Which government agency is responsible?

A journalist asked me: "Mr. Tan, as motor insurance fraud have been quite rampant, which government agency should address this problem? Should it be MAS or the Land Transport Authority?

I replied that this is a shameful state of affairs. There is only one Government in Singapore. How can one agency (or department or ministry) point its fingers towards another agency to solve the problem? At the end, no agency take responsibility and the problem remains unsolved.

Finger pointing is now so prevalent that it now becomes a Singapore culture to avoid responsibility. If the people at the top behave in this manner, why should the people lower down do differently?

Many scams and cheating are not investigated, even if complaints are lodged. The Government officer ask the complainant to "provide evidence" before they will act. It is difficult for the ordinary people to provide hard evidence, as they can only be carried out by the Police with the powers and resources to carry out investigation into suspected crimes.

Quite often, the complaints are usually just filed away and investigation is not carried out. Our Government officers prefer to sit behind the desk to write papers, rather than go out to investigate.

This has developed into a habit for the past 15 years and has led to an increase in cheating cases, not only with motor insurance claims but also in investments and other areas.

Tan Kin Lian