IS ONG BENG SENG A SERIAL CORRUPTER?

The way the news of Transport Minister Iswaran being a subject of CPIB investigation announced separately by Prime Minister and Deputy PM was sloppy and terribly mismanaged. If fact, it was disinformation. Both referred to the minister as helping out with investigations by anti-graft busters when in fact he had been arrested and out on bail. Both also failed to mention businessman Ong Beng Seng had also been arrested and out on bail in the related investigation. PM and DPM seemed more focused on defending the PAP brand rather than keeping citizens informed of developments.

Singaporeans got wind of the story from a report by Asia Sentinel whose website has been blocked by the government. AS reported the ongoing trial in London where Ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone was charged with fraud. A revelation from the trial was OBS had arranged VIP room ($22,000/day) for Iswaran and guests to watch the last Grand Prix.

If that is the case, it is not a criminal act. Certainly, Iswaran broke some code of conduct, but no laws were breached, least of all, an arrestable offence. The fact he was arrested point to something more serious.

Then followed online gossip of a fact finding visit to London by an MTA team led by Iswaran to view F1 facilities. It seemed Iswaran abandoned planned agenda to take in all the generous side entertainment OBS can offer, including a treat to a performance by Adele. This rattled the team, and all but one team member refused to accept the largesse dished out by OBS. Again this isn’t criminal but malfeasance and dereliction of duty.

It never rains, it pours, as government was assailed by a spat of negative publicity recently. Market talk is PM Lee needed to be seen to take a tough stand against moral decline. If Iswaran’s case is non-criminal in nature, then it looks like the PM weighed the ministers of Ridoutgae infamy, Shanmugam and Balakrishnan, together with Iswaran, and decided the Transport Minister be the sacrificial pawn. The arrest is only a publicity show of resolve.

My regular bookie says the bets are on Iswaran’s case being graft related to either the F1 second contract extension itself, or to some auxiliary commercial contracts in the last Grand Prix. Should that be the case, are we looking at OBS a serial corruptor?

Billionaire remiser Peter Lim once said if you make a million dollars, you may be a smart one. If you make a hundred million, somebody up there likes you.

But what if you make hundreds and hundreds of millions? Let’s not be naive about the real business world. The US industrial complex lobbies for war all the time. The Rothchilds funded both sides in WWII. It matters not to them that millions die. Of course the majority of businessmen, though corrupt, do not go that extreme.

OBS is well-known as the man behind SGX-listed Hotel Proprieties Limited. He and wife Christina, separately own a big chunk of real estate, hospitality and high end entertainment businesses in Singapore. Intelligent, shrewd, brilliant strategist, high risk taker, generous and loyal to those that assisted him, are adjectives piled on OBS.

Nassimgate saga:
Pamela Lee, wife of Lee Kuan Yew’s younger brother Lee Suan Yew, was a director of Heritage Board and Singapore Tourism Board 1988 to 2000. Sometime in 1990s, Jade House was degazetted as a heritage building. Why? And who pushed for this?. OBS acquired the plot of land at 3 Nassim Road using his vehicle HPL. Denis Lee Kim Yew, brother of LKY, sat on the board of HPL. OBS built the luxurious condominium Nassim Mansion on the plot. In the soft launch in 1996, OBS offered preferential discounts to LKY and son PM Lee Hsien Loong. Soon the uniquely Singapore ethos ‘everything cheap I also want’ griped many who’s who in the Lee family circle. Many bought units with good discounts. Shareholders of HPL were unhappy and Nassimgate hit the news stand.

Singapore Grand prix:
For decades, OBS had worked hard to bring Formula 1 racing to Singapore. Finally, in 2008 OBS’ Singapore GP Pte Ltd inked a deal with Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula 1, and Singapore Tourism Board, to host the Grand Prix for the next 5 years. The cost of setting up was estimated at S$150m per year with STB footing 60% and OBS 40%. Direct revenue from race-related transactions split 70% to OBS, remaining 30% I am not sure to who. Singapore GP is owned by OBS and wife.

