Releasing the Apron String

SG50 has been on the lips of Singaporeans since plans were afoot to celebrate 50 years of independence and separation from Malaysia in an unforgettable fashion. Many Singaporeans have been asked what they wish for our country and the common aspiration is to have a more prosperous and successful Singapore. I have been asked what my wish is for SG 50 and frankly, it is easy to make a wish but for it to come true will require a shift in mindset.

In one of the interviews given by the late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew in his twilight years, he said:

"What is it that I want to do now? To try and secure the future, for what has already been built and not to lose it. Whether it's going to be done by the PAP or any other person or any other party, that is irrelevant. We must keep a system that will enable this place to stand out and prosper."

This message from Mr. Lee Kuan Yew may have been missed by many. He had emphasised that it does not matter which party is going to be able to secure the future of Singapore. The real focus should be on a "system" that will allow our nation to continue with its success and prosperity.

With this message at the back of my mind, I was therefore somewhat dismayed when I read the battle cry by PM Lee for the next general election:

"Our country is at stake...if PAP fails, Singapore is in deep trouble. We shall not fail." [Read More]

With all due respect to PM Lee, whilst he may be concerned about the performance of PAP at the next election, he has to look beyond the GEs if Singapore's interest is above all else. If Singapore has to depend on PAP or any one political party for its survival, then that system which it has in place, cannot be a good thing for Singapore. PM Lee cannot live forever and we may not necessarily have a succession of respectable leaders at the helm of the ruling party.

History has demonstrated the effects of how over time and with changes in leadership, political parties and dynasties are eventually plagued by power corruption, selfish agendas and the effects of group think. For a country to continue to grow in stature, prosper and succeed, she also needs all the talents that she can muster. And no political party can genuinely lay claim to a monopoly of all the talents in the land. When a system is free to operate without the interference of partisan politics, and is ready and open to accept any relevant talent regardless of his or her political affiliation, then that system will be able to truly generate new ideas and hope for a better future, That is the kind of system that we need to develop over the next 10 to 15 years.

The question that we have think about seriously in SG50 is whether or not the future of Singapore should continue to be tied to the fortunes of any one political party? After 50 years of economic growth and development, it would be sad to face the prospect that if PAP fails, Singapore is at stake. This is not to suggest that it is high time to change the PAP government but to highlight the fact that a long term non-partisan view of the nation's interest is necessary for us to build a system that is sound and resilient to any change in the party that forms the government. A sound and resilient socio-economic-political system is what we should all focus on building.

So, my SG50 wish is this. I wish for Singapore to build upon what she has and develop a sound and resilient socio-economic-political system that will secure the future progress and continuing success of Singapore as a nation. Without being tied to the apron strings of any political party, PAP or otherwise.

We care. I am sure we all do

The volunteers arrived in groups. There were friends, couples, parent and child, and even individuals who were alone, who decided to do some good on a Sunday morning yesterday.

They had come to help distribute bread, biscuits, cooked rice and roti prata to two blocks of 16-storey high rental flats in North Bridge Road. They knocked on the doors, talked to the residents and helped to note down the living conditions of the flat dwellers, who were mostly living alone or with someone else. 

The oldest resident we met today was a 93 year-old grandmother who was dressed in her black buddhist robes. She was about to start her prayers when we visited and was happy that we had come. She was a little hard of hearing and lives all by herself. Her only daughter is apparently suffering from a weak heart and I gather they hardly see each other and communicate only through the telephone.

At the end of the distribution, I spoke to the volunteers who had joined us for the first time in such kind of work. Some found it hard to express what they had seen and they were surprised that there were such needy people in affluent Singapore. They are saddened by their encounters today but their spirits are uplifted by the sight of so many fellow volunteers who came to show they care.

We care. I am sure we all do. And as we count our blessings,  let's continue to show those less fortunate than us a little kindness whenever we can.

The Boy From Trengganu - A New Start

The happy news came earlier than expected. The police have finally closed their investigations and returned the passport to him.

