Upholding the rule of law
March 30th, 2024 | 
Author: “Singapore’s success arises in no small part because of its policy in upholding the rule of law and adopting a zero-tolerance policy to corruption. Both are necessary factors and our zero-tolerance policy must be upheld in a manner that complies with the rule of law,” so says our Minister Indranee Rajah.
It’s reassuring that this has been the case for Singapore. The hauling up by CPIB of our former transport minister is a good example. That’s zero-tolerance, even if you are part of the cabinet. It inspires public confidence.
But the multimillion-dollar bribery case of the six former senior management staff members of Keppel Offshore & Marine some years back left many scratching their heads.
They were issued a warning, because the evidence was insufficient. It boiled down to securing witnesses abroad, even when one of them has entered into a plea bargain. Doesn‘t that involve some admission? And don’t they all goes back to the same country, Brazil?
Anyway, I guess that’s water under the Hercílio Luz bridge (FYI, that’s the longest suspension bridge in Brazil).
But this morning, the ghost of Keppel’s past pops up again. It’s Singapore-listed Seatrium this time. Seatrium was formerly known as Sembcorp Marine. And like all cases before, it goes back to Brazil.
Unsurprisingly, it involves payout of millions of dollars to secure lucrative contracts about 15 years ago. I trust many individuals were rewarded in this dragnet. I also presume those giving out bribes received a fat bonus or a fast track career promotion, or both?
But unlike the six former senior management staff members of Keppel Offshore who were slapped with a warning due to lack of evidence, two individuals were charged for corruption. And yes, for them, there’s no lack of evidence.
The managing director of Jurong Shipyard, Wong, and senior GM, Lee, Lee, were charged with paying out more than $50m in bribes between 2009 and 2014. Wong was at that time Sembcorp Marine’s president.
They are liable to go to prison and/or pay a hefty fine.
As for Seatrium, she has to pay US$57m to Singapore authorities.
AGC gave Seatrium a hair cut from US$110m, just “to take into consideration what the group would have paid the Brazilian authorities as part of that total amount”.
Lesson? Just one. It’s about zero tolerance.
As a general observation, it seems like that word is no more than an ideal expression and its application in the real world is far from ideal. If a metaphor helps, you can’t stay dry when you dash across a street in a downpour. If you risk the street, you risk being drenched.
The observation of our former AG (Walter Woon) offers a more grounded perspective.
“Despite Singapore's supposedly squeaky clean image, corruption does still exist, even among government-linked companies...
Eradication of corruption requires that the humans responsible for the offences account for their misdeeds, no matter how influential or well connected they may be.
If we want to have standards, we must be willing and able to defend them."
I believe zero tolerance is only as far as it goes. For the majority of us, it works. It keeps us from straying away from the OB markers, and the society from descending into disorder and chaos.
But for those outside the OB markers, tolerance is a very elastic word, and subject to power, especially institutional power. He who controls the infrastructure controls how it applies to him. For some people are more tolerated than others.
This is most evident in a dictatorship. Putin and Kim come to mind. You will need a revolution to pull their impunity walls down and expose them.
Even if you are rich, a billionaire, like Jack Ma, you are still an economic means (or pawn) to the powerful’s end (or hands).
I believe every social contract hides an exclusion clause, and it is not necessary those who sign it who can claim it. It’s always more than meets the eye. That is why the strings of the puppet are designed to be concealed, even if some of us already know how it works.
As for the rest of us, life goes on. None of us are above the law, because we are not positioned high enough to be above it. We thus labour for the good of society, and leave the rest to the rest.
For didn’t Thucydides say, “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer or tolerate what they must”?
That is the fate of society, based on zero tolerance. I harbour no illusions of how it works. It’s essentially survival of the fittest, for as long as they can get away with it.
And the lucky ones get an honourable burial.
Michael Han
* The author is a lawyer and blogs on Facebook.
Posted in 
That is the fate of society, based on zero tolerance. I harbour no illusions of how it works. It’s essentially survival of the fittest, for as long as they can get away with it.
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Michael, why you write so much?
Just quote Bush will do. Either you are with us or against us.
You are long winded just like Anthony Blinken.
