Seeking Facts: Tan Jee Say & stuff from our mailbox [1]

Colour of mailbox does not necessarily correspond to political affiliation.

[Updated on August 24th]

We have received many comments through our “Submit a query” form.

Some random, some not so random.

As Polling Day draws close in this historic Presidential Election, we need to get more facts as soon as possible.

Can anybody substantiate or refute the following comments we have received?

NEED YOUR HELP

Tan Jee Say

JSW has written to us something he heard from a friend’s friend:

I heard that Tan Jee Say was being asked to leave AIB-Govett. Is it true? If so, what were the reasons?

Some folk claiming to be “FROM WP MEMBERS” have written:

BEFORE GE2011, TAN JEE SAY TRIED TO JOIN THE WORKERS’ PARTY OF SINGAPORE.
HE ASKED LOW THIA KHIANG TO KICK YEE JENN JONG OUT OF JOO CHIAT, WHEN YEE HAD BEEN IN JOO CHIAT ALL HIS LIFE AND HAD BEEN WORKING THE GROUND FOR 4 YEARS. LOW THIA KHIANG NATURALLY SAID NO. TAN JEE SAY GOT SO ANGRY HE ASKED THAT CHEN SHOW MAO BE KICKED ASIDE SO HE COULD CONTEST IN ALJUNIED. LOW SAID NO. TAN JEE SAY BURST INTO EXTREME ANGER AND SHOUTED “IF YOU DON’T PUT ME IN TO CONTEST IN WP, I WILL CALL CEC TO VOTE YOU OUT OF THE PARTY.”
LOW WAS UNHAPPY AND THE PARTY VOTED TAN JEE SAY OUT.
TAN JEE SAY’S ACTIONS SHOWED HE WAS ARROGANT AND CHALLENGING AUTHORITY.

Workers' Party logo

LOOK WHAT HAPPENED IN THE END.
WORKERS’ PARTY WON!
SINGAPORE DEMOCRATIC PARTY LOST IN HOLLAND BUKIT-TIMAH.
AND HE DIDN’T EVEN THANK RESIDENTS AFTER THE GE SOME MORE! HOW CAN? TAN JEE SAY IS AN UNGRATEFUL MAN.

It seems like Tan Jee Say has a few enemies out there, some of who have a problem with their caps lock key.

Can any of Jee Say’s friends and allies come forward to help confirm or refute these claims? We will publish the replies on this same webpage, to facilitate rebuttal.

Update (August 24, 2011): Tan Jee Say responded to many of these points at his rally last night. Straits Times even gave a full story covering Jee Say’s rally. We reproduce an extract of the Straits Times article below:

STRAITS TIMES (August 24th, 2011)
In defence of financial sector track record
By Tessa Wong

MR TAN Jee Say has defended his track record in the financial sector, declaring that he had ‘achieved every milestone wherever I went’.

He was asked by rally emcee and ex-radio deejay Petrina Kow about his employment record, in a 30-minute interview on stage in the last segment of his rally at Toa Payoh stadium last night.

Reading from a prepared text, Mr Tan acknowledged that there had been queries over his job-hopping. But he argued that it was ‘not uncommon’ for people in the financial sector to move around quickly. His minimum stay at any employer was two years and the maximum was five, which he called ‘not too bad a record’.

Mr Tan worked in a string of investment fund management firms and a bank after he left the Administrative Service in 1990. He became an independent investment adviser in 2006.

At his first stop, investment firm Morgan Grenfell, he said he won the company a SingTel privatisation deal.

He then joined Peregrine Capital in 1994, where he helped the company with its first-ever cross-border merger and acquisition between an Indonesian conglomerate and a major Malaysian mining company. He said it was worth about US$150 million (S$181 million) and witnessed by then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mr Tan quit Peregrine in 1997 to join AIB Govett, where he won a ‘major mandate’ from a sovereign wealth fund and set up an Islam-compliant, or syariah fund, for an insurance subsidiary of a major Malaysian bank.

After AIB Govett, he worked for Standard Chartered, Beijing-based investment firm Higreen, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He did not mention his achievements for those employers last night.

‘There have been a lot of queries online plus the media about my employment record. Let me just set the record straight. I achieved every milestone wherever I went,’ he said.

The interview – clearly meant to give him a chance to expand on some pet topics – also covered his personal life and various political positions.

For example, he was asked about Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s remarks this week that Singapore is too small for political gridlock. Disagreeing, Mr Tan said Parliament created an elected presidency because it saw the need for checks and balances against the Government.

‘So they expect some inefficiency, some slowing down. But this is not bad. This is for the greater democratisation of Singapore… I think we don’t mind a little bit of inefficiency, disagreement, it’s good for the long-term interest of Singapore,’ he said.

Ms Kow also asked him if he would run for president if there was no salary attached. Mr Tan said he would donate the bulk of the president’s salary to charity. He identified two pet causes: helping the elderly, especially those with dementia, and their caregivers, and encouraging youth volunteerism.

He also shared memories of his late mother and the support he is getting now for his campaign from his children and wife, calling her ‘the love of my life’.

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