Lim Swee Say gave a really lame excuse for uninviting Mr Tan Cheng Bock to the Chinese New Year Istana party. link
On Lim’s Facebook post: “..limit the list of only ex-advisers who stood down in the immediate past general election…to enable a wider base of invitees to attend the reception”, “..I phoned (Dr.) Tan and the other affected invitees personally to explain the mistake and followed up with personal emails to apologise to them” and “It is most unfortunate that PA made the mistake of using the the old list instead of the updated list”..
Lim Swee Say lost whatever little respect and trust he had left after he admitted to “pinching half a box (of toothpicks) during EACH VISIT” to Din Tai Fung restaurant.
Did PA really make a mistake or did he simply override their decision?http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/good-service-all-hands-labour-chief As everyone knows, PA is controlled by the PAP. If there was indeed an updated list, no one has seen it.
How does limiting the list of ex-advisers enable a wider base of invitees? Perhaps the wider base Lim was referring to are our new citizens and thousands of PRs who became grassroots leaders at the invitation of the PA. http://therealsingapore.com/content/pinoy-ft-invited-cny-garden-party-while-tan-cheng-bock-uninvited
The apology for the mistake cannot simply come from a minister who expects them to be taken at face value. If Lim was also expecting citizens to believe the sudden change of PA’s policy to be a coincident, he will be disappointed.
Lim must have spent hours on the phone, including making small talk, explaining ‘PA’s mistake’. His office is most unproductive, as many have already highlighted the redundancy of a minister without portfolio. Time to shut it down and put the millions saved to better use.
Phillip Ang
TRS writer