4 TOP STORIES The Business Times, Wednesday, September 19, 2012 Going back to when the Mr Lee Hsien Loong money out of politics; and East and South Asia region stressed that corruption in paying public officers pro- suffered from endemic cor- Singapore was “well under perly. PM Lee: Not possible to ruption, Mr Lee said: “We control”, largely as a result Still, he said that a clean set out in 1959 to be differ- of the CPIB’s relentless ef- system was “not a natural ent. We strengthened the forts over the last six dec- state of affairs”, noting that laws against corruption, ades. some would still try to gave CPIB officers more He noted how the break the rules even with powers of interrogation number of complaints and harsh penalties in place. stop all determined cheats and to seize documents. cases registered have de- “Ultimately, the price of “We introduced a funda- clined steadily in recent corruption is not just the mental change in the law years, while the number of dollar amount of the bribes, on burden of proof that if a cases taken to court have al- but the cost to society of the He added that it was im- Kuan Yew, Emeritus Senior some officers had failed to ing, even when it is embar- Balance must be man possesses more assets so fallen. bad decisions and malfunc- portant to strike a balance Minister Goh Chok Tong live up to the high stan- rassing or awkward for the struck between than his known income, he Cases involving the gov- tioning systems which far between instituting more and Deputy Prime Minister dards that both the civil ser- government.” more safeguards, is presumed to be corrupt ernment or public officers, exceeds the money that is safeguards – such as stric- Teo Chee Hean. vice and the people of Singa- In a separate statement and he must account for his he added, form only a exchanged,” said Mr Lee. ter procurement rules – pore expect of public ser- too many checks Mr Lee’s comments yesterday, Mr Lee Kuan assets beyond what he “small proportion” of the to- Yesterday’s event also and burdening the system vants. come amid an ongoing cor- Yew noted that the latest earns. tal cases, and are not in- saw the launch of the By LEE U-WEN with too many checks. ruption probe into a “I’m confident that these cases being investigated “We have succeeded in creasing either. CPIB’s new coffee table [SINGAPORE] Even as the Mr Lee made these number of senior civil ser- lapses are not typical of the were “new forms of corrup- keeping Singapore clean The prime minister high- book, chronicling the bu- government reviews and points at the 60th anniver- vants including the former public service. The over- tion, with sex being ex- and corruption free. This re- lighted four areas that have reau’s 60-year history of tightens its systems to en- sary celebrations of the Cor- chiefs of the Central Narco- whelming majority of offi- changed for favourable out- quires strong political will, helped boost Singapore’s fighting corruption. sure high standards of hon- rupt Practices Investigation tics Bureau and the Singa- cers are upright and trust- comes”. constant vigilance and re- reputation as a clean and in- esty are maintained, it is Mr Lee Kuan Yew pre- Bureau (CPIB) held at the Is- pore Civil Defence Force. worthy,” he said. “There is no end to hu- not possible for any system lentless efforts by CPIB to corrupt country. sented signed copies of the to be able to completely tana yesterday. While he did not ad- “The cases which have man ingenuity,” he said in follow up every complaint These were a strong po- 120-page hardcover book stop a determined cheat, Among those in the dress any specific case in come up reflect our determi- a short statement issued to and every clue of wrong do- litical leadership; enacting to three former CPIB direc- said Prime Minister Lee 170-strong audience were his 15-minute speech, he nation to clamp down on the media at the close of yes- ing.” tough laws and enforcing tors as well as current direc- Hsien Loong. former prime minister Lee said that it was “bad” that corruption and wrongdo- terday’s ceremony. Overall, however, them vigorously; keeping tor Eric Tan. Source: The Business Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction. mio TV bags rights for Uefa leagues at last minute A boon for By JOYCE HOOI Changi Airport, [SINGAPORE] After a peri- od of negotiation limbo, SingTel’s mio TV screeched a bane for SIA past the post last night with a broadcast rights deal for the Uefa Champions necting through to Bris- League (UCL) and the Uefa Emirates launches bane, Melbourne and Co- Europa League, just hours A380 services on lombo, and the strengthen- before the first