Phey Yew Kok in court after 35 years on the runEx-MP and unionist gave himself up in Bangkok, faces CBT charges hereBy Abdul Hafiz, Assistant News Editor And Elena Chong, Court Correspondent, The Straits Times, 25 Jun 2015AFTER 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.
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."
PM Lee on Phey Yew Kok: Government won't allow cover up even when awkward
The Straits Times, 24 Jun 2015
The Government has maintained a clean and non-corrupt system in Singapore for half a century because it has zero tolerance for corruption, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. When it discovers wrongdoing, it does not hesitate to act, he said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (June 24). "We will not allow any cover up, even when it is awkward or embarrassing for the Government."
Referring to the surrender of former PAP MP and senior union leader Phey Yew Kok, Mr Lee noted that not many might remember Phey.
In 1979, he was charged with criminal breach of trust and misuse of union funds. The following year he absconded while on bail, and became a fugitive from justice, Mr Lee said.
"Two days ago, Phey turned himself in at our Embassy in Bangkok, and today he returned to Singapore. Phey was charged in court this afternoon, and the law will have to take its course."
His FB post echoed a statement that his office issued soon after news came that Phey, now 81, was brought back to Singapore on Tuesday night. (June 23)
Phey had jumped bail and fled Singapore on Dec 31, 1979, to escape charges for misuse of union funds. At the time, he had been charged with four counts of criminal breach of trust involving $83,000 on Dec 10, 1979.
He was also charged with two counts under the Trades Unions Act for investing $18,000 of trade union money in a private supermarket without the approval of the minister.
He pleaded not guilty to all six charges, and was released on bail of $100,000 with two sureties.
On Wednesday (June 24), all six charges were re-read to Phey. The prosecution has applied for him to be remanded at Changi Prison for investigations, and more charges will be tendered against him.
A pre-trial conference has been set for July 23.
Mr Chan Chee Seng, 83, who was Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social Affairs when Phey jumped bail and absconded, told The Straits Times: "We were very close parliamentary colleagues before and till this day I still feel it was very silly of him to run away. He should have stayed behind to answer the charges against him. After so many years, he still has to face the consequences of what he did."
"I am glad he is back finally to answer the charges against him and bring closure to the case after more than 30 years," he added.
Mr Lee Khoon Choy, 91, who was Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister Office between 1978 and 1984, was surprised that Phey surrendered himself after so many years. He said: "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 now."
Phey's return may solve political mysteryAnswers sought to questions of why he fled and how he evaded captureBy Toh Yong Chuan, Manpower Correspondent, The Straits Times, 25 Jun 2015
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."
Additional reporting by Leong Weng Kam and Yeo Sam Jo
HE SHOULD HAVE STAYED TO ANSWER CHARGES
'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 Chan Chee Seng, 83, who was Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social Affairs when Phey jumped bail in 1980.
NO COMMENT
'I'm not able to have a conversation with you.'
- Mr David Phey Teck Ann, one of Phey's sons, when approached by The Straits Times for a comment last night at his home.
LEAVE IT TO DUE PROCESS
'As long as there are reasonable prospects of bringing Phey Yew Kok to trial, nothing should be done which can be said to jeopardise the process of law.'
- Then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew at a March 3, 1982 parliamentary session where opposition MP J.B. Jeyaretnam called for the charges against Phey to be withdrawn and a commission of inquiry to investigate the matter instead.
A 'god in the labour movement' who fell to earth
By Fiona Chan Deputy Political Editor, The Straits Times, 25 Jun 2015
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 60and 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."
Nathan surprised when Phey was charged
Former president brought the ex-MP into NTUC in the 1960s
By Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 26 Jun 2015
FORMER president S R Nathan, who talent-spotted Phey Yew Kok and brought him into the national labour movement's fold in the 1960s, said yesterday he was surprised and disappointed by how things had turned out for the former MP and unionist.
Recalling events in 1979, he said he found out Phey was charged with misusing union funds of more than $100,000 by watching television news on the night of Dec 10, 1979.
"I just wondered, what prompted him to do it? It surprised me that somebody like him could have committed such an offence," said Mr Nathan, 90.
He noted that Phey was then chairman of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as well as chief of two omnibus unions: Singapore Industrial Labour Organisation (Silo) and Pioneer Industries Employees' Union (Pieu). He was stripped of all three positions after he jumped bail on Dec 31, 1979, and fled the country.
Then on Monday, after 35 years, the fugitive turned himself in at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok and was taken back here the following day to face charges of criminal breach of trust - an unexpected turn to an equally unexpected saga.
Had Mr Nathan not talent-spotted him in 1963, Phey might not have risen so quickly in the labour movement.
Back then, Mr Nathan was director of the NTUC's Labour Research Unit.
He recalled: "The first time I met him, he was a representative of the Malaysia-Singapore Airlines Union. He came with a Eurasian lady who was the head of it. They had some dispute. He was quiet. She did all the talking."
But something about the soft-spoken Phey caught his attention, and Mr Nathan chose to have him seconded to the NTUC as an industrial relations officer (IRO).
"It was just a gut feeling that when he's made up his mind, he can do it," said Mr Nathan, adding that he saw Phey display these leadership qualities and people skills in his time at NTUC.
Phey was part of a new team of Mandarin-speaking IROs tasked with recruiting members from Jurong's new factories, to thwart efforts by pro-communists who were trying to do the same.
He did well, but chose to leave after a year because some in the NTUC viewed him as a competitor, Mr Nathan said.
Later, when the late NTUC co-founder Devan Nair wanted someone to strengthen the NTUC's presence in Jurong industrial estate, Mr Nathan thought of Phey. "The NTUC leadership had many persons of Indian origin. And they couldn't reach them," he said, referring to the workers who were mostly Chinese. "I told Devan that he (Phey) might be the best, because he was in fact, the best."
Mr Nair agreed and Mr Nathan asked Phey to return to the NTUC. Phey agreed and did very well in the labour movement.
"Jurong was difficult. The left wing was really strong and he went in to try and organise workers to join him. He and his band of helpers worked really hard. He got the ground completely on his side," Mr Nathan said.
Under Phey, membership in Silo and Pieu swelled. Silo, for instance, went from 5,300 members in 1970 to 60,000 by 1979.
After Mr Nathan left the NTUC for the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1965, he watched Phey's rise and fall from a distance.
Asked if he had one question for the now 81-year-old Phey, he replied: "Why did you do it?"
