The storm of Parti Liyani is still brewing. Karl Liew is now in the hot seat. Shanmugam is also in the hot seat, for what he said would be watched and scrutinised very closely not only by Singaporeans but also in Indonesia. Maybe the whole of Indonesia is watching this case, from Widodo to the man in the streets and the maids here and everywhere. The bottom line is that justice and fairness must be seen to be done.
This case is like the proverbial tiny hole in a dam that could bring down the whole dam and all the dam is trying to hold. Many people involved in this case, from the judges, prosecutors and investigators, are going to be tainted by it one way or another. Some may just get embarrassing red faces, some could be quite bad.
At the moment it is like a slow motion movie, moving frame by frame and act by act. It may run loose and drag many things and people down with it by the time the show is over.
And it is not only the characters in the play that are under the spotlight. The whole judicial system, criminal justice system, the coterie of elites and the whole image of Singapore are thrust to centrestage. It is like a house of cards, pulling out one card could bring down the whole house.
Shanmugam had to be very careful, extremely careful, in what he said in Parliament. The opposition MPs are sharpening their knives, so to speak, ok, ok, no murder is going to happen in Parliament. No one is going to be struck by a knife. Don't get too excited, don't over react. Just sit tight and watch calmly.
Yes, stay calm, stay calm, everything will be alright. Do not panic.
If there is a moral story behind this episode it is that all civil servants and public officers must be professionally correct in whatever they are doing at all times. Do not think something is too small to do any harm and can be glossed over or be swept under the carpet. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.
Key questions to ask, who had been cavalier? What could be done better by which department as Shanmugam put it? Which departments have been found wanting?
Theindependent.sg reported this below, which is a serious allegation of wrong doings. Who was she referring to about tempering with evidence?
Singapore — The Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) released on Wednesday (Nov 4) a statement by former domestic helper Parti Liyani on the conduct of police officers during her trial on theft charges involving items from the family of former Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong.
HOME is a Singapore charitable organisation that was founded in 2004.
Ms Parti said: “On 3 July 2020, I submitted a complaint against several officers of Tanglin Police Division. I requested the Singapore Police Force Internal Affairs Office to conduct an inquiry into their conduct of the investigations and trial against me.”
She added that “in court, there was possible tampering with evidence in an attempt to cast me as being untruthful”.