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SINGAPORE: On July 12 (Wednesday), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong mentioned that he had instructed Transport Minister S. Iswaran to take a depart of absence whereas the latter assisted in investigations by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
The case has made the information all over the world, and a Bloomberg piece has referred to as it “the Nation’s Most Critical Graft Probe Since 1986.” The piece has additionally been printed in TIME Journal and Yahoo Information UK.
Protection of the incident has famous what a rarity the sort of case is in Singapore, which is broadly perceived to have one of many lowest ranges of corruption on the planet.
“Now we have at all times upheld a clear and incorrupt system of presidency. Our observe file over the many years is obvious to all,” mentioned Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in a Fb submit on July 12, including, “We preserve a tricky, zero tolerance stance in opposition to corruption. We’ll proceed to uphold stringent requirements of honesty and probity that Singaporeans count on of their political leaders.”
He promised to be “upfront and clear” and “not sweep something below the carpet, even when they’re doubtlessly embarrassing or damaging to the PAP.”
Singapore’s public sector was ranked by Transparency Worldwide in 2020 as being the fourth least corrupt across the globe. Moreover, it was additionally ranked as probably the most clear in Asia.
Final yr, the nation was ranked fifth least corrupt in Transparency Worldwide (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) out of 180 international locations. It stays the one nation in Asia that’s within the high 10.
Little marvel, then, that Iswaran’s case has despatched shock waves.
The final time that such excessive profile determine featured in a corruption case was in 1986, when then-Minister for Nationwide Improvement, Teh Cheang Wan, was investigated for having accepted bribes of about $1 million from two non-public corporations he had helped buy land.
Nonetheless, earlier than Teh could possibly be formally charged in courtroom, he dedicated suicide on Dec 14, 1986. /TISG
CPIB: Hotelier Ong Beng Seng to supply info in Minister Iswaran probe
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