By Bing Hong Lok
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore will designate four members of the family behind Hong Kong property developer Sino Group as “politically significant persons” over their ties to a Chinese parliamentary advisory body, its home affairs ministry said on Monday.
It marked only the second time a law passed three years ago to counter foreign interference in the island nation has been invoked against individuals.
The four people are Robert Ng, the chair of the Hong Kong-listed property developer, and his three children – deputy chair Daryl Ng Win Kong, non-executive director Nikki Ng Mien Hua and David Ng Win Loong.
David Ng does not appear on the Sino Group website, but his LinkedIn profile states he is a group associate director with the company.
The four Singaporean citizens declared to authorities that they were members of a foreign legislature or foreign political organisation, the home affairs ministry said in a statement.
It added that they had not engaged in what the ministry called “egregious activity” but were instead designated based on their own declarations.
Three of the four are members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a largely ceremonial advisory body of China’s parliament, according to Sino Group’s website.
As “politically significant persons”, they are now required to disclose foreign affiliations and migration benefits as well as annual political donations over S$10,000 ($7,426) that they accept.
Sino Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Far East Organization, a company affiliated with Sino Group, is a large property developer in Singapore.
Robert Ng and his brother Phillip, who is Far East Organization’s chief executive, have a net worth of $14.4 billion, according to Forbes.
Businessman Philip Chan Man Ping, who also had links to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, became the first individual designated as politically significant under the anti-interference law.
It was also invoked against five social media platforms last year to block 95 accounts from being accessible to users.
($1 = 1.3467 Singapore dollars)
(Reporting by Bing Hong Lok; Editing by Joe Bavier)
