Singapore government slams TRE report for saying Heng Swee Keat’s medical expenses paid by taxpayers
(Reuters file photo)
The Singapore government slammed socio-political website TR Emeritus (TRE) for publishing a letter which claims Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat’s medical expenses are paid by taxpayer monies.
The statement, which was posted on the Gov.sg Facebook page around midnight on Tuesday, called the content of the letter a “blatant lie”.
“TR Emeritus has once again sought to mislead the public by publishing a vicious claim that a Cabinet Minister is ‘fully entitled to free A-Class healthcare in government and restructured hospitals’,” the statement read.
“As TRE would have known very well if it had bothered to check the facts, Ministers in Singapore are on the same medical benefit scheme – the Medisave-cum-Subsidised Outpatient (MSO) scheme – as most civil servants,” the government said in the statement.
The statement further explained that officers on this scheme receive a 2 per cent CPF contribution to their Medisave accounts capped at $2,380 per year on top of their normal statutory Medisave contributions.
According to the statement, those on the scheme can use this to buy Medishield Life or other portable Medisave-approved insurance plan to cover their inpatient needs. There are no additional benefits for ministers, or for their spouses or children, and all Ministers and other political office-holders pay tax.
“Minister Heng’s hospitalisation is most certainly not borne by taxpayers’ monies,” the government statement said.
The government also criticised TRE for publishing the letter that contained “glaring misinformation”, saying that doing so was “irresponsible”.
The letter, which was published by TRE on June 6, was reportedly from an anonymous reader who claimed that Heng’s hospitalisation bill had “already cost taxpayers $375,000″ since his admission.
TRE has since appended the Gov.sg statement to the original reader’s letter, saying, “Apparently the reader who submitted the comment was misinformed.”
It has also removed a Facebook post promoting the letter.
At 10.30am on Tuesday (7 June), TRE posted an apology on its Facebook page for “republishing incorrect comment”.
Heng, who collapsed during a Cabinet meeting on May 12 after suffering a stroke, remains hospitalised in Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
On 30 May, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the Finance Minister was “making steady progress”, and that he was “fully lucid, communicative, and cheerful”.
