BY HARCHAND SINGH
Singapores People's Action Party government likes to boast that it is tough but clean. However, this is a myth. Singapore's corporate life has long being corrupt but few people dare speak out. If you do speak out about the corruption that links business and the PAP government you are in deep trouble, and that is what happened to me.
I am a Singaporean and was employed by Semco Salvage and Marine (a Singapore government-linked corporation) between 1987 and 1998. The main business of Semco was salvage of marine vessels, heavy lifting of cargo, wreck removal, diving services, marine transportation and any other marine related work which required special equipment or personnel. I was also a branch union official of Semco which was under the banner of Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employee Union (SMEEU) which is a branch of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC).
I joined Semco as an operation assistant and was later promoted to port operations executive. My duties involved the operation, marketing and procurement of contracts for heavy lift services, diving services, salvage, wreck removals, mooring services and any other marine related services which required specialized equipment.
Sometime in 1998 the assistant general manager, Chua Eng Boon, wanted to sack an employee of the company who was a pilot who, while driving a boat, had accidentally hit an uncharted high spot. I objected to this and made an appeal to the general manager who overruled Chua. This made me unpopular with my immediate boss. But Chua became even more furious when one of his friends' company, Kim Heng Marine, was not able to secure a S$120,000 contract that I had negotiated for the company.
The whole process of awarding contracts is corrupt and a 10% kickback is expected and paid and I soon accumulated evidence of these kickbacks. The corruption is so routine that some people even faxed their quotes, complete with the amount of illegal commission sought. One of the contracts that involved a kickback was awarded to an Australian company.
Later that year, Chua became general manager of Semco and he soon began to threaten and victimise me for carrying out my duties as a union official. I complained to the union about the threats and the corruption being practised by the company. When I threatened to expose the corruption in Semco, there were attempts to frame me for corruption.
I was then made redundant and my health deteriorated. I wrote letters to the union and also sought assistance from the NTUC legal department and the union directors, some of whom like Lim Swee Say and Yu Foo were also PAP MPs. They totally ignored the evidence of corruption rampant in this government-linked corporation.
I was forced to resign from the company and it was made very difficult for me to gain any employment in Singapore for two years. Eventually I left Singapore, taking the documents proving corruption in Semco, correspondence with the union and PAP MPs. I am determined to expose the corrupt face of Singapore Inc though I will face prosecution if I return to Singapore.
My contact details are ph: 0413 474 265, email: <mann2108@yahoo.com>.