Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Daniel Goh has called on Singaporeans to separate the "trials and tribulations" faced by MPs Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh from the Workers' Party.

Protect WP's mission

In a Facebook post on Oct. 4, Goh wrote on behalf of the three MPs: "The trio want to separate their trials and tribulations from WP, to protect WP's mission of serving Singaporeans and Singapore."

This message was posted a day before the trial started.

Trial started

The civil lawsuits brought by the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) and Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) has gone to trial on Friday. Oct. 5.

The trial is expected to run till Nov. 2, with the three MPs expected to take the stand.

Goh also wrote: "The trio have become an integral part of my life in these past years. So amidst the craziness of teaching, admin duties, party work and family life, I'm going to take time off to attend the hearings as much as possible. I pray that justice is done and hope that I do justice to reporting what I am witnessing."

When they arrived in court on Friday accompanied by WP MPs Png Eng Huat, Faisal Manap and Leon Perera, as well as other members of the party, most of them were dressed in blue -- the party's official colour.

How trial came about

In July 2017, a three-member independent panel filed a suit against the defendants on behalf of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.

It alleged that the three WP MPs breached their fiduciary duties and that Low and Lim misled the town council into waiving a tender and appointing FMSS as the town council’s managing agent.

It also accuses them of making “improper payments” of more than S$33 million to FMSS and its service provider, FM Solutions and Integrated Services.

The trio will go to court to defend procurement decision made in their roles as town councillors.

The others who have been named defendants include AHTC councillors Chua Zhi Hon, Kenneth Foo Seck Guan and How Weng Fan.

The town council's former managing agent FM Solutions and Services (FMSS), and its late owner Danny Loh, who died in 2015, are also named as defendants.

They are also accused of deciding that How, who was then the deputy secretary and general manager of the town council, would set up and incorporate FMSS with her late husband Loh, who was the secretary of AHTC at the time.

Subsequently, in September 2017, Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council filed a similar suit against the councillors, seeking claims and reliefs pertaining to Punggol East.

WP managed Punggol East after it won a by-election in 2013.

WP lost the single-member constituency in the 2015 General Election, and PRPTC took over management of the ward.

Defence

The WP leaders filed their defence in August last year.

They maintained that they had acted in good faith with regards to the contracts awarded to their agent, and they intend to “vigorously” contest the lawsuit.

“Our actions had the best interests of the residents of AHTC at heart and sought to ensure that AHTC was able to fulfil all its functions and duties, notwithstanding the difficult circumstances that we were faced with,” they said in their statement on the WP website.

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“We have not benefited a single cent,” the WP MPs said.

They added: “In the course of these proceedings, we will be furnishing more information so that all concerned will be clearer on the issues and why we made the decisions and acted as we did.”

Top photo via Daniel Goh Twitter