The People’s Action Party (PAP) team will stay on in Aljunied, said its Eunos branch chairman on Wednesday (Jul 29).
“We are here to stay. We haven’t deserted you. We will continue to put in extra effort to win your vote, so please support us and let’s have a change,” said Mr Chua Eng Leong, on the sidelines of an event at Bedok North Ave 1 to celebrate Hari Raya.
The Workers’ Party took over Aljunied GRC from PAP in 2011, after winning the constituency in the general election.
“We’re part of a team, let the party decide if we are to be candidates and if we’ll be fielded and where we’ll be fielded,” said the 44-year-old Mr Chua when asked about PAP candidates for the upcoming election. He has been with the PAP since 2001.
Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob was guest-of-honour for the event organised by the Malay Activities Coordination Committee of Aljunied Cluster, a grassroots organisation. The celebrations included a dinner for about 1,200 residents of Aljunied and Hougang.
“Our motto, our principle, our values are very simple. We work really, really hard. We do our best for the residents,” said Mdm Hailmah. “Our motive, objective, goal is always to see how we can uplift the welfare of the people. Having that as a motive and objective, we will not go wrong.”
Mdm Halimah was also asked if the coming election will see a tough fight in Aljunied. “We must always be prepared,” she said. “We cannot be complacent and I’m sure the team in Aljunied has been working very hard to do their best for the residents.”
Also present were PAP Serangoon branch chairman Chan Hui Yuh, Paya Lebar branch chairman K Muralidharan Pillai, Kaki Bukit branch chairman Mohamad Kahar Abu Hassan and Eunos Grassroots Adviser and former Aljunied Member of Parliament Zainul Abidin Rasheed.
Mr Pillai, who has been involved in grassroots activities since 2001, said the Paya Lebar branch has helped residents to find jobs, get subsidised tuition and transport, as well as distribute food.
He said many activities are funded by well-wishers, and the Paya Lebar branch spends a lot of time trying to raise funds as well. “When it comes to community assistance, that’s above politics. We do it putting the residents at the centre of what we do, so that’s the purpose. It’s not really an election gimmick. Aljunied residents won’t like that,” he said.
Mr Mohamad Kahar has been conducting Meet the People sessions every Monday since March 2014. He admitted that when they started, the response was not that good, and he saw about five to six people per session. And so he went house-to-house, to tell residents about this “alternative” Meet the People sessions.
His efforts have paid off, he said. Currently, the team sees around 30 cases each session. On busy nights, the number of cases can even reach 47.
He still continues his house visits, to explain to residents the Pioneer Generation Package and Silver Support scheme.
“The idea of telling people that we’ve always been here, we didn’t move out, despite the fact that there are opposition MPs, we provide you an alternative. That by itself tells people that you are genuine, we have your welfare, interests in our mind.”
He added that he hopes to encourage more Malay residents to lead a healthy lifestyle. In Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech last year, he had highlighted the prevalence of Malay and Muslim patients with hypertension, diabetes and obesity.
Mr Mohamad Kahar also hopes those behind the Smart Nation initiative can consider rolling out pilot projects in the Kaki Bukit estate, where sensors can be used to monitor the movement of elderly who live alone and alert their family members if there is anything amiss.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
