SINGAPORE: Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, Aug 2, PM Lee addressed the affair between former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and former MP Cheng Li Hui.
PM Lee said he first learnt of their relationship in Nov 2020. They were both spoken to and counselled separately. They said they would stop the affair, but they did not, PM Lee said. In Feb 2023, Mr Tan admitted and offered to resign. A few weeks ago, PM Lee came across information that their relationship continued.
Why did he take so long, more than two years to act?
They have happened in the past, and no doubt will happen again in the future, he adds.
“In such cases, what we do depends on many factors: the circumstances, how inappropriate or scandalous the behaviour was, the family situations. We also have to be conscious of the impact on innocent parties – particularly the spouses and children,” the PM says.
He notes that this is not a new position and has been PAP’s long-standing practice since the days of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
He cited three situations:
1. Where the individuals involved will be talked to, and if they stop the affair, the matter ends there. No further action needs to be taken.
2. Where one party has supervisory power over the other party, immediate action has been taken in a few past cases.
3. Where the relationship raises some questions of propriety, beyond it being an extra-marital affair, the parties involved will be talked to. But even if the affair stops, some action has to follow, says PM Lee. What that action is and when it is taken depends on the facts and boundaries transgressed.
Mr Tan and Ms Cheng’s affair fell into the third category and was wrong, says PM Lee, adding that he had told them to stop it.
PM Lee said that the situation would have been different if the Speaker of Parliament was married to an MP.
With the time taken to address the matter, PM Lee says he had hoped to give Mr Tan and Ms Cheng a softer exit to save them and their families the pain and embarrassment they are suffering now.
July 31 court date set for MP Christopher de Souza’s professional disciplinary case
SINGAPORE – Lawyer and People’s Action Party MP Christopher de Souza will face the Court of Three Judges next Monday in a hearing to decide the final outcome of professional disciplinary proceedings brought against him.
The court, which is the highest disciplinary body for the legal profession, has the power to disbar, suspend or fine a lawyer who is guilty of professional misconduct. The court can also clear a lawyer of such charges.
The two-member tribunal said Mr de Souza had not made full and frank disclosure to the court when he was aware his client had breached an undertaking not to use documents seized in a search.
The tribunal said he helped his client in suppressing evidence by preparing and filing an affidavit that did not reveal the client had breached its undertaking.
The charge was one of five brought against him by the Law Society of Singapore in relation to his conduct while he was acting for Amber Compounding Pharmacy and Amber Laboratories; the four other charges were dismissed by the tribunal.
His lawyers stated on Dec 6, 2022 that they would argue before the court that the one charge should also be dismissed.
Amber, which was initially represented by law firm Dodwell & Co, had sued a former employee and her company for allegedly stealing its trade secrets.
On April 13, 2018, Amber was granted a court order to carry out a search for documents, on condition that it give an undertaking not to use the seized documents without further order.
A total of 116,298 documents were seized on April 17, 2018.
Between July 31 and Oct 22 in 2018, Amber breached its undertaking when it used 10 of the documents to file reports with the police, the Manpower Ministry and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau against the defendants.
On Nov 28, 2018, Amber approached law firm Lee & Lee to act for it in relation to the criminal complaints it made.
Mr de Souza, a partner at Lee & Lee, knew by Dec 5, 2018 that the documents had been used by Amber. He and his firm took over the civil suit on Dec 14 that year.
He advised Amber to apply for the court’s permission to use the documents.
On Jan 28, 2019, he helped a company representative file a supporting affidavit, which did not disclose that some documents had been used.
Amber’s application for permission to use the documents was eventually heard by the Court of Appeal, comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Justices Judith Prakash and Steven Chong.
On Sept 9, 2020, the court filed a complaint against Mr de Souza to the Law Society. The complaint highlighted observations made by the court in its written judgment.
An inquiry committee convened on Jan 13, 2021, found that Mr de Souza had breached his paramount duty to the court, and recommended he be fined $2,000.
The Law Society council, however, disagreed and applied to the Chief Justice for a disciplinary tribunal to be appointed to formally investigate the matter.
The tribunal, comprising Senior Counsel N. Sreenivasan and Mr Pradeep Pillai, was appointed by the Chief Justice on Nov 19, 2021. Testimony was heard over five days in April 2022.
In its report, the tribunal accepted that Mr de Souza had tried to persuade the client to make full disclosure. But it said the conduct of the client did not free the lawyer from blame for his own failure to make such disclosure.
The tribunal found there was cause of sufficient gravity for Mr de Souza to face disciplinary sanction before the Court of Three Judges on one charge.
Justices Belinda Ang, Woo Bih Li and Kannan Ramesh will hear the case.
Mr de Souza is represented by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng and Mr Calvin Ong, while the Law Society is represented by Mr Madan Assomull.
Come GE2025, the pappies will once again sing their favourite song, and all shall be forgiven. Leemember, most Sinkies have the memory of a goldfish. :P
SINGAPORE: Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, Aug 2, PM Lee addressed the affair between former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and former MP Cheng Li Hui.
PM Lee said he first learnt of their relationship in Nov 2020. They were both spoken to and counselled separately. They said they would stop the affair, but they did not, PM Lee said. In Feb 2023, Mr Tan admitted and offered to resign. A few weeks ago, PM Lee came across information that their relationship continued.
