ANSON COMMUNITY CENTRE (Allegation of corrupt use of public funds)

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Prime Minister if he does not think it is a corrupt use of public funds that the Anson Community Centre is used to promote the prospects of the People's Action Party and its candidate in Anson in the forthcoming general elections.

The Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not think there is any corruption at the Anson Community Centre. If the Member for Anson knows of any, his duty is to report it to the CPIB. I assure him that it will be thoroughly investigated.

I must warn him, however, that if he makes a false report, he can be charged under section 182 of the Penal Code. Otherwise the CPIB will be inundated with scurrilous and unfounded accusations.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, would the Prime Minister answer whether activities at this community centre since its opening have been organized by the PAP? And if they have not been organized by the PAP, by which organization or centre have they been organized?

The Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Anson has an obsession that corruption takes place in high places in the government. Had he asked me about activities in the Anson Community Centre being organized by the PAP, I would have made inquiries to ensure whether any branch member of the PAP had been so involved. I have made no such inquiries. I can neither affirm nor deny. I have no knowledge.

But I can assure the Member that he faces a real dilemma. And it has got nothing to do with the community centre in Anson. To show his political valour, he has stated that he will recontest Anson. He knows, and so do other Members of the House, that he won Anson by less than 700 votes. Of them, about 1,900 have been resettled from Blair Plain.

Mr Jeyaretnam: You have done that!

The Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, he did those 1,900 voters a disservice. He promised them something he could not deliver - that they need not be resettled. He urged them on delaying tactics which resulted in their incurring greater resettlement expenses. Now he faces the dilemma of either living up to his political protestations or going back and risking defeat. I sympathize with his psychosis. I can only say that he needs more than a psychiatrist to resolve his problems.

Mr Jeyaretnam: May I ask the Prime Minister, Mr Speaker, Sir, what is the basis for the statement that he has made, that I was elected as a Member for Anson because of the residents in Blair Plain? Has he been inspecting the ballot boxes?

The Prime Minister: Sir, the Member for Anson suffers from an irresistible urge to stick his jaw out, time after time after time. I do not want to be charged for being cruel to hapless Members of Parliament, I do suggest that he should desist from making frivolous and trivial accusations. If he does not know how he won Anson, I suggest he re-reads my analysis of why the PAP lost Anson.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, does the Prime Minister not realize that perhaps not everybody has the time to read his analysis of defeat?

Now, would the Prime Minister say, quite seriously, whether the present activities that are being conducted have as its object, it would seem to imply that it does from listening to him, the wooing back to the PAP-fold the voters in Anson, hoping that they would all come trooping back? Or are these activities organized from a genuine desire to provide recreational facilities and entertainment for the residents?

The Prime Minister: Sir, the Member for Anson has another irresistible urge, the desire to know the obvious. All activities of this Government, the moment it has won an election, are designed to bring about such progress in an orderly and equitable manner that it wins the next election. I make no pretence that the business of this Government is not to lose the next election. That being so, I think he is safe in assuming that any activity of this Government, including my reply to him, is not designed to increase his chances of reelection.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Does the Prime Minister then admit, as he would appear to admit, that it is perfectly in order for his Party to use government machinery, government staff, so that his Party may be returned to power? Is that what you are saying?

The Prime Minister: Another affliction the Member suffers from is the irresistible urge to distort, to disingenuously suggest that we do what he thinks he would do if he were in our circumstances. Because he is dishonest and he cheats his creditors ---

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, on a point of order. Is it permitted for a Member here to accuse another Member of dishonesty, under Standing Orders?

The Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, he has made allegations which are patently false and untrue. If that is not dishonesty, I do not know what is dishonesty. If he feels that dishonesty is too unsettling and too discourteous, and if he lacks in candour and in veracity, if he lacks in honour, there is no reason why he should assume --- [interruption]. No, let me finish. He will have all the time he wishes.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Good.

The Prime Minister: He must not assume that Members on this side of the House are similarly motivated. It is our job to provide Singapore with good, honest, efficient government. I believe that is what we have done. I believe that is what the electorate will endorse when they go back to the polls. Therefore, it is our business to show up every hypocrisy, every duplicity and every act of disservice to the people of Singapore.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister, Prime Minister (begging your pardon, Mr Speaker, Sir, and begging his pardon). The Prime Minister ---

The Prime Minister: You are forgiven.

Mr Jeyaretnam: --- says he is not aware that the activities are organized by the PAP in Anson Community Centre, if I understood him rightly. Is he aware of a statement made by his political adviser now in his Ministry, who has been appointed to these grassroots organizations in Anson, that the activities have been organized by the PAP and that the voters are responding well to the PAP?

The Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, I must thank him for all this detailed and quite uncalled for and unsolicited tribute to my Political Secretary. I do not have a political adviser and I would urge all aspiring Prime Ministers not to seek political advisers.

The Member suffers from a certain psychological deformity of mind. The business of this Government, as I have stated openly, candidly, and unreservedly, is to provide a government so that it will win again; and I have every intention of fielding a candidate in Anson who will win Anson. And if he knows of any corrupt or other practices, it is open to him to take all measures under the law to bring such corruption to an end.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, does the Prime Minister honestly think he has answered my question, or is he trying to evade answering my question? My question was, if I may repeat it again, and if the Prime Minister would like it, perhaps I can write it out so that he can ponder over it ---

The Prime Minister: Please.

Mr Jeyaretnam: --- and read it, if he is unable to understand the spoken word. I am asking him, is he not aware of a statement made by this Political Secretary in his Ministry who he has appointed adviser to these grassroots organizations in Anson Constituency, that the activities have been organized by the PAP and that the Anson voters are responding well to the PAP? This was in big bold letters in the Straits Times, if the Prime Minister would like to know.

The Prime Minister: I have not heard his question yet, Mr Speaker, Sir.

Mr Jeyaretnam: The question was that the Prime Minister said that he was not aware of activities organized by the PAP. I am asking him: Are you aware of this statement by your own Political Secretary who says that the activities are organized by the PAP and that the Anson voters are responding well to the PAP?

The Prime Minister: We have strayed far from his present question., But, quite frankly, I do not read the papers as assiduously as he does. If he says that that is in the Straits Times, I accept it and I am glad to know that the Straits Times finds Mr Ng Pock Too useful to report, of news value.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Would the Prime Minister not think that if that is a true statement, that the activities there are organized by the PAP, that it is a corrupt use of public funds that his Party should be allowed to use the Centre for these activities?

The Prime Minister: If I thought so, Mr Speaker, Sir, I would not have allowed it. If he thinks so, Mr Speaker, Sir, he should report it.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, is the Prime Minister, like his other Minister of the Government, unable to see that there is a distinction here between an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act for which a report can be made and the situation that I am talking about? I am talking about a corrupt use of public funds to benefit a party, a political party, for which surely the Prime Minister must be aware that the Indian Prime Minister at one time was prosecuted.

The Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, he contradicts himself. First, he said there is no such offence. Then he goes on to say, "Yes, the Indian Prime Minister did something similar and was prosecuted." Well, it is open to him to introduce the Indian legislation in this House.