bad to eat’ [好看不好吃]?
Oh, I get it… the reason why there is never a cap on it, is for Tali-PAP’s candidates to show off just how much more capable they are in managing the town compared to the opposition! Guess it backfired this time, didn’t it? Serves you right, just too bad we normal Singaporeans are paying for it. Damn you!
Frankly, it is rather ironical to call it sinking funds in the first place. It should be now more aptly be called sink hole funds, because this hole which you can never see the bottom may actually be bottomless pool [無底深潭] where whatever money you throw in gets swept away by some subteranean passages it connects to.
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