STB conducted a post mortem, spending another few hundred thousand dollars, for Mckinsey to produce a report that said Singapore benefited by billions of dollars over the years that racing brings in for the economy. Of course, apart from direct revenue, Mckinsey’s data set can’t say how much OBS and Christina's multi hospitality and high end entertainment businesses pulled in, nor losses of those whose business operations suffered by the road closures.

The Formula 1 agreement had been extended once (2015?) and again 2022.

Iswaran came from PMO (prime minister’s office). He was Minister for Trade and Industry (2015 - 2018), Minister for Communications and Information (2018 – 2021) and now Transport Minister. He is widely acknowledged to have played a significant role in the Formula 1 contracts.

No doubt a job well done by OBS. He and wife deserve laughing all the way to the bank. He had the idea, the contacts, took the risks, put up money. That’s how capitalism works. However, as usual, big ticket ideas of government means big bills are borne by tax payers.

OBS on Ho Ching:
In 2004 Ho Ching joined Temasek and had planned to exit in 2009. After an international search, Chip Goodyear was brought in as her replacement. But a strange thing happened. For reasons untold to this day, Goodyear contract was terminated before he even sat foot in the office. Temasek had to pony up for the massive compensation to make Goodyear walk away. The affable ex-foreign minister Dhabalan, chairman at the time, said Temasek and Goodyear parted ways because they felt the latter was not a good fit. To believe in Dhabalan is to believe that Temasek spent millions of dollars on international search to snatch Goodyear from mining giant BHP Billiton because he was a good fit, and then spent hundreds of millions of dollars to break contract because he was not a good fit. Once again tax payers had to suck it up.

In this episode, LKY had something to say. OBS had advised him that Ho Ching has the right acumen to steer Temasek. The rest is history. As far as you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours goes, this one wins the Emmy Award.

Singapore Press Holdings:
With media industry in doldrums and management unable to lead anywhere, the government decided to let SPH fold. But the crown jewel in the company was its tremendous real estate holdings. The government decided to take over the media segment and house it under a new state-owned entity SP Media, to be kept on life-support with S$180m of public money annually for 5 years. SPH was left with no business but holding on to its prized properties and put up for sale. 

Along came OBS who clobbered a partnership with 2 Temasek entities. (OBS 40%, Temasek units 30% each). OBS’ S$3.9b bid cliched the deal last year.

Once again OBS walks away laughing, judging by the huge potentials of the property market. And tax payers foot the ICU bill for SP Media at S$180m per year for next 5 years.

Dempsey Park:
In 2016 Christina Ong won the bidding for the Dempsey Park food and entertainment area. She did not put up the highest bid but was selected for ‘best concept’.

Conclusion:

Two things tell me it is possible the CPIB had been investigating Iswaran much earlier. (a) Bernie Ecclestone was charged for fraud much earlier in August 2021. British investigators would have had sought Singapore's assistance back then. (b) The MTA team that made the study trip to London would unlikely to have reported on their boss’ dereliction of duty. But knowing how the government works, there is very likely a spy within the team who dutifully reported back. If so, why was nothing made of it for so long? Perhaps the precedent case of KOM (Keppel Offshore Marine) and that befuddled principle of not charging for overseas crime and difficulty of obtaining evidence had something to do with it.

I think all of us have a sense of our position in life to be able to tell what is an honest gift of memorabilia and what is influence buying. Once I was put up in a presidential suite in a 5 star hotel. It was beyond ostentatious for me that I would have moved out had it been on a client's account. My head office arranged my stay, so it was alright.

This article nowhere suggests OBS has corruptly gratified anyone to benefit himself in any specific situation. Nevertheless, if you have the gift of pareidolia, you may be excused for seeing a pattern emerging. South Sudan lies at the bottom of the Corruption Perception Index and under the circumstances South Sudanese may scratch their chins and say hmmmm

“Timeo Danaans et dona ferentes”. Civil servants should do well to remember Virgil the Roman poet for his famous quote. Loosely translated it says “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”

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