Blinken: “If you’re not at the table in the international system, you’re going to be on the menu”
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/1ax81rm/what_is_the_meaning_of_the_remark_by_blinkenif/
Trump: You think our country so innocent?
https://shorturl.asia/g87sl
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Upholding of Laws start from young.
This is a very good debate in Anglo Saxon for all the brainwashed colonial slaves who still think Ang Mo Tua Kee.
HORDES’ of antisocial teens STORM Milton Keynes shopping centre
https://shorturl.asia/1KmN0
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We all know who the biggest dictator is: Someone who invades, tortures and massacres country after country with impunity.
We also know who the smallest dictator is.
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What rubbish are you writing here and which rubbish bin are you from? Transport minister charged but OBs ok, and you call this zero tolerance.
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Too often, people make the mistake of asserting that because a procedure was LEGAL, whatever result it produces is inherently just. Conversely, some take the equally improper position that any illegal action necessarily produces an unjust result. Legal analyses are often divorced from factual realities. For instance, even if undisputed, the FACT that someone was mistakenly convicted is not grounds for an appeal of that conviction as long as the trial was conducted properly at the time. Neither is the victim of such a mistake necessarily entitled to compensation (unless the judicial provides such things as a matter of policy).
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“I believe zero tolerance is only as far as it goes. For the majority of us, it works. It keeps us from straying away from the OB markers, and the society from descending into disorder and chaos.
But for those outside the OB markers, tolerance is a very elastic word, and subject to power,….”.
Mr. Han, you are so right!
All “those outside the OB markers”, as you termed it, were connected to the PAP. PAP believes high salary prevents “straying away”. But it forgets that greed has no limit. Eventually, GREED also leads to ENTITLEMENT.
When one has the money and power, you pay for the “hard-to-get” (bribery). You can also pay for the “out-of-jail” card!
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If there is a rule that says you can get jailed if you smoke cannabis outside Singapore if you are Singaporean, the same should happen for criminal behaviour. Private companies practise bribery to get the business but at State level when organizations have State support and 100 millions of dollars which will be welcomed in investment starved countries, is there a need for bribery? So why did Keppel,Sembcorp and Seatrium engage in bribery? Would I be wrong to say that these bribery amounts will have to under go a creative accounting system to hide from auditors. This allows office bearers ofthe companies involved to also take millions of dollars into their own pockets. Many are PAP cronies and with an AGC also being appointed by the PM, every level of criminal conduct is covered and has been ongoing for decades.So the Rule of Law is absent and will remain absent until a new govt. is formed and the three branches of State are separated from the PM’s office. Until then we are entertained by Iswaran,Wong, GMLee and the tiny cases we read about going on in our Courts.
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RULE OF LAW?
It depends on WHO break the Law.
All we,ordinary folks ,know is we are RULED BY “LAW”(imposed onto us even if unjust).
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@Dalai says
Very well said. What is also not spoken about is the legal costs that citizens have to bear to rectify mistakes made by Court decisions because strangely the Courts will only award partial fees even if you win a case.It seems this is to deter Court actions and for parties to come to settlements. However this also favours rogues and lawyers who use this to force settlements in an unfair manner. This is again supported by a weak regulator in the govt.
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There is no explicit law on this, right?
It is absurd! You go to a “western democratic” country. You follow all the laws there. When you return to Sg, you are a criminal. This cannot be. We have to wait for a billionaire “criminal” to challenge this up the courts.
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There is always a contest of good and evil for power. When evil rule, people suffer. When good rule, people benefit.
A gang of people seize power and the rest of the people have to obey their rule of game for their benefit to feed them and let them enjoy and maintain their rule and power. This gang set up their game rules so that people cannot beat them in their game and they can rule forever. They can break their own rules for their own benefit because they are in power.
When evil people rule, they do not share or share very little and do evil acts. The state of the world is such that evil rule with the rulers enjoying while the poor suffer. They conduct evil acts like wars which force people to die and suffer because of wars. Even whatever good is their past karma, the evil they commit in their this life like killing people and making people suffer already cancel away their past good karma so they do not deserve to be rulers. They seize the power, denying good to rule like seize the toilet, denying people to use it when they need it. All people are equal but these people make themselves more equal than others. They do not hard work and they make people like their maids and servants do even their house chores and routine.Maybe they just do some speech, thinking and typing emails but they being served three meals everyday. They do not work heartily, so they do not deserve to rule.
