$222M MRT contract awarded to grassroots leader’s company

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$222M MRT contract awarded to grassroots leader’s company

May 13th, 2014 | Author: Editorial




Last month, the Land Transport Authority announced it had
awarded civil, electrical and mechanical contracts for the Thomson and Eastern
Region Lines with a total value of nearly $1.15 billion.

The 30-km long Thomson Line will enhance rail connectivity in the north-south
corridors to the Central Business District (CBD) and developments in the Marina
Bay area.

The contracts include the construction of Mt Pleasant, Stevens and Maxwell
stations, and communications system, signalling system and platform screen doors
for the 2 MRT lines.

The construction of Maxwell station has been awarded to Hock Lian Seng
Infrastructure for approximately $222 million.

Construction of the stations will commence in the second quarter of 2014 and
they are supposed to be completed by 2021.

Hock Lian Seng Infrastructure is a 100% subsidiary of Hock Lian Seng
Holdings, a public company listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

According to its latest annual report [Link],
Hock Lian Seng is a leading civil engineering group in Singapore. The group was
listed on the Mainboard of SGX in December 2009. Its major customers include
government and government-related bodies, such as LTA, HDB, PSA Singapore
Terminals, PUB and CAAS. The group’s other core business is property-related
i.e. property development and investment.

One of its iconic projects featured in the annual report is the construction
of Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE). The project included the design,
construction and completion of MCE for LTA.

Management of Hock Lian Seng – Dr Ong Seh Hong


Dr Ong Seh Hong


The annual report listed Dr Ong Seh Hong as independent non-executive
chairman and Mr Chua Leong Hai as executive director and CEO of the company.

Dr Ong Seh Hong was a PAP MP from 2001 to 2011, serving 2 terms. In 2001, he
ran for election in Aljunied GRC. In 2006, he ran in Marine Parade GRC. He was
the MP for Kampong Ubi-Kembangan ward. In 2011, he stepped down to make way for
new blood.

The annual report states that Dr Ong was appointed director of the company on
23 September 2011, not long after he stepped down from politics after the 2011
general election.

While Dr Ong was a PAP MP, he was also the clinical director and COO of Ren
Ci Hospital & Medicare Centre, and Ren Ci Community Hospital from 2000 to
2009.

In April 2009, during the trial of former Ren Ci CEO Venerable Shi Ming Yi,
it was revealed that a $60,000 loan had been granted to Dr Ong by Ming Yi, even
though the hospital did not have a formal policy on it. Testifying in court, Ren
Ci’s former human resource manager, Joyce Teng Lee Foong, said the staff loan
was made to Dr Ong when he first joined the hospital in 2000. The $60,000 loan
is understood to be the largest sum ever approved by Ming Yi.

The revelation shocked many Singaporeans. Social media expressed their
disbelief that a doctor and MP had to resort to borrowing from a charity. Others
felt that it is morally wrong for Dr Ong to knowingly borrow money which was
meant for needy patients. Some cynically commented that had Ming Yi not gone to
trial, the public would have been none the wiser about the loan. Still others
wondered if they were donating money to a charity or to a moneylender?

Under the glare of social media, Dr Ong wrote to the media to explain the
circumstances under which he received the $60,000 loan from Ren Ci. Dr Ong then
said:


I was an employee of GIC in 1999. I was offered by Ren Ci Hospital and
Medicare Centre to be Director, Medical & Paramedical Services in January
2000.

However to leave GIC, I had to pay $560,000 to settle my outstanding staff
housing loan. I agreed to join Ren Ci on condition that I received a loan of
$60,000, to pay off in part the amount of $560,000 and I paid the remaining
$500,000 from bank loan.

When I borrowed the sum of $60,000 from Ren Ci, I was not an MP. It was lent
to me as staff, and was part of the terms on which I agreed to join Ren Ci. I
have since repaid the sum fully.
Ming Yi was later found guilty of misappropriating Ren Ci’s funds by
approving loans, falsifying accounts and giving false information to the
Commissioner of Charities. He was sentenced to 10 months’ jail and appealed the
case. On 27 May 2010, Justice Tay Yong Kwang dismissed the appeal but reduced
the sentence from 10 months to 6 months for Ming Yi’s significant contributions
to Ren Ci and society.

Dr Ong subsequently left Ren Ci in 2009.

At present, besides Hock Lian Seng, Dr Ong serves as an independent director
in public companies Dyna-Mac Holdings Ltd, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Holdings
Ltd and MoneyMax Financial Services Ltd, which are listed on SGX.

Management of Hock Lian Seng – Mr Chua Leong Hai

Mr Chua Leong Hai is both executive director and CEO of Hock Lian Seng. He is
the founder of the Hock Lian Seng Group. He has more than 40 years of experience
in civil engineering work in Singapore and led the group to undertake
infrastructure projects in Taipei and Shanghai in the 90′s.

He also has real estate investment and development experience in Malaysia and
Indonesia. Mr Chua is responsible for the overall management, formulation of
business plans, strategic positioning and business expansion of Hock Lian Seng
Group.

Mr Chua was conferred a PBM at the National Day Awards in 2010 for his
grassroots services to the community. He is the Patron of Kampong Ubi-Kembangan
Citizens’ Consultative Committee [Link] in the
same ward that Dr Ong was serving as MP, prior to his stepping down from
politics:




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