Jun 24, 2015
Ex-NTUC president and MP Phey Yew Kok charged after 35 years on the run: 5 things about the case
Phey, 81, had jumped bail and fled Singapore on Dec 31, 1979, to escape charges for misuse of union funds.
He turned himself in at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday (June 22). Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau officers escorted him back to Singapore on Tuesday night (June 23).
Here are five things the case:
1. Who is Phey Yew Kok?
Phey was the Member of Parliament for the Boon Teck Constituency from 1972 to 1980. In 1970, he was appointed as President of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
He was also elected as the General Secretary of the Singapore Industrial Labour Organisation (SILO) and became General Secretary of the Pioneer Industries Employees' Union (PIEU) in the same year.
He was appointed president of NTUC in 1970, and became NTUC chairman on May 25, 1979.
The clerk-turned-unionist was born in 1934 into a humble family. He once said that life was a struggle for him from his school days. "I drifted from school to school and worked in between to support myself," Phey, who was educated in the Chinese stream before switching to an English stream secondary school, had revealed in an interview.
He was an accounts clerk with Malaysia-Singapore Airlines when he joined the Singapore Air Transport Union. He was elected a member in 1960, and climbed the ranks to become treasurer and then president of Singapore's major airline workers' union in 1968.
As he rose through the ranks, he also encountered opposition from some quarters.
In 1970, he was attacked twice by hired thugs. In one incident in June that year, he was slashed with a razor that left a 7cm scar on his face.
Five people were convicted for their role in the attacks - three of them employees of the Malaysia-Singapore Airlines where he was union chief.
The public prosecutor described the attacks on him as attempts to erode his popularity and position.
2. What is the case about?
In mid-1979, the CPIB investigated Phey for malpractices in the PIEU and SILO.
On Dec 1, 1979, he was arrested and charged in court on four counts of criminal breach of trust under the Penal Code, Cap. 103.
There were also two charges against him under the Trade Unions Act, Cap. 129, for investing trade union money in Forward Supermarket Pte Ltd. Forward Supermarket was not among the list of approved companies which a registered trade union may invest in.
Phey pleaded not guilty to all six charges. He was released on bail of $100,000 with two sureties. The case was then fixed for mention on Jan 7, 1980.
He failed to appear in court, and a warrant for his arrest was immediately issued against him. Interpol headquarters was alerted and an Interpol Red Notice was issued for his arrest. The Singapore Immigration Department also cancelled his passports.
3. Were others involved in the case?
Other than Phey, 10 other people were charged for their involvement in the crimes. Nine were convicted, while one was acquitted.
4. How much money was involved?
At a Parliament session on March 12, 1984, Acting Minister for Labour, Professor S Jayakumar said that the total money lost by the unions and union-related enterprises - namely SILO, PIEU and NTUC Travel Services Pte Ltd - between 1975 and 1979 was $704,173.93. Of the amount, $557,864.76 was recovered.
5. Was there any information on his whereabouts?
Investigations later revealed that Phey had left Singapore for Kuala Lumpur by train on Dec 31, 1979, and proceeded to Bangkok where he disappeared.
Over the years, police and CPIB have been engaging their foreign counterparts, such as the Thai authorities, for intelligence and assistance to help locate and bring back Phey.
Even though Singapore had no extradition treaty with the Thai authorities, they had helped to raid premises where they suspected Phey to be.
But Phey remained at large.
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Former MP Phey Yew Kok in court after 35 years on the run
Ex-MP and unionist gave himself up in Bangkok, faces CBT charges here
By Abdul Hafiz Assistant News Editor And Elena Chong Court Correspondent
AFTER more than three decades on the run since being accused of criminal breach of trust (CBT), former MP Phey Yew Kok, who was once one of Singapore's most powerful unionists, has come out of hiding.
On Monday, he gave himself up at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok after 35 years as a fugitive. And yesterday, at the age of 81, a silver-haired Phey again found himself in a Singapore court where he heard the six charges involving $100,000 of union funds - charges first read to him on Dec 10, 1979.
That was just weeks before the former president of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) jumped bail, took a train to Kuala Lumpur and evaded attempts to track him down in Thailand.
He has been on Interpol's wanted list since, longer than any other Singaporean, it is believed.
Those who knew and worked with him told The Straits Times they could not fathom why he chose to abscond, and were just as puzzled at why he chose to surrender now. Two of his sons declined to comment last night.
But Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a statement that he hopes this will "bring closure to a longstanding case involving a person who was holding public office as an MP and a senior union leader", a point shared by NTUC.
