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Ridout Road saga: The elephants in the room

There were missed opportunities in Parliament to call out the spread of disinformation and question the trigger to such scrutiny

There was over-exuberant speculation online about the circumstances under which the ministers came to rent the Ridout properties.

PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE

Eugene KB Tan

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In Parliament’s

much-anticipated examination on Monday,

ruling party and opposition MPs were unanimous that the allegations of corruption and abuse of power relating to the rentals of state-owned heritage bungalows in Ridout Road by Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan were unfounded.

Earlier, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

had instructed the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB)

to probe the allegations. The CPIB established there was no evidence of corruption or criminal wrongdoing in the two rental transactions. The Attorney-General’s Chambers also reviewed the investigation papers and agreed with CPIB’s findings.

Ridout Road saga: The elephants in the room

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