As such, Dr Chee's father, Mr Chee Chwee Hoon, 77, took over as sole owner and manager of the group in June last year.

The group was set up about two years ago to push for more openness and transparency in the public and private sectors.

Dr Chee, who is the Singapore Democratic Party leader, said this after the Government called on the group to be transparent about its activities.

Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng had challenged Dr Chee and Mr Jeyaretnam to explain why the group was re-registered, and where it got its foreign funding from.

Recently, the group was gazetted as a political association for organising political activities, thus barring it from receiving foreign funds.

Dr Chee is now the group's director, and Mr Jeyaretnam, the Workers' Party chief, is its chairman.

In yesterday's( Apr 10) statement, Dr Chee said: 'If the RCB didn't have such a stipulation, there would have been no question of Mr Jeyaretnam and I continuing on as partners of the firm.'

In 1994, the RCB required all self-employed persons applying to register a business to contribute to their Medisave account, and existing business owners' contributions must be paid up-to-date before they can apply for a new or another licence.

On Apr 7, Mr Wong questioned their motives for changing the centre's ownership.

He said: 'Are they afraid that one day, the Open Singapore Centre will run afoul of the law, and therefore the sole proprietor and manager will take sole responsibility and not the director and chairman?'

RCB records show that the elder Chee's address is that of an old folk's home in Wan Tho Avenue.

Dr Chee slammed the government for 'dragging' his father into the matter, and described the situation as a 'shame'.

He said: 'Let me go on record that everything the OSC does, Mr Jeyaretnam and I take full responsibility. If the People's Action Party has problems with the OSC, deal with me, not my father.'

On the issue of foreign funding, Dr Chee said that the OSC, 'being a private company, is not obligated to relate its administrative processes'.

But he said it will reveal its sources on several conditions, including opening the books of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.

He also challenged the People's Action Party to reveal the sources of its donations, and called for all ministers to declare their incomes and assets.