1. I presented a petition for residents affected by the SERS at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 on the second attempt. The first petition was submitted in July to the Clerk of Parliament but was rejected due to Parliament procedural issue. It was signed by ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ญ residents from some ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฌ flat units out of a total of 606 affected units. In order to meet the rushed August dateline, the second petition with all the necessary amendments, only garnered 5 signatories. However the content of the two petitions are essentially the same.
The petition will now be deliberated at the Public Petitions Committee at end August or early September.
๐ฎ. I received more information from Minister Edwin Tongโs ministerial statement and his subsequent clarification regarding the Sports Hub. The main contention is the termination cost of about $๐ญ.๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป which the government intends to pay the private consortium SportHub Pte Ltd (SHPL). This amount will ultimately be borne by ๐ฎ๐ฌ, the taxpayers.
Based on information of the finances and operations provided by the Minister, I am of the opinion that this sum is too generous. I will find the opportunity to present my case during the next sitting. I would also like the Minister who approved the terms of the original contract to justify the rationale of the compensation payment.
๐ฏ. I asked Minister Ng Eng Hen how many new male citizens did not serve NS. Instead of replying to my question, he merely mentioned that there is an average of ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฌ new male citizen enlistees each year from 2000 to 2021.
In a separate reply (see below) to another of my questions, the Minister for Home Affairs stated that there is an average of ๐ญ๐ฒ,๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฌ newly minted citizens annually from 2000 to 2021 of which ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฌ are new male citizens. Given these figures from the two Ministers, it is quite clear that about ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ new male citizens do not serve NS annually.
This vindicates my earlier observations and comments about NS. Therefore Minister Ngโs accusations of my statements being inaccurate and misleading are ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ .
I will continue to press the government to ensure that NS is equitable and fair for all male Singaporeans.
Please bear with me as it can be an arduous process of trying to extract the necessary information and piecing them together in such matters.
The Progress Singapore Party will continue to work hard to speak for the people and to get relevant information to improve transparency and accountability of our government.
For Country, For People!