In a Facebook post yesterday, PM Lee also said that the attempts to bring Phey to justice showed Singapore's zero tolerance for corruption. "We will not allow any cover-up, even when it is awkward or embarrassing for the Government."
Phey had a phenomenal rise after becoming an industrial relations officer with NTUC in 1964.
In 1970, at just 35, he was picked to head NTUC, as well as the Singapore Industrial Labour Organisation (Silo) and the Pioneer Industries Employees' Union (PIEU). Two years later, he was elected MP for Boon Teck on a People's Action Party ticket.
But soon after taking on the role of NTUC chairman in 1979, he was investigated and, by the year end, was facing serious charges, four of which involved CBT. These include having misappropriated a $40,000 and a $25,000 cheque in 1975 while he was Silo general secretary.
In September 1978, he allegedly used $18,000 of Silo's funds to buy shares of Forward Supermarket without ministerial approval - breaching the Trade Unions Act.
If found guilty of CBT, Phey faces up to seven years in jail along with a fine. Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng, who asked that he be remanded at Changi Prison for four weeks, said more charges may be brought.
Clad in a white shirt and khaki trousers, Phey spoke before being told by District Judge Eddy Tham that there was no need to go into details of the charges for now.
"Your Honour, can excuse me?" Phey, whose case has been fixed for a pre-trial conference on July 23, said. "I speak a bit louder because my hearing is very bad. If my memory still does not fail me, I don't think the money was transferred to my personal account."
Ex-NTUC president and MP Phey Yew Kok a 'god in the labour movement' who fell to earth
By Fiona Chan Deputy Political Editor
HE WAS a rising star in the People's Action Party (PAP) in the 1970s, a second-term MP for Boon Teck who headed the labour movement and three of its most influential unions.
But the man once described as a "god in the labour movement" by a subordinate may not have been immune to mortal temptations.
Ten years after becoming president of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in 1970 at the youthful age of 35, Phey Yew Kok was charged in December 1979 with misusing more than $100,000 in union funds and investing union money in a private supermarket without approval.
His sensational fall from grace was matched only by the shocking news of him jumping bail in January 1980. It caused his two bailors to forfeit $95,000 of the $100,000 they had put up.
When Phey failed to show up in court on Jan 7, officers from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) were sent to keep a 24-hour watch on his house in Lorong Ong Lye off Upper Paya Lebar Road, his office and other places he frequented.
A warrant was obtained for his arrest and Interpol was alerted to look out for Phey, who was last seen in a "very emotional and upset state" at home on Dec 31, 1979, by his wife and lawyer.
His passports were cancelled, but not before he had left Singapore by train for Kuala Lumpur and then Bangkok, where the CPIB lost his trail. Some reports later placed him in Taiwan.
After his escape, Phey was dismissed as NTUC chairman - his role had changed in May 1979 - and secretary-general of the Singapore Industrial Labour Organisation (Silo) and the Pioneer Industries Employees Union (PIEU).
He had resigned from the three top posts in December before going missing, but his resignation was put on hold on the recommendation of his mentor Devan Nair, who was also NTUC president.
The Singapore Air Transport Workers' Union (Satu), a third union run by Phey, also dismissed him as its secretary-general in 1980. Less than two years later, members of both Silo and PIEU voted to wind up the huge omnibus unions.
It was a sad end to the stellar career of Phey, now 81, a former primary school teacher from a Teochew family in Pontian, Johor.
In 1964, he became an industrial relations officer with the NTUC while working as an accounts clerk at Malaysia-Singapore Airlines, the predecessor of Singapore Airlines. He joined Satu and was named treasurer of the 10,500-strong union in 1966.
After displaying good organisational and fund-raising skills - as well as a crucial proficiency in Mandarin that allowed him to communicate with blue-collar workers - Phey was made Satu president within a few years.
In 1970, he headed Silo and PIEU - which together had about 80,000 workers - plus NTUC.
With the dispute-prone workers in Jurong, Phey was "very successful in his own quiet way", recalled former president and unionist S R Nathan in his memoirs.
Under his leadership, Silo and PIEU "developed a reach well beyond the expectations of earlier NTUC leaders", Mr Nathan added. Silo went from 5,300 members in 1970 to 60,000 by 1979.
But Phey's success was not without pitfalls. While some knew him as a humble, honest and friendly man who championed the ordinary worker, others saw him as ambitious and arrogant.
In 1970, he was attacked twice by hired thugs and left with a 7.5cm scar on his face after being slashed by a razor.
Still, he went on to become a PAP MP for Boon Teck, a seat he won in 1972 and again in 1976.
