SINGAPORE - A review will be carried out by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean on the rental of Ridout Road properties by Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. This must be done to ensure that the Government maintains the highest standards of integrity, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan have also spoken to him to request a review that is independent of the ministries and agencies they supervise, he added. 

“Last week, I asked for reports from the relevant agencies setting out the facts,” said PM Lee. “I have also asked Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean to review the matter, and establish whether proper processes have been followed, and if there has been any wrongdoing.

“I have asked SM Teo to carry out the review expeditiously and to make the findings public in time for the parliamentary sitting.” 

Discussions have emerged over the circumstances by which Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan came to be the tenants of No. 26 and No. 31 Ridout Road, respectively. This came after opposition politician and Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam first published several social media posts over the two colonial bungalows.

Mr Jeyaretnam had written on May 6 that it was difficult to see how the ministers “could afford to pay the market rent for such a pricey property”.

Earlier in a statement issued on May 12, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) confirmed that the two properties were tenanted to Mr Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan.

It added that both properties had been vacant for several years, and the rentals were “performed in full compliance with the relevant SLA procedures”.

In its statement, SLA gave details of how the properties came to be rented by the ministers. It did not say how many bids were received, or how much the properties were rented out for. More details on the matter will be provided when Parliament next sits in July, it added.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday evening, Mr Shanmugam said he had suggested an independent review to look into whether there was any wrongdoing.

“We need this sort of approach, regardless of who is involved, to make sure the system operates with integrity. We cannot let doubts about the integrity of ministers fester and be left unaddressed,” he said.

“I have nothing to hide. We should set out the facts, lay them before Parliament and the people. That is the only way to retain trust. And when Parliament next meets in July, the questions will be dealt with.”

He added that serious allegations have been made, but “we are confident of how we had conducted ourselves. So, we asked the Prime Minister for an independent review”.

Asked if he had any specific comments or rebuttals on the allegations made so far, Mr Shanmugam noted that there had been allegations that the ministers had cut down trees illegally, got SLA to pay for work done on a car porch, and so on.

“I don’t want to comment much until SM Teo’s review is done. But I will say, speaking from a personal perspective – the allegations are outrageous. Let the agencies do their work and report to the Prime Minister. Let the review be done, let the facts come out, and then I will respond.

“And if the review does show some wrongdoing, you know what will happen.”

Separately, Dr Balakrishnan told reporters that he was “very glad that Prime Minister Lee agreed to have this review, and to publish all relevant facts and findings before we have a full debate in Parliament”.

Several PAP Members of Parliament and the opposition Workers’ Party (WP) have indicated they will pose questions at the July sitting.

Three PAP MPs – Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok), Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir) and Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang GRC) – have filed parliamentary questions since May 16 on the matter.

Mr Murali noted in a Facebook post on May 18 that he had asked, among other things, whether Mr Shanmugam was “involved in his official capacity” in any decisions relating to the rental of these properties, and what measures have been put in place to ensure that the bid process was fair, transparent and competitive.

Mr Sitoh asked for SLA’s standard tenancy operating procedures, and whether it had followed these procedures.

Mr Zhulkarnain asked about the circumstances under which the properties came to be rented out to the two ministers, and how SLA had marketed the two properties to be leased. 

In a statement issued on May 18, the WP said that Leader of the Opposition and WP chief Pritam Singh would ask the Prime Minister at the July sitting for the Government’s reasons for not calling a press conference in May to address the public allegations regarding the matter.

He would ask how the Government will assure the public that both ministers were not in receipt of any privileged information pertaining to the lease of 26 and 31 Ridout Road, and also whether there are any rules, conventions or policies to ensure that Cabinet ministers do not take advantage of privileged information received in the course of their official or non-official duties, with regard to the lease of government properties.

The WP’s statement added: “We call on the SLA to release all relevant and material facts in advance, such as the guide rent for both properties, so as to make for a fuller and more meaningful debate in Parliament.”

• Additional reporting by Tham Yuen-C and Natasha Zachariah