TOC publishes an email from an MP to the General Manager of the Pasir-Ris Punggol Town Council.

TOC reader Roland Soh sent an email to his MP, Dr Ahmad Magad of Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC. He was shocked with the reply: instead of giving him a comprehensive answer, the reply contained an email to a person called Wei Kin. This, we believe, is the General Manager/Secretary of the Pasir-Ris Punggol Town Council, Ms Kwok Wei Kin.

In the email, Dr Magad seems to tell his Town Council General Manager not to reveal any more information “beyond what we have already uploaded on-line…”

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mr brown said:

Be rest assured, Singaporeans, town councils are taking good care of your money.

Recommended by at82: "Kampung News Network is the BEST!"

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Mr Wang said:

The fact that town councils invest your conservancy fees into stocks, shares, bonds and structured products really just goes to show that Singaporeans have been paying way too much in conservancy fees.

What do town councils need so much money for, anyway? As of last year, they had more than $1,000,000,000 of excess cash in their sinking funds! Surely it doesn't cost that much to build a few playgrounds and basketball courts, and to pay some Bangladeshi workers to clear the rubbish and sweep the floor every day.

Note that town councils aren't responsible for maintaining everything in your HDB estate. Organisations like the National Parks Board pay for the maintenance of the parks; while the Land Transport Authority pays for maintaining the roads and bus-stops; the Singapore Sports Council pays for the maintenance of the public swimming pools and sports stadiums etc.

Recommended by at82: "Since when did we pay our S&C fees to Town Councils so that they can play Hedge Fund Managers?"

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Where Bears Roam Free said:

“All you investors took the risk, so you better swallow the bitter pill that you have to pay for your consequences.”

In other words, don’t blame the banks, MAS or any other government regulatory body. They are not at fault, you are. So far so good. But then, what about the Town Council Funds?

The main crux of investors’ grouse is that they the banks have misrepresented the product as safe. MM Lee implies nothing was done by the banks that was unethical.

The problem with this argument is that if investors are “stupid” enough to get burnt, then hell, the Town Councillors, which include PAP MPs, as well as their staff, are “stupid” too.

Recommended by at82: "That's life. Just like what our SM Goh had said."

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theCollectiveUs said:

Together with my friends, I have qualified for this international unicycling race in Nova Scotia, Canada. 2 weeks prior to the Youth Olympics announcement, I’ve applied for a grant...from the Singapore Sports Council. I was told that her department only dealt with extreme and adventure sports and “single-wheeled bicycling was more of a traditional sort of sport”.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Despite all the attention to sports in recent weeks due to the Youth Olympics, there's still no change in the Singaporean mindset with regards to niche sports.

This first-person account tells of the struggles an athlete in a less-established fields face with getting support from Government organizations"

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