Public letter from then-PM Goh's press secretary:
In "Maverick Politician" [THE NATIONS, March 10], based on an
interview with Ong Teng Cheong, Roger Mitton revived allegations
that the Singapore government blocked the release of information to
Ong, pictured, when he was President. It also alleged that the
government had opposed Ong's standing for re-election not because
of his health, but because Ong had been difficult and
independent.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister for Finance Richard Hu
had addressed these allegations in two parliamentary statements
last Aug. 17. They set out fully the facts of the matter and the
government's reasons for its actions. The government timed these
statements to give Ong an opportunity to respond while he was still
in office. The President chose not to respond. There the matter
rested until his interview with Asiaweek.
Ong said that when he came into office (in 1993), he had asked for
information on the reserves, which was given to him only three
years later. Mitton also wrote that "Ong wanted to know how much
the reserves were worth, [but] those who had the information
stalled over okaying its release."
Hu has explained in Parliament that this was not the case. The
records show the President's office officially requested a listing
of physical assets from the accountant-general on June 18, 1996. At
a meeting with the President on Aug. 14, i.e. less than two months
later, the accountant-general provided a listing of state
buildings, while the commissioner of lands provided a listing of
state lands. Updates were subsequently sent to the President's
office.
Regarding how much the reserves were worth, Ong confirmed in his
interview that the issue was that he and the auditor-general wanted
all the properties of the government to be valued when the
government changed. In the accountant-general's view, this was
unnecessary.
Valuing the entire stock of land and buildings owned by the
government would be a tedious and unproductive exercise involving
some 50,000 parcels of land, including miscellaneous parcels like
roads, drains and even some reservoirs. For the purposes of
protecting reserves, it did not matter when the valuation was
actually made. It could be at the point of sale. For properties
which were not being sold or transacted, a complete listing (but
not valuation) would be sufficient. This was a more practical
approach. The attorney-general's chambers was also consulted, and
confirmed that a complete valuation of assets was unnecessary as a
matter of law. The auditor-general thereupon revoked his directive
to revalue all properties at changeover.
Ong raised a new allegation in his interview: that "in April last
year" the government had announced that it would allow the sale of
the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) to DBS Bank without informing
him, and that he "came to know it from the newspaper. That's not
right."
This is untrue. The Cabinet decided on the sale of POSB to DBS Bank
on June 3, 1998. As President, Ong saw the Cabinet paper. On July
21, 1998, the Ministry of Finance wrote to inform the President's
office that it would announce the privatization of POSB on July 24.
The President's office has confirmed that Ong saw and initialed the
minute on July 22, 1998. He therefore could not have learnt about
it from the newspaper.
Mitton quotes Ong saying: "I have not told anybody that I wanted to
stand again" for President. But as the prime minister informed
Parliament, Ong had told him in February 1999 that he was thinking
of standing again. So Goh advised him to obtain medical reports on
his condition from his doctors, to be published if he decided to
stand for re-election. Ong then saw Dr. Saul Rosenberg of the
Stanford University Medical Center in March 1999. Why else would
Goh have advised Ong to see Dr. Rosenberg, and why else would Ong
have done so, if not to confirm his fitness to stand?
Ong said that Dr. Rosenberg "checked that I was in complete
remission. So I was fine after my treatment." Mitton says "his
doctors have given him a clean bill of health after his
debilitating bout of lymphatic cancer (he still wears a cap to
cover the baldness caused by chemotherapy treatment)."
The fact that Ong needed further chemotherapy treatment shortly
after he stepped down as President on Sept. 1, 1999 had been
anticipated by his personal physician, Dr. John Wong, who had
accompanied him for the consultation with Dr. Rosenberg. Ong had
sent Dr. Rosenberg's medical report to the prime minister, to help
him and the Cabinet decide on its position on Ong's standing for
re-election. The Cabinet in April 1999 met Dr. Wong, who explained
in simple lay language Dr. Rosenberg's medical report. A copy of
the notes of the meeting was then sent to Ong.
This was the basis of the Cabinet's assessment that there was a
strong likelihood that the President's health would affect the
discharge of his duties should he serve a second term. Ong's health
was the sole reason the Cabinet decided that it could not support
his re-election should he decide to stand again.
Ong Keng Yong
Press Secretary to the Prime Minister
Singapore