UCL match S’pore-Dubai route ing of its vertically integrat- was due to be aired early ed business model via dna- this morning, local time. By VEN SREENIVASAN ta’s airport services, “The Uefa Champions ground handling and cater- League and the Europa [SINGAPORE] In a move ing operations. League are some of the which sounds good for “Emirates is currently most popular sporting Changi Airport but could operating a two-week events around the world threaten Singapore Airlines ad-hoc Airbus A380 service and we recognise how im- (SIA), Dubai-based Emir- between Dubai and Singa- portant these matches are ates is significantly boost- pore which has received ex- to our customers,” said Goh ing capacity on its Singa- tremely positive responses Seow Eng, SingTel manag- pore-Dubai route by launch- from our passengers,” said ing director of television. ing A380 services. Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Emirates, in an an- As late as yesterday senior vice-president, com- nouncement just days after evening, mio TV appeared mercial operations, Far it tied up an alliance with to still be haggling over the East & Australasia. “In light Qantas which will see the of this we have decided to rights, even after StarHub Australian carrier move its bring our flagship aircraft had left the table. “While intercontinental hub from to Singapore on a perma- we are always looking to Singapore to Dubai, said it nent basis. This follows our add quality sport content to will boost capacity on the progressive build-up of ser- our line-up, discussions re- Dubai-Singapore sector by vices on this route over the garding the Champions 46 per cent with the intro- last few years. Despite the League have stalled,” duction of its giant 517-seat current global economic un- StarHub said yesterday. aircraft starting Dec 1. certainty, we remain com- But even with just one Flights EK354 and mitted to the Singapore operator in contention, the EK355, which will replace market adding significant broadcast rights for the Emirates’ 354-seat Boeing seat capacity – over 2,200 Champions League had re- 777-300ER, will boost seats a week – which is set mained an uncertainty past AFP Emirates’ total capacity to foster tourism and trade the close of business yester- Just in time for the kick-off: Even with just one operator, mio TV, in contention, the broadcast rights for the Champions League had across four daily services between Singapore, Dubai day, with SingTel saying remained an uncertainty past the close of business yesterday from Dubai to Singapore to and beyond.” then that it was still “in dis- 1,659 seats daily. Mr Salem added that the cussions with the content While Emirates’ move Emirates A380 service – providers”. group matches tomorrow. availability of the broad- yesterday afternoon, with the match was due to be away from ESPN Star may be welcome news for which has 14 private First Class Suites, 76 lie-flat beds mio TV’s coverage of the mio TV’s previous exclu- cast, even as Malaysia’s As- viewers contemplating be- played. Sports in 2008. This was si- Changi, where concerns in in Business Class and 427 Champions League started sive set of rights to broad- tro and Indonesia’s Nexme- ing shut off from Champi- Both operators have multaneously a coup for recent days have centred seats in Economy Class – is with the first round of cast the Champions League dia managed to secure the ons League action for the been dragging their feet mio TV and a blow for on the loss of significant “pivotal” to the airline’s had ended in May. In the broadcast rights to the first time since Singapore over bidding for football StarHub, which carried business from Qantas, it matches aired early this overall business strategy. months that followed, view- 2012-2015 Uefa Champi- Cable Vision (SCV) started content ever since a new ESPN Star Sports in its could introduce more com- morning, while coverage of “Our passengers in Sin- airing the matches in the cross-carriage law took sports channels package. petition to SIA on its Euro- the Europa League will ers in Singapore were kept ons League. gapore can look forward to 1990s. SCV was eventually The rivalry between mio pean services. start with the first round of on tenterhooks about the The suspense continued away the incentive to sign enjoying the widely ad- acquired by StarHub in exclusive content last year. TV and StarHub then culmi- SIA operates direct ser- nated in a bidding war that mired and popular aircraft, 2002. Under the law, an operator vices to 13 European cities known for its quietness, This, however, is the lat- is obliged to share exclusive saw the former shelling out from Changi.