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Inquiry Commissions Act

Chapter 48, 1970 Revised Edition

Commission

N 35

G.N. No. S 1146/1987

REVISED EDITION 1990

( )

[27 March 1987]

By WEE KIM WEE President of the Republic of Singapore.

WEE KIM WEE,

President.

Whereas it is provided by the Inquiry Commissions Act that it shall be lawful for the President, whenever he shall deem it advisable, to issue a Commission appointing one or more Commissioners to inquire, inter alia, into:

(a)	the conduct or management of any department of the public service; or
(b)	any matter in which an inquiry would in the opinion of the President be for the public welfare;

And whereas the late Mr. Teh Cheang Wan died on 14th December 1986 in circumstances which had necessitated the holding of a Coroner’s Inquiry into the cause of death;

And whereas such a Coroner’s Inquiry held on 20th January 1987 had established that he —

(i)	had committed suicide; and
(ii)	had done so as a result of investigations conducted by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau against him into two alleged acts of bribery and corruption in the course of which inquiry evidence had been led relating to these allegations pointing to the receipt of $800,000 by the late Mr. Teh.

And whereas subsequent to the Coroner’s Inquiry questions were raised in Parliament on 26th January 1987 regarding the allegations of bribery and corruption which had led to the investigations and subsequent suicide of the late Mr. Teh;

And whereas again on 4th March 1987 in the course of the debate in the House, the Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir, Mr. Chiam See Tong, had asked for a public inquiry to investigate what he termed as the “Teh Cheang Wan Affair”;

And whereas the Prime Minister requested Mr. Chiam See Tong to spell out what he meant by the “Teh Cheang Wan Affair” and subsequently accepted the terms of reference for such a Commission as tabled by him;

And whereas Mr. Chiam on 23rd March 1987 delivered to the Minister for Home Affairs and the Second Minister for Law his revised Terms of Reference;

And whereas Mr. Chiam has undertaken in Parliament “to lead in evidence” relating to the said terms;

And whereas it is in the public interest that there can be no suggestion of any concealment or cover-up of any corruption or criminal wrongdoing by the late Mr. Teh Cheang Wan or any other Minister or Parliamentary Secretary or Government officer;

And whereas the Government has accepted Mr. Chiam See Tong’s terms of reference, as revised, for a Commission of Inquiry, HEREBY ADOPTED AND INCLUDED in their entirety as the second and third terms of reference for the Commission of Inquiry;

ACCORDINGLY, the terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiry are HEREBY AS FOLLOWS:

—(1) To enquire whether —

(a)	the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau did all that was necessary to uncover all the acts of corruption or criminal wrong-doing of the late Mr. Teh Cheang Wan in investigating complaints of or leads to acts of corruption by the late Mr. Teh Cheang Wan as Minister for National Development;
(b)	the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau was thorough in their investigations before concluding that there was no involvement by any other Minister, Parliamentary Secretary or Government officer in these acts of corruption or other criminal wrong-doing;
(c)	there has been any attempt to overlook, to conceal or to cover-up any information concerning corruption or criminal wrong-doing.

(2) To investigate —

(a)

into the circumstances which made it possible for the former Minister for National Development to accept the two $400,000 bribes;

(b)

whether other persons were involved or implicated in relation to the two bribes or other bribes, if any;

(c)

the system used by the Ministry of National Development in —

(i)	acquisition/alienation of land;
(ii)	receiving and accepting of tenders; and
(iii)	the operations of its and related companies.

(3) If the Commission finds on the evidence that —

(a)	in respect of reference (2)(b) there were wrong-doings, then it shall refer the person or persons involved or implicated to the appropriate authorities;
(b)	there are shortcomings in the system used by the Ministry of National Development and/or any of its or related companies, it shall receive proposals and make recommendations for their improvements and to prevent further corruption.

Now, therefore, I, WEE KIM WEE, hereby appoint the following persons, namely:

(a)	Judicial Commissioner Mr. Chan Sek Keong;
(b)	Mr. Thai Chee Ken;
(c)	Mr. Robert Iau Kuo Kwong,

to be Commissioners under section 2(1) of the Inquiry Commissions Act and hereby authorise the Commissioners to conduct such inquiry in the manner hereinafter directed —

1. I direct that Judicial Commissioner Mr. Chan Sek Keong shall be the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry;

2. I direct that the first sitting of the Commission shall take place in the High Court on such date and at such hour as the Chairman may designate;

3. I direct that the Commission shall normally hold its sittings in the High Court but shall have power, in the discretion of the Chairman, to adjourn to any suitable place to hear evidence or for any other purpose connected with its duties;

4. I direct that the Inquiry shall be held in public:

5. Provided that the Chairman may in his discretion direct that any evidence shall be heard in camera or otherwise recorded without being made available to the public;

6. I appoint Maj. (Res) Tan Keng Hiang to be Secretary to the Commission and to exercise the powers conferred and to carry out the duties imposed upon such Secretary as are referred to in section 6 of the Inquiry Commissions Act, and I authorise the Secretary to employ such clerical or other assistance for the purpose of the Inquiry as the Commission may require. In case of necessity, I also authorise the Commission to appoint any suitable person temporarily to act as Secretary;

7. I direct the Commissioner of Police to detail police officers to attend upon the Commission for the purpose of preserving order during the proceedings, to serve summonses on witnesses and to perform such ministerial duties as the Commission may direct; and

8. Finally, I direct the Commissioners, after completing the Inquiry, to render me their report and recommendations thereon.

Given at Singapore this 25th day of March 1987.

By Command,

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