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In addressing allegations that the renovations for state property 26 Ridout Road after he rented it was awarded to his son, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam called them "utterly false and defamatory statements".
"I say to these people, 'You want to come after me? You come after me," he warned. "But leave my family alone."
Allegations circulating regarding Shanmugam's son
Shanmugam was responding to clarifications in Parliament on Jul. 3, 2023, arising from his statement on his and Vivian Balakrishnan's renting of black-and-white (B&W) bungalows.
Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency Member of Parliament Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked,
"I would also appreciate particularly if the minister can address allegations that the contract for works relating to the properties were awarded to a firm of which Minister Shanmugam's son serves as CEO called Livspace."
Allegations online
As circulated online, former Reform Party chairman Charles Yeo had claimed in an Instagram post that Shanmugam's son Ravindran Shanmugam and his company Livspace were involved in renovating 26 Ridout Road.
He claimed that the "renovation deal" tipped the scales in the younger Shanmugam's favour, influencing Livspace to hire him as its Singapore country head in 2019.
Yeo's May 15, 2023, Instagram post appears unavailable in Singapore, but he shared a screenshot on another Instagram post on Jul. 2.
Opposition politician Kenneth Jeyaretnam published a blog post the same day, suggesting that Livspace had renovated both bungalows.
"I've not been the only one attacked. My son has also been attacked"
Shanmugam was audibly emotional when responding to the online allegations.
Shanmugam acknowledged that there were and are many untruths circulated about him, including his rental of 26 Ridout Road, and it is inevitable because he is "obviously a target" as a political figure.
"But I've not been the only one attacked. My son has also been attacked," he said. "Allegations online that the contract to renovate the Ridout properties, in plural, was awarded by SLA to a company where my son is the CEO."
He said that he not only does not keep track of SLA's contracts but added that there are "established processes for the awarding of contracts by statutory boards".
He added that his son had told him that Livspace has no contracts with SLA, nor did they do any work on the Ridout properties for SLA.
CPIB would have found out if true: Shanmugam
Shanmugam slammed these allegations, calling them "utterly false and defamatory statements".
He said, "Do these people really believe that CPIB would not have found this out, if it were true?"
"I say to these people, 'You want to come after me? You come after me.' I am perfectly capable of defending myself and they will find out that I will defend myself. But leave my family alone."
He added, "This is how some conduct politics, try and make it difficult or impossible for family members or people who are prepared to come into public service by putting out deliberately false information."
Edwin Tong: "Completely scurrilous and unwarranted"
The Second Minster for Law Edwin Tong refuted the allegations, saying there is no basis to suggest Livspace's involvement in the renovation of both 26 and 31 Ridout Road.
He called the allegations "completely scurrilous and unwarranted".
"The works that were recommended by the consultant were then done and awarded to a contractor through a tender.
Livspace was not an appointed contractor, neither did they have any transactions with SLA, as far as we can tell from the quick checks that we've done since these allegations began to surface online."
Top image screenshot from Livspace website and Ministry of Communications and Information/YouTube