When I met him this evening, he was overjoyed. He never expected his life would return to normalcy so soon. Just a week ago when I found him shelter at volunteer Lella's place, he was preparing to wait for months before he could live a normal life again.

We adjourned to the East Coast Lagoon Food Village for him to break his fast and have a dinner celebration. I asked for his plans. He said he was going to visit his good friend in Johor Bahru before returning to Singapore to look for work again. He wants to be able to earn some money to give his parents when he sees them. His dream ambition is to work in the airlines as he has completed a course in Malaysia to equip himself.

He had a good appetite and was all smiles throughout. A good samaritan has given him $300 for him to start afresh. As I passed him the money on behalf of the anonymous donor, tears welled up in his eyes.

The boy from Trengganu will be leaving Singapore tomorrow. As I bid him farewell and wished him well, he hugged me and thanked me profusely. He has indeed found friends in Singapore when he was down and will never forget the many helping hands that were stretched out to him in this foreign land. Lastly, thank you Lailan for bringing him to Project Awareness.

THEME - Housing: $28,000 3-room HDB flat comparing to $350,000 similar flat nowaday

He was standing there as though he was rooted to the ground. 71 year-old Mr. Sia suffered a stroke in 2008, just before he retired as a PUB technician. He still has difficulty walking and tries his best to move about as much as he could everyday.

We spoke after I gave him a packet of vegetarian beehoon. He told me he had seen his Member of Parliament but was not happy with the outcome. He then went on to share with me some of his deepest concerns. When he bought his 3-room flat in which he still lives, he was drawing a salary of $1,600. His flat cost him $28,000 and he was able to pay off his mortgage in 10 years. He laments that his children will not enjoy the same comfort level that he had. Even with a salary of $3,000, his eldest daughter is unable to buy a similar flat, which now costs almost $350,000.

His 3 children, all daughters, are living with him. Owing to the high costs of living, they are not able to give him much monthly allowance. He regrets having given up his pension scheme when he was a civil servant. He puts it down to not having been given a choice at all and even then with the CPF route , he has monies retained in his CPF account which he could not withdraw.

He also talked about how some people would take advantage of do-gooders in his neighbourhood. Once he wanted to help someone who asked for money. When he took out $2, the man refused to accept and demanded for $10. He was completely disheartened by the experience which was echoed by another elderly man whom I spoke to earlier.

Mr. Sia tried to move his legs after talking to me and found them immobilised. After taking my advice to do some leg stretching, he was able to stagger slowly in the direction of his flat. Watching him walk, there is no doubt that good health is afterall, one's most precious possession in old age.

From Counselling to Mediation

One of the most meaningful engagements in my life was to have joined the Samaritans of Singapore ("SOS") back in the mid 90's.

After a long training which lasted for a year with interim assessments, I finally landed in the phone room, answering the SOS hotline. The people who called in were mostly emotionally or psychologically troubled. There were unmarried mothers, mental patients and those who were suffering from depression or entertaining suicidal thoughts. These conversations can be emotionally draining on those who do not have emotional temerity to cope with what counsellors term as "transferences", leaving them feeling down and out.

SOS gave me a steep learning curve and I drew valuable lessons from the unhappy experiences of the callers that shaped my outlook in life. It was also a tough period that strengthened my resolve to make time for those who need help. Running my legal practice in the day and attending to the hotlines at SOS was a big challenge. After the birth of my third child, I left SOS but the skills I acquired never left me. I consistently used them to influence the people around me to think and act positively. I found myself counselling clients and friends in relational issues. Once, I even spent nights on end counselling a couple who had young children studying in the same school as my children. They were at the verge of breaking up and days later patched up, keeping their family intact until this day.

Mediation in the courts began some 20 years ago. It started as a judge-dominated process and improved over time with the setting up of the Singapore Mediation Centre. There were training courses and accreditation was given to those who passed the relevant tests. By the time I decided to be accredited as a mediator, I was already armed with qualifications in psychology and clinical hypnotherapy. All these knowledge about the human mind gave me great advantage in mediation which I saw as another form of counselling.

