| Age,
Melbourne December 2, 2005 Letter from Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general, Singapore Democratic Party THE SINGAPORE'S high commissioner to Australia, Joseph Koh, insists that investments in the Myanmar Fund were "completely open and above board" (Opinion, Age Nov 30). He fails to mention that the Singapore Government invests in projects all over the world using public funds but refuses to give an account of where these investments go and how they perform. Mr Koh's yardstick for "completely open" is made of plasticine. Will the Singapore Government open up the books so that Singaporeans can inspect the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation's accounts and transactions? Instead of repeatedly insisting that the Myanmar Fund project was "above board", will Mr Koh categorically say that the investments in the Myanmar Fund were not invested with Asia World, a company owned by Burmese drug lord Lo Hsing Han? In addition, will he unequivocally say that current investments in Burma are not linked in any way with Lo Hsing Han and other drug lords in Burma? It is inexplicable why Mr Koh does not refute former US assistant secretary of state Robert Gelbard's claim that "since 1988 … over half of (the investments from) Singapore have been tied to the family of narco-trafficker Lo Hsing Han". Singapore's total investments in Burma are estimated to be about US$1.5 billion (A$2.02 billion). Mr Koh declines to tell your readers that after the documentary was aired, the Singapore Government quietly wound up the Myanmar Fund in 1997. If the fund was "above board" why was it wound up? The GIC was a core shareholder in the Myanmar Fund with a representative in the fund's investment committee and not a passive investor, as claimed by the Singapore Government. Will the high commissioner also say whether Lo Hsing Han has been banned from entering Singapore, and whether Mr Lo's son, Steven Law, banned from the US for suspected drug activities, continues to operate in Singapore? Mr Koh has also not revealed the fact that I am not a member of parliament and could not move a motion for a commission of inquiry. In addition, the Singapore Government need not open a commission of inquiry to the public and the international media are often barred from covering the proceedings. The Government barred the public from a parliamentary select committee hearing that I was involved in challenging the Government on health care costs in the country. If the Singapore Government will telecast a commission of inquiry "live" and allow the foreign media to attend it, I would be more than happy to participate in it. Even then, why does there need to be a commission of inquiry to answer the questions that I have repeatedly raised about my Government's investments in Burma? Mr Koh should also inform the people of Australia that the questions
that I have mentioned in this letter vis-a-vis our dealings in Burma continue
to be censored by the media in Singapore. Your readers should ask why. |
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