The People’s Action Party (PAP) has introduced two new faces in the six-member Pasir Ris-Punggol team for the coming election.
They are former defence chief Ng Chee Meng, 47, and Temasek Holdings investment director Sun Xueling, 36, also known as Soon Sher Rene.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced the line-up at the PAP Punggol North Branch at Edgedale Plains on Saturday morning.
The others on the slate are Mr Teo, Minister of State and Mayor Teo Ser Luck, Mr Zainal Sapari, and Dr Janil Puthucheary.
Ms Penny Low, 48, announced that she was stepping down after three terms as MP in the GRC.
Current Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Gan Thiam Poh, 51, has joined the Ang Mo Kio team after his Punggol South ward was absorbed into the GRC in the recent boundary changes.
Mr Ng retired from the Singapore Armed Forces on Aug 18, and is seen as a potential office-holder.
The three-star general is the highest-ranking Singapore Armed Forces officer to join the PAP to date.
Ms Sun started helping out at grassroots events in Buona Vista in 2001 before she joined Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
In the 2011 election, the PAP team fielded in Pasir Ris-Punggol polled 64.8 per cent against a Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) team.
The SDA has said it will be contesting there again in the coming election.
Members of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) have registered a new Singapore Cabbies Association (SCA), aimed at protecting the rights and welfare of taxi drivers here.
The SCA will serve as an “alternative” to the National Taxi Association (NTA), said founding adviser and SDA chairman Desmond Lim, by fighting for stronger regulation of third-party applications such as Uber, enhancing training for taxi drivers and public education.
For example, it wants the authorities to push for Uber drivers to undergo formal training and comply with the same regulations as taxi drivers, and ensure Uber drivers have up-to-date Medisave contributions to renew their vocational licences.
Added founding president and SCA assistant treasurer William Lim: “The NTA is only one single association. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and taxi companies are not taking into consideration their suggestions enough.”
Mr William Lim, a full-time taxi driver, said the SCA also intends to engage veteran taxi drivers and traffic police officers to provider training for new cabbies. The current training that taxi operators provide is very basic, he said.
The 200-member-strong association also plans to offer legal advice and financial education for cabbies, and educate the public on, for instance, the safe spots to flag cabs.
The SCA’s annual membership is open to taxi drivers who hold valid taxi driver vocational licences and costs S$60. Mr Desmond Lim submitted the application to the Registry of Societies yesterday.
When contacted, NTA executive adviser Ang Hin Kee told TODAY many agencies and authorities, including the LTA, Traffic Police and Central Provident Fund Board, work with the NTA because of its existing vast network and membership. “Importantly, there is an ongoing, continual effort on our part to reach out, so it is not a once-off event,” said Mr Ang, who is a Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC.
While Mr Ang did not directly comment on the SCA, he questioned: “What do you bring new to the scene? … I still feel it is may be more effective (if) we can channel our resources through existing networks so that (NTA) can benefit the drivers.”
Mr Ang added that the NTA is looking to leverage technology and work with companies managing third-party booking apps to facilitate better matching of cabbies and commuters.
He was ridiculed by netizens for his bad diction after an edited version of an old campaign video of his went viral on Facebook last week.
But Singapore Democratic Alliance’s Desmond Lim Bak Chuan, 47, said his command of the English language should not be used to judge his abilities to serve the residents.
Responding to the edited video, which used subtitles to make fun of Mr Lim’s diction, he told The New Paper: “Whoever did that, I don’t know what is his or her intention, but why go personal? You want to fault me, fault me on policy issues.
“I have been in politics for 23 years. I have spent my life serving people. No matter how bad my command of the language is, I don’t deserve such a treatment.”
Mr Lim was at the party’s walkabout at Punggol Plaza yesterday, where party members gave out brochures to residents.
SDA is contesting the six-member Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC in the upcoming general elections.
The 55-second clip mocking Mr Lim was edited from a 2013 video titled “Why Vote For Desmond Lim?: SDA Punggol East By-Elections Online Rally”.
WATCH: Desmond Lim talks about ‘that’ video
Mr Lim, who is married and has a three-year-old son, said he was not hurt by the clip.
“I’m not bothered and concerned about what people think about me. I’m bothered about how I can help others,” he said.
“That’s the past. We cannot be run down by our past. If we are held on by our past, we cannot progress.”
He added that there are those who like to judge people despite not having met them personally.
“People can say anything. You can’t control them. There will be people who like me, there are those who don’t.”
Mr Lim said he has had problems speaking since a very young age.
He did not attend pre-school and started speaking only at age seven, when he could not even spell his own name or read from A to Z.
LATE DEVELOPER
“People thought it was a late development where you can talk when you grow older,” said Mr Lim, who is a principal engineer with a telco.
He said that his speaking disability was never diagnosed as his parents had been too poor to take him to a doctor.
He overcame his challenges and went on to obtain a Masters in Engineering Management, despite taking five years instead of the usual three years for part-time study.
To help him understand the lecturers, he would draw pictures and write his notes in Chinese.
In response to the viral video, a supporter has edited a 2011 YouTube video titled “Unlimited Belief” to explain why Mr Lim does not speak eloquently.
A friend of Mr Lim even likened him to a 2004 American Idol contestant, Mr William Hung, who became famous despite being mocked for his off-key audition performance of Ricky Martin’s hit song “She Bangs” in the reality talent search programme.
In response, Mr Lim said: “I always believe I am who I am. You want to say I am Singapore’s William Hung, I’m okay.”
