For over a week, the People’s Action Party has remained silent about the dishonest conduct of its Member of Parliament for Choa Chu Kang GRC, Mr Alvin Yeo Khirn Hai. Ironically, the PAP has always prided itself for being a transparent and accountable party that Singaporeans can trust.
Last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong earnestly promised “If any of my PAP colleagues is accused of lying, I will investigate and get to the bottom of the matter. If he has lied, there is only one option - he has to go. If he is innocent, I will insist that he clear his name publicly. The matter has to be resolved one way or other. It cannot be left as an "I say, you say" matter of opinion, which leaves a permanent question mark hanging over his reputation, and the reputation of my government.”
Today Singaporeans are still waiting for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to say a word about MP Alvin Yeo. It has been a week now and he has not fulfilled his promise.
Last week, MP Alvin Yeo was found guilty by the court for grossly overcharging his client by a million dollars. Following the court’s decision, scores of netizens demanded that MP Alvin Yeo should step down as a MP should basically be a person of integrity. Some netizens were from the Nanyang constituency of Choa Chu Kang GRC which MP Alvin Yeo is in charge of. They voiced strong disapproval to his conduct and doubted if he could still be a good MP.
Prior to the overcharging incident, MP Alvin Yeo was already very rich and in 2009, paid $6.5 million for a 2,680 square ft. four bedroom unit in a luxury condominium, the Marina Bay Suites. The Marina Bay Suites is one of the most expensive condominiums in Singapore. (Soruces: http://sgforums.com/forums/2497/topics/384147, http://www.sammyboy.com/archive/index.php/t-146377.html )
MP Alvin Yeo can always claim that his firm, Wong Partnership, prepared the bills and not him. But as a MP and a Senior Counsel, he should have been able to see that the legal fees he was charging were ridiculously high. In one of their bills, they had charged some $77,102 for each day they were in court. In another bill, it was $46,729 for each day in court. And the third bill claimed that the lawyers’ charges amounted to $100,000 per hour of hearing. (COURT RULES THAT LAWYER, PAP MP ALVIN YEO OVERCHARGED $1 MILLION IN LEGAL FEES)