Puey Eng Gan and Lau Zechariah Sean
Moving Into The Future Generations
Puey Eng Gan:
I was born in the 50s and witnessed the progress of Singapore under PAP. In the 50s, most of the people including mine stayed in attap houses. Basic infrastructure such as water and power supplies, roads, and sanitation was lacking. We had to queue at a common public water supply point for clean water for our households.
By the 80s, most people had shifted and owned HDB flats. There were better public roads and transport. More jobs were available and quality of life improved. I was one who benefited from the progress. After marriage, I shifted from attap house to Ang Mo Kio 4-room flat and subsequently to Yishun Central executive apartment.
I discovered residents of HDB flats were less sociable to that of dwellers in Kampong. There was less mingling. I felt life was rather boring. So, I joined RC when I moved to Yishun Central in the 90s. I hoped that I can help to promote community bonding or render assistance to the residents. I felt satisfaction where residents came forward for RC activities or approached RC for assistance. I was then not interested in politics and did not join PAP until 1992.
My non-political concept changed when PAP lost the GE to opposition party. I spoke to voters I knew of and realised those opted for opposition were frustrated over only minor local issues and not due to national issues. Reluctant to stay in a constituency under the opposition party, I with a team of party supporters actively worked with the GRO adviser to recover the ground.
We successfully re-captured the constituency with the opposition party only managed to serve for one term. The question now is how to sustain PAP dominance in the long run. From my understanding and experience, the following 2 points are worth considering.
Serving MP must be sincere in dealing with constituents especially when they approach for any form of assistance.
There has to be a team of efficient and trusted party supporters to rally behind the MP.
Lau Zechariah Sean:
In the 20+ years that I have stayed in Nee Soon, I have witnessed the magnificent development of the area. Northpoint Mall got upgraded, we got a hospital (KTPH), more NGOs were built around (Tzu Chi) and plenty of new BTOs were built. It is indeed amazing to see how much the town of Nee Soon has positively advanced while still retaining its heritage and community spirit.
Despite the town advancing (like Singapore as a whole), I noticed that there were people who remained left behind. Oftentimes, most of their difficulties were our of their control. To me, this did not seem fair; as we should be an equitable society, where all members deserve basic dignity.
Wanting to do more than just offer unhelpful social media comments criticising the existence of inequality in Singapore; similar to Uncle Puey, I decided to volunteer with my RC ‘Zone 6’ and later at the Nee Soon Central MPS Branch. This was and still is my way of paying it forward to ensure that the needs of our residents are continuously met.
Unlike Uncle Puey (Author 1), I did not witness the loss of the GRC/SMC that I resided in (Nee Soon) during the 2020 GE. While the GRC tolerated a medium swing towards the opposition (still being relatively safe); at the national level the result was arguably a disaster for the party as a whole. This was both in terms of voting percentage and the loss of another GRC. This I believe should be met with concern and provide an impetus to positively invigorate change within the party.
How then should the PAP, and its candidates, conduct itself as a it seeks to win back the lost ground? Uncle Puey offered 2 marvelous attributes that a PAP MP must possess: Sincerity and a strong team. I offer 2 more attributes that an MP should have:
A spirit of innovation - Willing to try new things to win support, hearts and minds of the people.
Ability to delegate his vision - An MP must have a grand vision for his area; but he cannot do it all. He must be able to trust and delegate responsibilities.
