WP leaders: Fundraising account for AHTC case closed, balance given to charity

SINGAPORE: On her Facebook account late last week, Workers’ Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim thanked the people who stood by Low Thia Khiang, Pritam Singh, and herself during the case involving the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) and Sengkang Town Council (SKTC), which lasted for seven years from 2017 to 2024.

Since the lawsuits were finally settled last year, the three leaders provided an update on their blog, In Good Faith, regarding the funds that were raised to help with the considerable costs of the long-running suits. The WP leaders said that the bank account that held these funds is now closed, and the remainder of the amounts donated has been given to charity.

“We have decided to donate the balance monies to the WP Community Fund, a registered charity set up by the Workers’ Party to serve families in need.

“Accordingly, we have donated a sum of S$5,821.14 to the WP Community Fund, which, together with the costs of the cashier’s order of S$5, has utilised the entire balance.  The bank account is now closed,” they wrote.

Donation to AHTC and SKTC

The party leaders, together with Chua Zhi Hon and Kenneth Foo, had issued a statement on Jul 24, 2024, to let the public know that the lawsuits had been settled on a drop-hands basis, which means that each party’s claims against the other would be discontinued and that each would bear their own legal costs.

Their latest statement was issued “to inform the public of the circumstances and rationale behind these donations,” the WP leaders said.

They also wrote that the cost of the lawsuits reached over S$3.1 million over the years.

“We wish to acknowledge and thank members of the public, friends, and acquaintances for their contributions towards our legal expenses when we needed it. Through this long process, we personally have collectively paid more than $1.4 million towards these legal fees,” they added.

They referred to a decision by the Court of Appeal on Nov 29, 2023, ordering AHTC and SKTC to pay the amount of S$230,701.28 for costs and disbursements. AHTC was to pay S$107,696.73 and SKTC, S$123,004.55.

Broken down, this means that AHTC was ordered to pay 46.7% and SKTC 53.3%t of the total costs. From the S$230,701.28 in legal costs ordered by the court, S$172,983.97 was used for lawyers’ bills.

As of Aug 27, the remainder was at $57,727.03, which the WP leaders said could have been used to reimburse them for the S$1.4 million they’ve spent.

“We have, however, donated the balance monies to the Town Councils in the proportions stated above,” they explained.

Late last month, the amount of S$26,958.52 was donated to Aljunied-Hougang Town Council and S$30,768.51 to  Sengkang Town Council.

/TISG

Read also: AHTC case: After dropping of hands, thumbs up for Workers’ Party