Daily Lessons from Life 30 January 2014 - Town council hauled up to court for organising fair in Hougang without licence

It the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year of the Horse, may I wish one and all and your loved ones a Healthy, Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous year ahead!

"Town council hauled up to court for organising fair in Hougang without license - The Straits Times  Jan 30, 2014

Read the full statement from the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council here:

The Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council has today received a summons to attend court in relation to the Lunar New Year Flora and Community Fair held at Hougang Central Hub, a venue under its management.

The TC had initiated communications with the National Environment Agency (NEA) over its intention to run the event since Dec 20, 2013, with the nature of the community fair and the benefits to residents clearly stated. The event commenced on Jan 10, 2014.

In addition to summons against the TC as the organiser of the fair, the NEA has also issued notices to attend court and to pay fines to residents and their family members assisting there on 28, 29, and 30 January 2014.

As the case against the TC is already fixed for court mention on Feb 18, 2014, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the matter at this time. The TC will present its case in court."

It will be interesting to find out WHAT exactly happened in this case as I am sure ALL voters will be keen to find out the following:

1. did the WP-run TC blatantly violate the laws of the land on organising such trade fairs? A fairly regular event in Singapore really;

2. if the WP-run TC did try to apply to NEA for the permit or license or whatever legal requirement, what are the reasons for NEA's refusal to grant to permit or license or whatever?;

3. will the reasons, if any, provided by the NEA be acceptable to any fair minded Singaporeans for refusing to grant the permit or license or whatever to the WP-run TC to run such a run-of-the-mill routine trade fairs what had been done thousands of time in Singapore over the last 48 years? IF the reasons are DEEMED unreasonable by the public, it is NOT a good thing for the ruling authority.

For the sake of the government, we better get this right as we want Singapore to see that the government and the government agencies are for Singaporeans, regardless of political affiliation.

What a way to end the Year of the Snake and start the year of the Horse!