On Oct. 8, audit firm KPMG's forensics partner Owen Hawkes took to the stand for cross-examination by Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah, the defence lawyer for the Workers' Party (WP) Members of Parliament and town councillors.

The questioning saw Rajah bring up WP former party chief Low Thia Khiang's experience in the takeover of Hougang Single-Member Constituency (SMC) in 1991 to rebut Hawkes' dispute with the classification of over 180 invoices issued to AHTC's former managing agent, FM Solutions and Services (FMSS), under "project management services".

Such an experience, as Rajah articulated, had a “strong bearing” on how the WP's Aljunied Town Council carried out its administration.

What was Low's experience?

As written in Low's affidavit, one of the biggest difficulties that Low faced when taking over Hougang SMC was the withdrawal of the Housing and Development Board's (HDB) Housing and Administration Department (HAD) from the Hougang Town Council.

Elaborating on the experience on Facebook, WP non-constituency member of parliament (NCMP) Daniel Goh stated that Low was informed by HDB that HAD would be terminating their managing agent services to the Hougang Town Council with effect from Dec. 31, 1991.

HDB also informed the Hougang Town Council that they had to quit their then-premises at Block 810 Hougang Central by the same day.

This effectively meant that starting from Dec. 31, 1991, Low would have to manage Hougang SMC by himself and without a physical office space.

Accordingly, the Hougang Town Council appointed its own architect for the new office project on Oct. 23, 1991 and awarded the tender for the construction of the office premises on Nov. 12, 1991.

Construction of the new office was completed on Dec. 29, 1991, which allowed the Hougang Town Council to shift in on Dec. 31, 1991.

On top of that, as Goh's post further highlights about Low's affidavit, there was also the termination of the Essential Maintenance Service Unit midway through the 1990s for the Hougang Town Council by HDB which necessitated the development of an alternative software.

As such, it was this experience in taking over and running Hougang which led Low to be concerned that a similar moment would happen in the taking over of Aljunied in 2011.

Parallels with the 2011 GE takeover of Aljunied

Highlighting the removal of Aljunied town council's computer system and the withdrawal of the previous managing agent, CPG Facilities Management, Rajah further stated, "all his(Low's) fears and concerns did in fact come to pass".

Hawkes responded by pointing out that CPG Facilities Management, the managing agent under the previous PAP town council, was "contractually obliged to (carry out duties).”

To which Rajah stated:

"And you know what they say about an unwilling horse? Don’t ride it."

Accordingly, Hawkes disputed the analogy by stating:

“A horse is a personal service. It may buck you and throw you. CPG is a corporate entity that has legal obligations.”

What is the issue over invoice classification?

As reported by Channel NewsAsia and Today,  the classification of over 180 invoices as "project management services" led to improper payments of up S$1.5 million.

However, Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah disputed at least S$1.2 million out of S$1.5 million in alleged improper payments by the WP-run AHTC.

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In a report dated Oct. 13, 2016, Hawkes stated that the invoices should have been classified as managing agent services (referred to in court as "basic services") instead.

The invoices were for projects such as reroofing, repairs, painting and redecoration works of HDB blocks.

The defence's stance, as stated by Rajah, is that both predecessors of AHTC and FMSS - ATC and their managing agent CPG respectively - had considered these services project management services instead of basic services.

Top image screenshot from CNA video