Yesterday (16 May), Dr Teo Ho Pin issued a press statement attempting to cast aspersions on WP’s management of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council and on its Managing Agent, FM Solutions and Services Pte Ltd (FMSS).
Dr Teo published the statement on his Facebook page [Link] as if it were his own. The statement was also re-posted on TR Emeritus (TRE): ['Teo Ho Pin questions WP’s dealings with FMSS'].
The Workers’ Party responded the same day at 9.37pm with a statement titled Town Council Management – What is really at stake.
Besides publishing his press statement on Facebook, Dr Teo also sent it to the media in an MS Word file. TRE has obtained a copy of the file (snapshot below).
Out of curiosity, TRE opened the Word file to examine the history of the document and this is what TRE found:
Evidently, Dr Teo’s press release was last edited by someone using MS Word software registered to janadas. This someone last edited the document on 16 May 2013 at 12:21pm (created). It is safe to assume that Dr Teo was not the last person editing it (see created date), unless Dr Teo used janadas’ MS Word to edit it.
After the file was edited at 12:21pm, there were no further changes and Dr Teo later sent it to the media. The “modified and accessed” dates refer to the date and time TRE opened the document.
Who is janadas?
Checking the Singapore Government Directory (http://www.sgdi.gov.sg), “an online information service to facilitate communication between members of the public and the public service” as the directory describes itself, one name comes up i.e. Janadas Devan, the Chief of Government Communications under Dr Yaacob’s Ministry of Communications and Information [Link]:
| Chief of Government Communications | Janadas DEVAN |
Mr Janadas Devan’s job essentially is to coordinate and issue communications of the Government to the public.
It is not known if the MS Word software used to edit Dr Teo’s press release is certainly registered or belongs to Mr Janadas Devan, the Chief of Government Communications.
Dr Teo does not hold any positions in the Government. He is a Member of Parliament (MP) and Mayor of North West District. He is also the Coordinating Chairman of 14 PAP Town Councils.
What business does the Chief of Government Communications have in helping a PAP MP such as Dr Teo draft or edit his press release? If Mr Janadas Devan had any business doing that, to be fair, he should help opposition MPs to draft and edit their press releases too, and cast aspersions on PAP’s management of their Town Councils for good measure.
Assuming that Mr Janadas Devan was really at work, as a civil servant, is it not inappropriate for him to take sides and assist one political party over another?
What do you think?
TR Emeritus
*Article first appeared on www.TREmeritus.com