Brief History of AGO
Origin
The beginings of an Audit Office in Singapore is traced back to the period when Singapore was under British colonial rule.
Straits Settlements’ Days (1937 - 1940)
From archival records, annual audits were carried out on the accounts of the Straits Settlement from 1937 to 1940. Singapore, Malacca and Penang formed the then Straits Settlements. Reports on the annual audit were issued for these years in the name of the "Auditor, Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States". The Auditor was a staff member of the Colonial Audit Department in London which was headed by a Director. From the credits appearing on the cover of the audit Annual Reports, it was noted that they were printed in Singapore by the Government Printers. This could be an indication of the presence of an Audit Office in Singapore.
World War II Years (1941 - 1946)
During the period from 1941 to 1946, there were no reports of the annual audit of the accounts of the Straits Settlements. Those were the war years when the Japanese military forces occupied Singapore and the whole of peninsular Malaya.
Post War Years (1946 - 1958)
In April 1946, eight months after the Japanese military surrendered to the allied forces, civil administration was restored in Singapore. Singapore became a colony and was governed by a British Governor. The first Audit Report, after a lapse of nearly six years, was also published. The report, covering the period 1st April 1946 to 31 December 1946, mentioned that "Makeshift office accommodation, lack of records and of books of account, staff shortage, pressure of work in restoring the social services to the community were the prevailing conditions in which the machine of Civil Government was restarted".
Although Singapore was administered by the British as a colony on her own, the work of the Audit Office continued to be supervised by the Director of Audit, redesignated later as the Auditor-General, Malaya. This continued until June 1958. Paragraph 129 of the annual Audit Report for the financial year ending December 1956 states that "The Auditor-General, Federation of Malaya, ceased to be responsible for the direction of the Singapore Audit Department after 30 June 1958, and the holder of the former post of Deputy Director of Audit, Singapore, was appointed to the new post of Director of Audit on 1 July 1958.".
Self-Government Years (1959 - 1963)
Singapore was granted self-government by the British Parliament in 1958. Part XI of the Singapore (Constitution) Order in Council 1958 took effect on 3 June 1959, and a Consolidated Fund was set up in Singapore into which all revenues of the State of Singapore not allocated to specific purposes were payable. The provisions of the Order in Council entailed comprehensive modification to the former financial procedure. It also led to the enactment of the Audit Ordinance, 1959, which came into operation on 3 June 1959. This was the first time in the history of Singapore that a law was passed to provide for, among other things, the appointment of a Director of Audit for Singapore and the powers the appointment carried.
Appointment of Director of Audit
Under the new Audit Ordinance, the first person who appointed as Director of Audit, Singapore, was Mr A H Armitage. He was succeeded by Mr W M Fell and later Mr Chee Keng Soon who became the first Asian to be appointed as Director of Audit. He was later redesignated as the Auditor-General of Singapore.
Upon his retirement, Mr Chuang Kwong Yong assumed the office on 1 November 1994.
The current Auditor-General, Mr Lim Soo Ping, took office on 8 February 2007 following Mr Chuang’s retirement.
The Merger Years (1963 - 1965)
The Audit Office continued to operate under the Singapore Audit Ordinance until 1963 when Singapore became part of Malaysia. Following the merger, the Singapore Audit Ordinance was repealed and the Federation Audit Ordinance, 1957, became applicable with effect from 16 September 1963. The Singapore Audit Office became, in effect, a federal government department reporting to the Auditor-General of Malaysia.
Republic Years (From 1965)
On 9 August 1965, Singapore was separated from Malaysia and became a Republic.
In 1966, Singapore enacted its Audit Act which was deemed to have come into operation from Independence Day, 9 August 1965.
There was no provision in the Act nor in the Constitution for the appointment of the Director of Audit. Pending amendment to the Audit Act,
the Director of Audit was to be appointed by the President in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister after consultation with the Public Service Commission.
The Audit Act was amended in July 1970 to, inter alia, redesignate the post of Director of Audit to Auditor-General.
The Audit Department was also renamed as the Audit-General's Office in the late 1980s.
Constitutional Changes for Protection of Reserves (1991)
In 1991, changes were made to the Constitution to provide for an elected President with powers to safeguard the reserves of the Government and certain key statutotry boards and companies.
The constitutional amendment also expanded the role and responsibilities of the Auditor-General. His appointment, tenure of office and remuneration are now prescribed in the Constitution. Among his other duties,
the Auditor-General is now required to inform the President of any proposed transaction by the Government which to his knowledge is likely to draw on the reserves of the Government which were not accumulated by the current Government during its term of office.
Evolution of Types of Audits Carried Out
From the early years to 1966, routine "tick and turn" or regularity audits of revenue, stores, expenditure were carried out.
In 1967, a new system-based audit approach was introduced.
The early 1980s saw the introduction of Performance Audit (Value-for-Money audit).
Audits were carried out to examine whether the Government was getting value for the money spent and whether programmes introduced were meeting their objectives. Currently, the Auditor-General's Office performs a variety of audits, ranging from financial statements audits to specialised audits like contracts and computer audits, and audits of the efficiency and effectiveness of selected Government activities and operations.
Location
In the last 50 years, the Auditor-General's Office has had its headquarters at Empress Place, Fullerton Building, Raffles Quay, Grange Road, Hillcrest Road, the Environment Building at Scotts Road, and the MND Complex at Maxwell Road.
It is presently located in Revenue House at Newton Road.