Not surprisingly, the Ridout Road news drew many questions and much indignation from the public.
Until Kenneth Jeyaretnam started writing about it on his blog on 6 May 2023, few knew that Cabinet Ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan were living in state-owned black-and-white houses at Ridout Road.
Fact 1: 26 and 31 Ridout Road had been vacant for more than 4 years and more than 6 years respectively, before they were tenanted.• Were they left vacant by decision or due to inability to find suitable tenants?• When did the policy to keep them vacant change to getting them tenanted? Here, we are talking about state-owned assets managed by SLA, an organ of the state carrying the burden of optimising the use of state properties, either for social benefit or to earn income for Government coffers.
If the Guide Rent is unknown to bidders, what is to stop an optimistic house-hunter from making a “try-luck” offer? Were potential bidders put off by the state and condition of the house? If the property has a Guide Rent, then it must be in a lettable condition. At the minimum, the roof and structure of the house should be sound and in good condition, have water and electrical supply and a sewage system.
All said, the poor response to the 2018 tender for 26 Ridout Road needs an explanation and I hope we get one.Besides only attracting one bid, the sole bidder who placed a bid above the Guide Rent , was the Law Minister himself. The information given by Mr Shanmugam gives the impression that he has access to data relating to SLA’s inventory of tenanted and untenanted black-and-white houses and the rentals which the tenanted houses were fetching.
• Does making an offer through an agent mean that the agent signed the bidding form in his own personal name, without disclosing the name of Mr Shanmugam as the prospective tenant and without making it known to SLA that he was acting as an agent on behalf of Mr Shanmugam?I picked up a “Bidding Form for State Property” at random from the SLA website. The Bidding Form I saw requires the bidder to provide his personal particulars, including his monthly income.
Fact 5: Mr Shanmugam notified a senior Cabinet colleague that he was making a bid for 26 Ridout Road.• Did Mr Shanmugam do this for the sake of transparency?
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ridout Road properties: ‘Thorough, meaningful’ debate and full transparency needed, say political analystsFindings of the independent review into the rental of Ridout Road state properties by two Cabinet ministers are set to be made public in time for the next parliamentary sitting in July.
Read more »
Car narrowly misses cyclist, knocking down road signs and bollard in Balestier RoadPolice said the car could have skidded, and confirmed that no injuries were reported. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
A Step-by-Step Guide to Property Investing in Singapore - Singapore NewsProperty investment can be split into two major categories: one that involves property ownership and one that centres around participation in Singapore real estate investment trusts (S-REITS). In this article, we’ll discuss both of these methods.
Read more »
CNA Explains: Renting a black-and-white house in SingaporeIn the last six months, two black-and-white bungalows in Singapore were rented for more than S$30,000 per month.
Read more »
Commentary: Tighter enforcement not enough to prevent workplace fatalities in SingaporeThe migrant worker who died in a Tanjong Pagar structure collapse calls attention to a growing number of workplace fatalities in Singapore. NUS’ Goh Yang Miang weighs in on why greater awareness and more safety measures haven’t seemed to take effect.
Read more »
Long odds for horse racing’s survival in SingaporeThree weeks have galloped by since the Singapore horse racing industry was rocked by the news that the Government was reclaiming...
Read more »