Teh Cheang Wan

Teh Cheang Wan (b. 3 March 1928, China — d. 14 December 1986, Singapore) was an architect who was in charge of the Housing Development Board as Minister for National Development of Singapore. He served as the minister between 1979 to 1986.

Teh was elected as a Member of Parliament for Geylang West constituency in January 1979, and held the seat till December 1984.

Corruption charges

He was investigated for corruption by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau for accepting two bribes of $500,000 each in 1981 and 1982. In November 1986, the prime minister of Singapore approved an open investigation on his alleged corruption, however, the papers were issued to the Attorney-General on December 11. Though he maintained his innocence, he committed suicide before being charged for the offences, on December 14. [cite web|author=Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau|url=http://app.cpib.gov.sg/newcpib/user/default.aspx?pgID=237 |title= Cases of Interest - Politicians] [cite book | title= Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Investigations Concerning the Late Mr Teh Cheang Wan | location = Singapore | publisher = Singapore National Printers | date = 1987]

In his suicide note, Teh wrote

I have been feeling very sad and depressed for the last two weeks.

I feel responsible for the occurrence of this unfortunate incident and I feel I should accept full responsibility. As an honourable oriental gentleman I feel it is only right that I should pay the highest penalty for my mistake. [cite web|author=Singapore Academy of Law|url=http://www.singaporelaw.sg/rss/judg/9713.html|title= Jeyaretnam Joshua Benjamin v Lee Kuan Yew (1992) 2 SLR 310; (1992) SGCA 27]

As a result of the suicide, the Attorney-General could not proceed with the charges. However, there was a subsequent investigation into the matter as a result of allegation of Chiam See Tong, the opposition MP, that there were unanswered questions into the whole episode. In December 1987, the findings of the Commission of Inquiry were presented to the President of Singapore, however, they were not released to the public till the end the year. [cite journal | author=Lee Lai To | title=Singapore in 1987 | journal=Asian Survey | volume=XXVII, No. 2| pages=204 | date=February 1988]

References

* Singapore Infopedia [http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_669_2005-01-11.html Teh Cheang Wan] , updated 2002.