THE former secretary of the Workers' Party-run town council, Mr Danny Loh Chong Meng, 55, died last week while on holiday abroad.

The Straits Times understands that Mr Loh had an accidental fall while in Japan.

He died last Monday, June 27, and his body was flown back to Singapore. His wake at Yishun began on Saturday, and the cremation will take place on Tuesday.

Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) chairman Sylvia Lim expressed her condolences to Mr Loh's family in a media statement on Saturday, when Mr Loh's obituary was published in The Straits Times.

Mr Loh was secretary of AHPETC from August 2011 till last month, and was also managing director of estate management company FM Solutions & Services (FMSS), the town council's outgoing managing agent.

The role saw him at the centre of a controversy earlier this year, when the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) in its report on AHPETC's accounts singled out governance lapses and conflicts of interest involving FMSS.

But the WP said it had acknowledged these links and made sure transactions involving FMSS are subject to greater scrutiny.

On Saturday, Ms Lim wrote: "We are deeply saddened by the sudden loss of Mr Danny Loh. Danny was the secretary of the town council for the first four years of its operation."

The town council and FMSS faced many challenges together, added Ms Lim, who said she had worked closely with Mr Loh since 2011.

"He was an unassuming man, who had the courage of his convictions. We shall miss him," she said.

"Our deepest condolences go to Ms How Weng Fan, the Loh family and FMSS for their tremendous loss," she added.

Mr Loh and his wife of some three decades, Ms How, are long-time WP supporters.

The couple cut their teeth in estate management at the former Hougang Town Council, working for WP chief Low Thia Khiang since the 1990s, with Mr Loh providing lift maintenance and rescue services.

The couple formed FMSS, where both are majority owners, shortly after the WP won Aljunied GRC at the 2011 General Election.

Mr Loh is also the owner of FM Solutions and Integrated Services (FMSI), a contractor AHPETC had hired to provide lift maintenance and rescue services.

However, the WP will run AHPETC on its own from this month, after a tender it held last November did not attract a single bid, even from FMSS.