The buzz around the island recently is no doubt all about the spate of sex scandals that are going on trial right now and in the coming months. It’s quite the coincidence really that we should be watching so many different cases go down in a short period of time like this. I’m sure the cumulative drama has had the effect of fueling more people to take interest. What I find really interesting though is how these cases represent the different levels and degrees of corruption that Singaporeans partake in. It does also seem that financial bribery is not ‘in’ in Singapore like sex is. Is this because of the tough anti-corruption stand our government has always taken? Is this really the norm or is it that our morality is no longer what was? I say that because I do believe the enforcement of the law has not slackened with time. Why are more and more people embroiled in fraud, embezzlement and corruption? From sex-for-grades to fellatio for government contracts to embezzlement of church donations.. It becomes saddening when you see the trend that it is often the people whom society regards as safe and trusted that are corrupt.

Twitter has exploded with a multitude of hashtags and crude jokes in response to the sex scandals in the news. Do you #DIY ? The ongoing CNB case unfolding in court has everyone following it like a Taiwanese soap drama, what with witnesses claiming to be forced into confession under duress, the public recounting of sex acts, and the very nature of the case involving an extramarital affair of a government official. The defense is trying to prove the affair so as to overturn the corruption charge when I honestly think it shouldn’t make a difference whatsoever. Conflict of interest is something every working professional should know very well to avoid, much less an agent of the government. It is an insult isn’t it, to say the CNB chief didn’t know, didn’t think it would look like corruption to sleep with a woman pitching a contract to the organization he heads. The joke in the courtroom is how sane people claim they’re crazy, smart people act like they’re born stupid, conmen claim their victims asked for it. What perplexes me about this case however is why the defendant’s wife is still with that cheating sod of a husband. In this time and age, it’s not regarded as virtuous to keep standing by your man, it’s just plain stupid. With the defense going all out to prove an affair, it’ll be no contest on grounds to file for divorce with a hefty settlement to boot. But okay, that is just me and my belief that such men deserve to be punished until it really hurts.

Back to more relevant topics, the CNB case plus the SCDF case are quite similar and raise the same questions. Were we hardwired to believe corruption = money/gifts and so prefer to do it with sex so we can find excuses? Or are Singaporean men in power really preferring sex to money? It is something the government must consider because as we have heard it over and over in parliament, higher pay for civil servants is a measure taken to ward off the temptation of corruption. So, is all this money going to waste now if for these men, it’s not about the money but the sex? The line must be drawn clearly by the statutory boards that sex or money, corruption is going to be punished severely with no exceptions or excuses accepted. Conflict of interest is going to have to be something all staff have to step around and avoid like landmines if they should so choose to be civil servants. If the government has to define in black and white what corruption means and entails, then that memo has to go out to its staff to put everyone on the same page. Why I think the government should act like that? Because as much as the statutory boards are independent from the administration, when you talk to the man on the street, CNB or SCDF is just government in his eyes. If a voter will not differentiate, then the responsibility will have fall upon the government, if not to keep subordinates in line then to safeguard its own image! In the end, as much as everyone knows the evil lurking in every person’s heart, we like to believe that the people we vote into power are virtuous people who are here to better the lives of the people. By extension, that also is what we hope for the people that government chooses to head its statutory boards.

In all honesty, why civil? When we think of politicians, we think corrupt from what we understand of what is happening internationally. I think Singapore is rather proud of its zero tolerance level of corruption, which explains why these scandals are going on trial in a rather high-handed fashion. As citizens, we must applaud the state for doing the right thing instead of easily staging a cover-up. It is an ugly debacle that is drawing disgrace to the administration that has stayed quiet to lay low throughout. I suppose it really is unfair to blame the administration for the mistakes of its individuals. What we can assume is that the government is of the mindset that a single rotten apple will spoil the entire warehouse. I’m glad we will stamp it out before it takes root, grows and spreads, and becomes a norm. Because corruption is the norm in the private sector, rampant but just unspoken, and it is what greases the gears that keeps it running smoothly, if at all. In the public sector though, the decisions corruption could influence are potentially what could affect a lot of people, even a nation. Just imagine if it was not a contract the woman was pitching to the CNB chief but a drug deal. It is not too far a leap to take it in that direction. When people make a mistake, it always seems like it no longer is such a big deal making another bigger one and another since they are in it already. If such corrupt decisions become a norm in government, how will it justify the administration’s right to lead a nation when it has questionable integrity and credibility? Corruption erodes trust, and in politics it is the hearts of the people that the government has to hold on to faithfully.

I joke and say that as a politician, you have to keep driving a Toyota when the hawker pulls up in a Mercedes to complain about inflation. Politics should never have been glamorized as it has outside of Singapore. We see the Chinese ministers wearing their striking branded suits and driven around in Rolls Royces, Thaksin living in a palace even in exile, Mitt Roomney running for office with hidden accounts in the Cayman Islands..  I think we have done it right in Singapore where our ministers are approachable and modest people we can relate to. It’s an attitude of governing that’s quite unique in the world and frankly admirable for a government with that much wealth it has. This face, even if only for good PR has to be kept up here in Singapore. Corruption is simply not part of the image at all. There is an amount of respect that should be accorded to a government keeping its word and sticking to its rules even when it is being now played against them. There can be no double standards. Even as most people have not drawn the conclusions or connected the implications of these scandals to the government just yet, I’m just blogging my thoughts here. I was frankly surprised to not see the government draw fire for these PR disasters given the amount of hate they’ve been subject to in recent times whether deserved or not. Perhaps people are just really happily entertained by it all? That must be it.