By then, Phey had become a high-profile union spokesman who, among other things, urged employers to extend the retirement age from 55 to 60 and campaigned for better wages and welfare for workers.
By 1978, he was also controlling the largest collection of NTUC-related cooperative ventures, including 19 supermarkets, an import and export division and even the Big Splash water park.
Many thought he would go on to greater heights in the Government. Instead, his alleged criminal breach of trust and subsequent flight from justice became a political issue, not least because he was Mr Nair's protege. A friend of his told The Straits Times in 1980 that "to Devan, he could do no wrong".
The Phey affair was later cited, in a 1988 White Paper on Mr Nair's resignation as president, as the first of three occasions of Mr Nair's alcoholic tendencies.
Opposition politicians used the Phey case to argue that the PAP had questionable judgment of character and did not do enough to track him down, with opposition veteran J.B. Jeyaretnam even implying there was a cover-up.
In turn, PAP leaders pointed to Phey as proof that the ruling party would not shy from investigating any corruption, even if it involved a high-profile party member.
"All that needs to be done was done," said then Home Affairs Minister S. Jayakumar in Parliament in 1989. "There is still a warrant of arrest for him and there is no period of limitation on his offence."
Ex-NTUC president and MP Phey Yew Kok's return may solve political mystery
Answers sought to questions of why he fled and how he evaded capture
By Toh Yong Chuan Manpower Correspondent
WHEN Phey Yew Kok fled Singapore to escape prosecution in 1979, he was aged 45, a second- term MP and one of the three most powerful union leaders in the country.
Yesterday, at age 81, the man infamous as the fugitive who stayed on the run from the Singapore authorities longer than anyone else looked almost nondescript as he stood in the dock listening to the charges he faced in 1979 being read out to him again.
His unexpected return to Singapore took many veteran union leaders and retired MPs by surprise yesterday and brought back questions they had long wondered about.
Topping their list is: Why did he flee the country? One more question has been added to that list: Why has he returned now?
"His arrest and disappearance created a big buzz at that time," said retired National Trades Union Congress president John De Payva, 66, last night.
Added retired NTUC vice-president Cyrille Tan, 65: "Many people wondered what happened and why he absconded."
Retired journalist George Joseph, 65, who covered the labour beat for The Straits Times, recalled the shock across the country because Phey was a rising star in the People's Action Party (PAP) and a top union leader trusted by the political leadership.
"There was a sense of disbelief that it could happen to a PAP MP like him," said Mr Joseph.
Even Phey's former parliamentary colleagues could not fathom why he jumped bail after being charged with criminal breach of trust.
Mr Chan Chee Seng, 83, who was Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social Affairs when Phey absconded, said: "We were very close parliamentary colleagues and, to this day, I feel it was very silly of him to run away. He should have stayed to answer the charges against him. After so many years, he still has to face the consequences of what he did."
Mr Chandra Das, 76, who was chairman of NTUC FairPrice from 1993 to 2005, said Phey's re-arrest was astonishing news. "There was no inkling that it would happen," he said.
Mr Lee Khoon Choy, 91, who was Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office between 1978 and 1984, was equally surprised that Phey surrendered himself after so many years.
"I thought he won't be back after hiding so long in Thailand. I was told he had been in Thailand all these years. I cannot even recall the details of the charges against him now," said Mr Lee.
Mr Joseph feels the authorities may not be "baying for blood" now as Phey's alleged offences took place so long ago. "He has already paid a price in having to be away from his family for 35 years."
What people want to know now is "what happened to him in the past 35 years and what prompted him to return", he added.
Phey's return will solve one of of the most intriguing political mysteries in Singapore, on how such a high-profile figure was able to run away and evade the law for so long, said Mr Joseph.
When The Straits Times visited the homes of Phey's two sons last night, both declined to comment.
Mr David Phey Teck Ann, 52, is the chief operating officer of the Weekender Group, which publishes the weekly lifestyle paper Weekender.
When asked if he had seen his father since his return on Tuesday, he would only say: "I'm not able to have a conversation with you."
His older son, Mr Phey Teck Moh, 53, is listed as the director of investment and advisory company Xpanasia. He was previously Asia-Pacific corporate vice-president for Motorola Solutions, and president and chief executive of Pacific Internet before that.
He, too, would not comment.
Phey's trial will be watched closely by many, especially those seeking the long-awaited answers to their questions.
Said Mr Chan: "I am glad he is back finally to answer the charges against him and bring closure to the case after more than 30 years."
[Why did he return? A tongue in cheek answer.]
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