Sylvia Lim disagrees that tender process was ‘tainted and flawed’

Two days before a meeting with the only company that bid for her town council's managing agent contract, Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim gave its owners a "heads up" that they would need to justify their higher rates.

Ms Lim used those words in an e-mail to FM Solutions & Services (FMSS) owners Danny Loh and How Weng Fan on June 19, 2012, in which she encouraged them to provide more details at the meeting.

Two days later, Mr Loh gave an 11-slide presentation to some members of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), explaining FMSS' pricing strategy.

Yesterday, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh said that because of her actions, the tender process was "tainted and flawed".

"You colluded with FMSS to make sure that FMSS would come prepared with everything that was needed to secure that bid," he charged.

FMSS won the tender, which was called about a year after the WP won Aljunied GRC in the 2011 general election.

Mr Singh is representing Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council in a multimillion-dollar suit to recover alleged improper payments from eight defendants, including Ms Lim, who was on the stand for the fifth - and final - day yesterday.

In cross-examining her, Mr Singh noted that one town councillor, Mr Anthony Loh, had asked why FMSS' quote for its services was on the higher side, especially when compared to the charges of People's Action Party town councils.

"Are they having trouble breaking even or is this purely profit-driven?" Mr Loh wrote in an e-mail to Ms Lim.

'HEADS UP'

She replied an hour later, noting it was a good question, but not before she had e-mailed Mr Loh and Ms How about giving them the "heads up", Mr Singh noted.

"These people had been given a tip-off, insider information, so that they could come prepared… to overcome the one difficulty you knew the committee had," he charged.

Ms Lim replied: "Sole tenderer, Mr Singh."

He asked if there was a difference between a competitive tender and one with a sole bidder.

She replied: "Yes, in the sense that there isn't information being given out to one tenderer and not the others… I wanted them to come prepared so that the meeting would be productive."

Mr Singh then proceeded to read Ms Lim's earlier testimony that in the tender process, she did her best to act with integrity and objectivity, dealing with all bidders at arm's length.

"It was just a practical matter," she said. "They were the sole bidder. If they had not prepared their answers, they would have to adjourn and come back again."

Mr Singh charged the process was tainted and she colluded with FMSS to secure their bid.

Ms Lim disagreed.

Earlier, Mr Singh posited that an external auditor AHTC had hired to review its award of a new managing agent contract to FMSS in 2012, on the expiry of its one-year contract, was a "superficial job".

The firm, RSM Ethos, gave AHTC an "A" overall. But, Mr Singh said, it had based its observations only on what it had been told by town councillors like Ms Lim.

Disagreeing that it was a "paper exercise", Ms Lim countered that RSM staff had attended one of the meetings the town council's tender committee had with FMSS.

Mr Singh, in wrapping up his cross-examination, asked Ms Lim what would be her response to the various claims he had put to her in the five days of cross-examination.

"I'm suggesting that all those claims and assertions are correctly made," he added.

Ms Lim replied: "I disagree, and I have done my best together with my counsel to put forward my defence."

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