Hri Kumar Is Our Next Deputy Attorney-General

Ex-Peoples’ Action Party (PAP) MP Hri Kumar Nair will be Singapore’s Deputy Attorney-General from 1st of March 2017.

Mr Nair who is a Senior Counsel from Drew and Napier will deputize the office of Attorney-General alongside Mr Lucien Wong who once hailed from Allen and Gledhill and who is now Singapore’s Attorney-General.

Nair who is the Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC was noticeable for his strident views on the Aljunied Hougang Pungol East Town Council (AHPET) and the management of accounts in that ward.

In one such exchange between both the erstwhile political opponents, the PAP and the Workers’ Party (WP), Mr Nair was particularly scathing when suggesting that the opposition Workers Party was not forthcoming on many of the questionable practices in its ward.

Over his Facebook posting he inquired over some basic questions that, he charged the WP avoided. They namely included Why the WP carried out any independent investigation into the many areas of concern raised by the Auditor General’s Office (AGO)? Why did WP hide information from its own auditors? Why hasn’t the WP asked its friends in FMSS and FMSI, to whom they gave multi-million dollar contracts, to open their books for scrutiny? And Why is WP refusing MND’s offer to pay the government grants to AHPETC on condition that an independent accountant safeguards the use of those funds, when WP’s own lawyers accept that the MND can impose conditions and the High Court found that MND’s conditions were reasonable?

Perhaps none was more pointed than when he asked why the WP’s chairman Sylvia Lim had suppressed facts and make a false statement to Parliament.

Nair was also best known for his proposal to enact laws to regulate social media chatter as a means to pre-empt and prevent sub judice, in a parliamentary debate last year.

In justifying his cause he reportedly told, “Not only will that make the law clear, this entire (parliamentary) process will also serve as a mechanism to educate the public.

Appointees to the office of the Attorney-General and Deputy Attorney-General are always appointed by the government. ‘He is a well regarded lawyer, being part of parliament he understands public policy rather well and by teaming up with Lucien Wong, they make a very formidable team” MP, Vikram Nair, MP for Sembawang GRC.