SINGAPORE: Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has condemned the allegations that his son’s company is involved with the renovations at the state-owned Ridout Road properties rented by Mr Shanmugam and his colleague, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Mr Shanmugam’s son, Ravindran, is the chief executive of design and renovation firm Livspace. Over the past week, allegations that Livspace undertook the renovation and refurbishment works for the two Ridout Road bungalows have been circulating online.
Reform Party leader Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who was the one who exposed the Ministers’ tenancies of the state-owned bungalows, promoted these allegations. In a blog post published yesterday, Mr Jeyaretnam referenced the rumours and said:
“I have not independently verified this, but apparently the renovations were done by a company headed by Shanmugam’s son. Did his company do the repair works paid for by SLA or only the additional $400,000 that the report says Shanmugam paid? If the former, how can that be compatible with good governance?
“There has been complete silence from the parties involved as to whether Livspace earned any fees or remuneration in connection with the renovation of 26 and/or 31 Ridout Road or any of the other B&W bungalows under SLA’s jurisdiction.”
Calling on the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to clarify whether these rumours are true, he added, “The absence of any statement denying the swirling rumours from any of the parties, whether Livspace, SLA or Shanmugam is suggestive that there may be some truth to them.”
Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong quashed these rumours during the parliamentary debate on the Ridout Road controversy today, calling such allegations “scurrilous” and “unwarranted.”
Asserting that Livspace does not have any transactions with SLA, Mr Tong said: “I think the sting of these allegations is that there’s a preference given to this (company) that is completely scurrilous and unwarranted. There is no basis to suggest it for both 26 and 31 (Ridout Road).”
Mr Shanmugam then addressed the House. Acknowledging that it is inevitable for him to face “many untruths” given that he is a public figure, he said: “But I’ve not been the only one attacked. My son has also been attacked.”
Denying the “defamatory” claims that his son’s company was the contractor hired by SLA to renovate the Ridout Road properties, Mr Shanmugam asked if the people circulating these rumours really believed that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) wouldn’t have uncovered this in their probe into the tenancies.
The veteran minister warned: “I say to these people, you want to come after me, you come after me. I am perfectly capable of defending myself, and they will find out that I will defend myself. But leave my family alone.”