Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh issued a press release on Aug 16, stating that they had filed their defence through their lawyers, in response to the lawsuit brought against them for breaching their fiduciary duties, and making improper payments of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) funds.

In a separate annex, one of the defendants, Low, who is also the WP Secretary-General, provided the context and his considerations behind his actions, based on his experience as an opposition MP who had to take over and manage a constituency's town council from scratch.

Here are three things we learnt from the annex.

1. Low was haunted by his experience of taking over Hougang constituency in GE1991

Low, who became MP for Hougang, was left on his own to face the huge challenge of managing the constituency. For example, he was served notices less than a month after he took over, informing him that the incumbent managing agent was terminating their contract with the town council and that town council had to quit their then premises on short notice.

2. Low learnt the importance of town council management from the loss of opposition seats in GE1997

According to Low, the other newly elected opposition MPs for Bukit Gombak and Nee Soon Central SMCs, Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen from the Singapore Democratic Party "also faced similar challenges", when they took over the running of their respective town councils.

Based on the feedback he received from the ground, poor town council management was part of the reason why SDP lost both seats in GE1997.

3. Low had anticipated that PAP will not do a proper handover if WP won Aljunied GRC in GE2011

Low knew that the challenges would be huge if WP were elected in Aljunied GRC. Compared to Hougang SMC which covered a much smaller area and had fewer residents, Aljunied GRC consisted of five wards.

He knew that, upon taking over Aljunied GRC, the continuity of essential services by the existing service providers was "at risk" in light of his earlier experiences. He was also aware that PAP may attempt to "trip up" the new MPs in the way they did when he took over the Hougang Town Council.

Their best chance of success, in his assessment, was to depend on the existing staff and IT system in Hougang Town Council.

Photo by Lim Weixiang for Mothership.sg

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