The world is such that many people are force to do things against their will in a dictatorship. People are control by money and people will die without food and water when without money in such evil world. People are slaves to money and power, wasting their lives away. Unknown evil forces make them commit evil acts like killing people(when become soldiers), making other people their slaves and seize other people equal rights by profiteering. It is a dark world if you think about it and look at it. Many good people are trying to change the world for better. I hope this article will awake people. People should know the situation we are in and do good to save our world. It will be too late if we do not wake up as this evil world will be destroyed by people disasters and natural disasters.
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@Singaroar
Agree.
Many victims got victimised further by an SPF whose police investigators often let off the perpetrators even in very obvious offence cases.
Unfair investigation,for reasons unknown to the victims ,forces the victim to attend MEDIATION conducted by CMC.
And, many victims who attended CMC mediations felt further victimised by unfair /bias mediators.
THIS IS NOT UNCOMMON BUT THE NORM.
It is as if to “hurriedly” settle all cases regardless.
Here ,we as a NATION, must ask are we meting out true justice for our victimised citizens who are law-abiding or are we giving false impressions to the CULPRITS/CRIMINALS to be encouraged to continue victimising others?
Many law-abiding citizens are cajoled into a settlement somehow.
Is that a good for society?
Will the wrongdoers stop victimising others or will such an approach give impetus for more potential offenders to victimise others?
Our society does seem to favour wrongdoers instead of protecting law-abiding citizens.
The Home Affairs and Law ministers need to wake up to true justice.
We are slip-sliding.The good law-abiding singaporeans will suffer while evil-doers go about committing offences as they can cinveniently go scot-free.
Mediation is not equal to mere settlement for high KPI.
It should be a form of true justice,no less.
And,mediators and CMC director must ensure this is the case.
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Ask your young female supporters don’t act like shameless IMH escapees in public. Later kena wacked.
Ask your puki mat and mina don’t be so bodoh.
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Our law enforcing agencies need to buck up or many more criminals would be emboldened.
We must ensure offenders get punished duly and innocent victims get their justice done without having to spend undue sums of money.
In this respect I agree with @CMC? above.
First,the SPF must carry out its duties with integrity to ensure no one is above the law,Prince or pauper,sg citizen or angmohs or other aliens here.
Yes,CMC mediators must not be bias .
Else,it will make the mediation process a mockery rather than bring about true justice.
I have heard of many victims who feel aggrieved by the CMC process.
This needs to be revisited.
We must wipe away hypocrisy and unjust practices while maintaining law and order.
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@CMC?
Agree. The Law is being drowned by costly processes.Even in court cases there are so many rounds so it makes you suspect the competency of the Courts.Eventually because legal fees mount up, we are forced to settle. So where is the Rule of Law? It is only for the extremely wealthy. It does not serve the 80% in Public Housing because of affordability.
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”S’pore money laundering case among world’s largest with assets seized worth over $2.8b”
”Cambodian national Su Wenqiang, who was sentenced to 13 months in prison,”
!3mth prison sentence for one of the world largest ML case; a very very light tap on the wrist.
What kind of message are we sending to the ML mafia throughout the world–PLEASE COME TO SINKIELAND TO DO BUSINESS; we want to be the ML hub of the world.
Would have gotten the death sentence in China.
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To measure how just our justice system is, ask a simple question: To what extent does money affect the outcome?
The magnitude of justice is the inverse of the effect of money on the outcome.
Occasionally, someone with fewer resources prevails against all odds, but be careful. Confusing an outlier with normal reality is a sure way to misunderstand a situation. To some extent, wealth and resources have a profound impact on the result.
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@CMC?
Well said and truthful.
CMC= Criminals Motivation Centre.
The Director and the mediators motivate criminals to commit more offences like VCH ,etc ,so that more victims will be forced to settle with perpetrators/criminals to help increase KPI and bonuses and awarded BBM and PBM.
A bunch of insincere blokes from the Director to mediators.
Stink like shit.
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@Among world largest ML case
In the US, the jail term would be at least 20years. So here the Law is not applied equally to everyone. It varies as in Karl Liew’s case. The father has not even been charged for giving false statement to the police. So there is no Rule of Law in Singapore because all associated with LHY may be prosecuted but not those with LHL whose personal lawyer is the AGC.
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