SINGAPORE: Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing addressed questions on Monday (Feb 5) raised by Members of Parliament, Derrick Goh (PAP-Nee Soon GRC) and Edward Chia (PAP- Holland–Bukit Timah GRC) concerning the rules when it comes to public officials receiving gifts.
Last month, Transport Minister and West Coast GRC MP S Iswaran resigned in the wake of having been slapped with 27 charges, including corruption. Twenty-four of the charges were for accepting “valuable things” worth more than S$384,000 between November 2015 and December 2022 from Mr Ong Beng Seng, who brought Formula 1 to Singapore and is its sole shareholder.
Mr Chan said that public officials must never request gifts or favours, particularly in cases where they may influence or affect decisions involving the other party.
“Our first instinct must be to decline any unsolicited gifts and return them if possible,” he said. And in situations where it is neither possible nor practical to give the gift back, the public official should declare it.
Moreover, in situations where the official wants to keep the gift, this is possible if he pays for it. As for gifts that are less than S$50 in value, these need not be paid for when doing so doesn’t affect the integrity of the civil service.
He added: “But should an officer accept multiple gifts of $49 repeatedly? I think we know the answer from the spirit of the rule. If such a pattern of behaviour is observed, it must stop.”
When asked if the system governing gifts or favours toward public officials should be reviewed, he warned against reacting too quickly, saying, ”When an incident happens, we should not have a knee-jerk reaction and immediately tighten or add more rules.”
When it comes to meals, public officials should have the good sense “to know when they are being cultivated and reject such attempts,” said Mr Chan, adding that one way to safeguard against these incidents is for officials to avoid going to such events alone.
Rather than merely understanding the letter of the rule, public officials must understand the “spirit” of the rule, he underlined.
Among the “valuable things” Mr Iswaran is said to have received from Mr Ong are the following: F1 tickets worth S$347,152.10, tickets to plays and musicals worth S$10,693.91, flights and accommodation worth S$20,848.0) and tickets to football matches worth S$5,646.94.
Mr Iswaran has pleaded not guilty and is out on bail. He has also rejected the corruption charges and intends to clear his name. /TISG