THE government has issued Singapore Post (SingPost) an advisory to uphold proper corporate governance and processes after the whistle-blowing incident alleging falsification of international e-commerce shipment data.
Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) Tan Kiat How said in a Parliamentary sitting on Tuesday (Jan 7) that the government was concerned about the recent developments related to corporate governance and firings of senior executives in the public postal licensee SingPost.
“We are concerned with both the findings of the whistle-blowing incident and the subsequent dismissals, and are monitoring the situation closely to ensure that domestic postal services remain unaffected, especially during this period, where the new group chief executive officer has yet to be appointed.”
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) under MDDI overseeing postal services is also working very closely with the CEO of SingPost’s domestic business unit to ensure that business continuity is not impacted, staff morale is maintained, and SingPost delivers the obligations under the licensing regulations.
This was despite IMDA having assessed that the incident did not affect regulated domestic postal services and was satisfied that it was confined to international trans-shipment parcel delivery overseas.
SingPost has performed within the quality of service standard – which is independently audited – in the last four years, Tan pointed out, as he also assured that postal services for legal notices and court orders are not affected.
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SingPost’s board of directors has assured the government that domestic postal service operations are not affected, added Tan in response to questions from several Members of Parliament, including Louis Chua of Sengkang GRC.
MDDI noted that SingPost is taking this matter “seriously” and has instituted measures, including chairman Simon Israel stepping up to provide closer guidance to management.
Also, the CEO of the Singapore business unit that directly oversees domestic postal services remains in the role, the group chief financial officer (CFO) has been replaced by an experienced executive and a group chief operating officer (COO) role has been created to oversee domestic operations.
Tan did not want to talk about the public exchanges between SingPost and its dismissed executives “because there might be litigation action between the parties”.
As for the review of the domestic postal sector that has been on a structural decline, he said it is not affected by the incident and is ongoing to ensure postal services remain sustainable and accessible while safeguarding the interests of the public and postal workers.
Parcelgate
SingPost announced on Dec 22 that it terminated the employment of former group CEO Vincent Phang, group CFO Vincent Yik and the CEO of its international business unit Li Yu a day earlier.
The national postal services provider said it found Phang, Yik and Yu “grossly negligent” in the handling of internal investigations over a whistle-blower’s report that SingPost received earlier this year.
Given that this was the first mention of a whistle-blower report, the scandal – which observers were quick to term “Parcelgate” – revealed what an expert described as SingPost’s latest lapse in corporate governance since 2005.
In a joint statement issued late on Dec 22, Phang and Yik said they would “vigorously contest” the decision.
SingPost is on the hunt for a new group CEO, while Isaac Mah, then CFO of its Australian business FMH Group, has been appointed as the new group CFO.
It has also appointed Neo Su Yin as its group COO in the newly created role to oversee the group’s Singapore and international business units and property.