You want to say I am Singapore’s William Hung, I’m okay.
– Singapore Democratic Alliance’s Desmond Lim Bak Chuan on being compared to the American Idol contestant who was mocked for his off-key singing
With the management of town councils potentially a talking point in the coming elections, Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) chairman Desmond Lim today (Aug 1) sought to highlight his party’s focus on running estates and addressing residents’ concerns during a walkabout in Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency.
Speaking to the media, Mr Lim said that for the past year or so, SDA has a team of “shadow town councillors” which visits residents in the constituency every weekend and discusses ways to improve their estate.
The team comprises six individuals who are non-party members, including operations manager Tan Jui Koon, 44, and Mr Lim Kim Soon, 61, formerly the executive secretary of the Hokkein Huay Kuan.
Town council management must be separated from politics and having non-party members as shadow town councillors would ensure that, Mr Desmond Lim said.
He also reiterated his 14 years of experience serving as a consultant at Potong Pasir Town Council, when he was the right hand man of the ward’s former Member of Parliament Chiam See Tong.
In recent months, his team has helped Pasir Ris One residents raise their problems to the Pasir Ris-Punggol town council. The Design, Build and Sell Scheme project had made headlines for building defects and other issues, such as corridors that are too narrow. The developer has agreed to change the swinging doors to sliding doors, and the SDA chief said this was one of the suggestions that his team had made to the town council.
Last month, his team had also asked the town council to remove sheets of plywood that had piled up on the rooftop of a block of Housing and Development Board flats along Pasir Ris Drive 1. He said: “We have to demonstrate to residents in Pasir Ris-Punggol our confidence and capability to run a town council and take care of their living environment…to assure them that their quality of life will not be discounted if they give us their support.”
He added that the presence of a “second town council” also presses the incumbent town council to “work harder for the residents”.
The Workers’ Party (WP) had come under criticism from the ruling People’s Action Party over the management of the finances of the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).
Asked if SDA’s focus may be seen as capitalising on the AHPETC saga, he disagreed: “It is a matter of fact that any political party must give recognition to the Town Council Act, and anyone elected as a Member of Parliament will have to take good care of the people’s living environment, in addition to giving them a voice in Parliament.”
During the walkabout, the SDA entourage — which consisted about 30 members and supporters — gave out handheld Singapore flags, and flyers to residents which carried the party’s slogan, “A heart for the people”.
Mr Desmond Lim also introduced two potential election candidates to the media — SDA assistant secretary-general Aloysius Chan, 29, and party member Ernest Pak, 34.
Mr Chan and Mr Pak joined SDA in June and October last year respectively, and have been involved in SDA’s charity arm. Mr Pak said he hopes to speak up for the sandwiched class. “The authorities are not really getting any feedback from this group of people,” he said.
Despite having tasted defeat in the all the elections he had taken part in — the 2001, 2006 and 2011 GEs, and the 2013 Punggol East By-election where he forfeited his election deposit — Mr Lim said he is undeterred. It is his responsibility as part of the community to stand for the elections, he said. “To show care and concern to Singaporeans, to build a national identity is what pushes me to stay on,” he added.
The SDA outreach walkabout for this morning was anchored by Mr. Desmond Lim himself, conducted at Block 610 Elias Road. The session kick-started at 10.00am sharp.
As per standard protocol, the members and shadow town councillors started from level 18 and slowly made their way down, interacting with all the residents staying in this block.
It was another fruitful session today; many residents were at home this morning to the members’ pleasant surprise, allowing them to have quality interaction and communication.
Leaflets were being distributed and discussed as the members explained its contents to the dwellers in this block. There were questions being asked by the residents, who were curious to know what SDA’s next step would be.
After engaging the residents in further conversation, the general consensus was that many of them harboured concerns over companies (and now even governmental organisations) employing foreign talents with fake degrees.
“Let’s not talk about fake degrees alone,” quipped one *Mr. Wong (name changed to protect privacy). “I feel strongly that it doesn’t matter whether the foreign applicant has an excellent or mediocre degree – priority for a job should be given to Singaporeans first!”
Another young resident, one *Mr. Abdul (name changed to protect privacy) brought up another very good point. “I feel that many Singaporeans seem to confuse ‘foreign talents’ with ‘foreign workers’ – they constantly mention that we need ‘foreign talents’ to sweep floors and work in construction sites!” He laughed in irony. “Is it the picture being painted, that blurs the true meaning between a ‘worker’ and a ‘talent’?
There were a couple of residents who feedback that the amenities in this area were inadequate, such as eateries. *Mdm Teng (name changed to protect privacy) expressed concern that the plans to build MRT station at Elias area would only be completed in around 2030. “I don’t even know if I would live to be able to see it by then.”
A *Mrs. Ratna expressed concern that there is limitation to what one dares to voice out in Singapore. She pointed out that she has her thoughts and views, but is afraid to address them for fear that they may be deemed unsuitable and she might get into trouble with the Law.
Other than that, the residents agreed that opposition parties are needed in parliament to keep the ruling parties in check. The opposition parties should also introduce new policies and strategies for the citizens – policies that are outside the scope of what is currently being implemented.
It was yet another meaningful session today, refreshing the residents on SDA’s ever-present concern for them, as well as gaining understanding on what the people need. The graceful residents thanked the members for taking time to do these house visits and listen to them, become their voices. SDA in turn appreciate the candid feedback from the people.