Why did he take so long, more than two years to act?
They have happened in the past, and no doubt will happen again in the future, he adds.
“In such cases, what we do depends on many factors: the circumstances, how inappropriate or scandalous the behaviour was, the family situations. We also have to be conscious of the impact on innocent parties – particularly the spouses and children,” the PM says.
He notes that this is not a new position and has been PAP’s long-standing practice since the days of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
He cited three situations:
1. Where the individuals involved will be talked to, and if they stop the affair, the matter ends there. No further action needs to be taken.
2. Where one party has supervisory power over the other party, immediate action has been taken in a few past cases.
3. Where the relationship raises some questions of propriety, beyond it being an extra-marital affair, the parties involved will be talked to. But even if the affair stops, some action has to follow, says PM Lee. What that action is and when it is taken depends on the facts and boundaries transgressed.
Mr Tan and Ms Cheng’s affair fell into the third category and was wrong, says PM Lee, adding that he had told them to stop it.
PM Lee said that the situation would have been different if the Speaker of Parliament was married to an MP.
With the time taken to address the matter, PM Lee says he had hoped to give Mr Tan and Ms Cheng a softer exit to save them and their families the pain and embarrassment they are suffering now.
July 31 court date set for MP Christopher de Souza’s professional disciplinary case
SINGAPORE – Lawyer and People’s Action Party MP Christopher de Souza will face the Court of Three Judges next Monday in a hearing to decide the final outcome of professional disciplinary proceedings brought against him.
The court, which is the highest disciplinary body for the legal profession, has the power to disbar, suspend or fine a lawyer who is guilty of professional misconduct. The court can also clear a lawyer of such charges.
In 2022, Mr de Souza, who is the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and an MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, was found guilty of a misconduct charge by an independent disciplinary tribunal.
The two-member tribunal said Mr de Souza had not made full and frank disclosure to the court when he was aware his client had breached an undertaking not to use documents seized in a search.
The tribunal said he helped his client in suppressing evidence by preparing and filing an affidavit that did not reveal the client had breached its undertaking.
The charge was one of five brought against him by the Law Society of Singapore in relation to his conduct while he was acting for Amber Compounding Pharmacy and Amber Laboratories; the four other charges were dismissed by the tribunal.
His lawyers stated on Dec 6, 2022 that they would argue before the court that the one charge should also be dismissed.
Amber, which was initially represented by law firm Dodwell & Co, had sued a former employee and her company for allegedly stealing its trade secrets.
On April 13, 2018, Amber was granted a court order to carry out a search for documents, on condition that it give an undertaking not to use the seized documents without further order.
A total of 116,298 documents were seized on April 17, 2018.
Between July 31 and Oct 22 in 2018, Amber breached its undertaking when it used 10 of the documents to file reports with the police, the Manpower Ministry and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau against the defendants.
On Nov 28, 2018, Amber approached law firm Lee & Lee to act for it in relation to the criminal complaints it made.
Mr de Souza, a partner at Lee & Lee, knew by Dec 5, 2018 that the documents had been used by Amber. He and his firm took over the civil suit on Dec 14 that year.
He advised Amber to apply for the court’s permission to use the documents.
On Jan 28, 2019, he helped a company representative file a supporting affidavit, which did not disclose that some documents had been used.
Amber’s application for permission to use the documents was eventually heard by the Court of Appeal, comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Justices Judith Prakash and Steven Chong.
On Sept 9, 2020, the court filed a complaint against Mr de Souza to the Law Society. The complaint highlighted observations made by the court in its written judgment.
An inquiry committee convened on Jan 13, 2021, found that Mr de Souza had breached his paramount duty to the court, and recommended he be fined $2,000.
The Law Society council, however, disagreed and applied to the Chief Justice for a disciplinary tribunal to be appointed to formally investigate the matter.
The tribunal, comprising Senior Counsel N. Sreenivasan and Mr Pradeep Pillai, was appointed by the Chief Justice on Nov 19, 2021. Testimony was heard over five days in April 2022.
In its report, the tribunal accepted that Mr de Souza had tried to persuade the client to make full disclosure. But it said the conduct of the client did not free the lawyer from blame for his own failure to make such disclosure.
The tribunal found there was cause of sufficient gravity for Mr de Souza to face disciplinary sanction before the Court of Three Judges on one charge.
Justices Belinda Ang, Woo Bih Li and Kannan Ramesh will hear the case.
Mr de Souza is represented by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng and Mr Calvin Ong, while the Law Society is represented by Mr Madan Assomull.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/july-31-court-date-set-for-mp-christopher-de-souza-s-professional-disciplinary-case
Poor Pinky, looks like he will have to hold the fort for the foreseeable future.....
Squeaky clean ki lan lah
Okay, in that case let's move onward and VTO at the next General Election!
Don't play play hor, PAP is probably the only government in the world that can ownself check ownself
FUCK THE PAP!!!!!!
Come GE2025, the pappies will once again sing their favourite song, and all shall be forgiven. Leemember, most Sinkies have the memory of a goldfish. :P
😡😡😡
Might this be the beginning of the end of the People's Adultery Party?