National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan was asked by six MPs in parliament on the Sengkang columbarium controversy.

We cannot help but notice the MPs' priceless expressions in parliament, as Minister Khaw used the Chinese Opera analogy to describe how the authorities did not notice a private organisation bidding for a religious site:

"A very popular Chinese opera: Butterfly Lovers, Liang Zhu. It described a period in old China when girls, unfortunately, no matter how talented are not allowed to join schools. So there was this young, beautiful, talented young lady, Zhu Ying Tai, who wanted to study. So she disguised herself as a boy (at this moment, camera cuts to Lee Lilian. We don't know why) and succeeded in attending the school for two years. And nobody, because people just assume that girls won't turn up. And because they made that assumption, only to discover it later. So on hindsight "why didn't you know?" So they thought this one looks a bit girlish but turns out to be a butterf... to be a girl. So it's a similar situation here, that the officers assessing the tender just assume that it must be a company affiliated to some religious organisation."

Nominated MP Ben Tan:

What did Minister Khaw Boon Wan just say?

Seng Han Tong, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC:

Gonna pick my nose... Nope... Camera pointing at me. Quick, switch to scratch. Phew.

Seng: What lessons can HDB and other government agencies learn from this incident?

Khaw: "I think one takeaway for me from this episode is that times have changed and some of our tender procedures have not caught up with time. For example, for 20-odd years, we would never have thought that a for-profit company would participate in a non-profit making venture like building a Chinese temple... But having reached such a situation, I'll find a way to try to unwind this. The key point is, for that Sengkang site we want the Chinese temple and we will deliver that. We do not want a commercial columbarium and we won't have one."

Lee Bee Wah, MP for Nee Soon GRC:

She choked. Gey tio.

Lee's questions to Minister Khaw:

(a) what are the current criteria to determine the winning bid of tenders for places of worship;

(b) whether it is the practice to allow non-religious business entities to bid for such projects; and

(c) whether the Ministry will review its criteria on who can qualify for such projects so that religious groups can have a fair chance to compete in the bidding.

Khaw's reply: "Late last year, we launched a review to improve our land tender process for places of worship, for example by tightening eligibility requirements for tenderers. We have been engaging religious groups on the review. The Sengkang temple case has highlighted the necessity for such a review. I will provide more information when the review is completed."

Lee Li Lian, MP for Punggol East SMC

Really meh?

Lee: How can such an incident take place or be overlooked, and what other safeguards are there in place to prevent it from happening again?

Khaw's reply: "As I said, this is a case where for many years the tenders are open to commercial companies, with the assumption being the companies are affiliated to some religious organisations and it is a convenient vehicle for the religious organisation to take part and to execute the project.

In fact, some of us recall that the request to include commercial company came from the religious organisations because some of them found it more convenient to do so.

And because temples or churches are non-profit making, we just assumed that (for-profit) making companies will not be taking part in a non-profit making venture. So that was how things cropped up...

So it's a similar situation here, that the officers assessing the tender just assumed that it must be a company affiliated to some religious organisation. And because (Eternal Pure Life) made the highest bid, it was awarded to them. But as I said, we will find a way to forge a middle path forward. The key point is we will restore the planning objective."

Baey Yam Keng, MP for Tampines GRC:

No funny GIFs of the selfie-MP. He looks like this every day.

Baey: When the agency assessed the bid and the tender, didn't information about the parentage of the bidder, and the fact that it was incorporated only recently in Singapore, arouse some suspicion or checks? What is the due diligence that was taken in assessing this tender, and whether lessons learnt could be applied to prevent such instances from happening - not only just for religious sites, but other land use tenders as well?

Khaw: "Certainly, out of this incident we learnt some lessons which Mr Seng asked about just now. But as I said, for a quarter of a century we never had a for-profit company taking part in such temple tenders.

Therefore, it never crossed the mind of the officials evaluating the tender. But never mind, having ascertained the situation now, it's not too late to unwind the situation."

Minister for National Development, Khaw Boon Wan:

 Laughing at his own analogy.

And when Minister Khaw came up with another pun after this analogy:

"It is not easy to assess needs, especially when different kinds of religious organisations are involved, but we will find a way. We will seek religious wisdom. We will meditate on it."

We really don't know whether to laugh or cry with him.

Related articles:

Aussie accent blamed for Sengkang Columbarium confusion

What on earth was Minister Khaw Boon Wan trying to say about Sengkang columbarium with his Chinese classic love story?

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