Although former transport minister S Iswaran allegedly received gifts that included, among other things, tickets to F1 races, football matches, and West End musicals, for which he shall be on trial tomorrow, they did no include invitations to fashion shows, something one of his two friends linked to the case could have provided
It has been described as a "high-profile case". Former transport minister Subramaniam Iswaran—known to most Singaporeans as S Iswaran—will be in court tomorrow to face 35 charges, of which most are linked to allegations that, while in public service, he had received "items" from two businessmen worth more than S$403,000. Mr Iswaran has said he is innocent and has pleaded not guilty to the charges, including those of corruption. The alleged offences were apparently committed between November 2021 and November 2022, and was connected to Mr Iswaran in his capacity as the minister for transport (he stepped down from his post in January this year). The scandal has made international headlines, with Reuters reporting that it is "a case that has gripped Singapore". People were taken aback when it was revealed in July last year that Mr Iswaran would be "assisting" the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in the investigation into a case that the agency was probing keenly.
Among the items the 62-year-old, who was arrested in July last year, is accused of accepting, most are related to what could be considered entertainment. Charge sheets that itemised the favours reveal tickets to F1 races, football matches, as well as musicals and plays. The performances mentioned, according to The Business Times, include the musical Thriller—Live, which celebrates the music of the Jackson Five and the solo career of Michael Jackson (reported to be worth about £200 [or S$429]), the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, based on the Mark Haddon novel (worth about £270 [S$580]), the musical comedy The Book of Mormon (worth about £540 [or S$975]), the two-part play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (worth about £1,000 [S$1,805]), another musical Kinky Boots (worth about £300 [S$541]), the performance The Play That Goes Wrong (worth about £380 [S$659]), the musical School of Rock (worth about £560 [S$971]) , the musical Hamilton (worth about £400 [S$690]), the Harold Pinter play Betrayal (worth about £1,080 [S$1,865]), the musical Back to the Future, adapted from the 1985 movie (worth about £449 [S$814]), and another musical & Juliet (worth about £250 [S$453.50]).
There are 11 staged performances in total, and the tickets Mr Iswaran received are said to be from one of the two businessmen mentioned in the case, Ong Beng Seng, who is not charged, offered through his company Como Holdings (UK) Ltd. According to the Como Group website, Como Holdings (UK) Ltd is one of their five UK affiliates. In Singapore, Como Pte Ltd, also under the Como Group, operates the Club 21 stores here, as well as Dover Street Market Singapore. It is, therefore, rather interesting that tickets to fashion shows in London, such as those by Craig Green, JW Anderson, and Simone Rocha, brands that are distributed by Como Pte Ltd in our market, are ostensibly not part of the items offered to Mr Iswaran. As a major retailer, Club 21 likely receives invitations to the key shows of fashion weeks. It is possible that fashion shows are not ticketed items and the invites are hard to score and mostly given—not sold—to fashion folks. Mr Iswaran clearly enjoys a good performance, and there are few other productions more entertaining—and with more music—than fashion shows.
Illustration: Just So
No comments:
Post a Comment