I mediated at different venues for different types of disputes. From sibling disputes over parental care, neighbour disputes over noise, leakage, corridor obstructions and land encroachments to landlord-tenant issues, consumer disputes over slimming packages, time resorts, second-hand car purchases, renovation contracts, etc., mediation has expanded my insights into human interactions under various circumstances.

Everyone has a personality and how that personality is formed has many theories. Whatever those grand theories may be, no two persons are completely alike and we need to appreciate that there are differences between individuals. Understanding those differences is the key to understanding personal conflicts and how they can be resolved, minimised or avoided.

A little kindness can go a long way

It's Fathers' Day but whole families came to help in the distribution of rations organized by Project Awareness today. For the first time, the volunteers were brought along to help in buying the rations from NTUC. Almost entire shelves were cleared of the items needed and once the items were checked, packing began at the nearby void area. 

The children volunteers got busy doing their part in stuffing the bags with bread, biscuits, noodles and canned food. In the midst of packing, MP Baey Yam Keng and SDA's Desmond Lim dropped by for a surprise visit and showed their support. It is to the residents' benefit when political affiliations do not stand in the way of attending to their welfare. Indeed, that is the way forward to foster greater social unity, trust and respect.

100 bags of rations were prepared for distribution and most of these were distributed to the needy residents in two blocks of rental flats in Tampines. A regular volunteer, Belinda, volunteered to visit a resident in Hougang to pass him a bag of rations. We bid the volunteers a Happy Fathers's Day at the end of the Tampines event and went on to visit some residents in French Road, King George and Bendemeer.  Besides visiting their homes to pass them rations, we also handed out rations to some lonely elderly people on the streets. 

I received a warm welcome from everyone I meet. Even the children remember my name and do not shy away from me. It was exceptionally heartwarming when they call out to me "Mr. Tan" and then break out into their precocious smiles. It was time well spent on Father's Day.

Along the way to Bendemeer, I came across an elderly lady struggling to make her way up a gradual slope near the traffic junction. As I wheeled her along to the market where we were all heading, she told me she came from China 8 years ago and had broken her spine. She lives with her son who came here 11 years ago and works as a cook. Interestingly, she was making her way to the market to buy noodles to cook for her son despite her incapacity. It was a touching act of motherly love indeed.

At my last stop at Bendemeer Road, we visited a Malay family that was too poor to buy paint to do up their house for Hari Raya Puasa. Madam Faridah's husband works as a cleaner and has 4 children, 3 of whom are still schooling. The eldest child, a daughter, has been working part-time. Crying, she related to us her family's dire financial circumstances but what pains her most is that they cannot afford to paint their house to celebrate such an important Malay festival. 

Another resident at Bendemeer Road, 43 year-old Than, was lying in bed with his aged parents visiting. He is single and lives alone. He suffers from muscular dystrophy, a degenerative condition that worsened 8 years ago. He used to be a building technician but now sells tissues from his wheelchair. He is drawing down his CPF savings and is worried that it may not last him more than a year. Touch Community has been liaising with him via email but he said he is still trying to get them to rectify his particulars in their record and to provide some assistance to him.

The people who need help may not always know where or how to get help. Some may feel no one cares but Singaporeans are generous lot. They are just busy coping with the pace of living in Singapore but they are always ready to show a little kindness when there is an opportunity. Even on a Sunday and on Fathers' Day. We see that spirit of giving in our volunteers. Be it a kind word of encouragement or just extending a helping hand or providing resources, the volunteers all believe that a little kindness can go a long way.

Homeless Malay Boy with $7 left in his wallet

He left his family in Trengganu to work in Singapore. Only 18 years old, he was looking forward to supplement his family income. He is the only son in a family of 4 children and his father works as a driver. 

He paid an agent $3000 and landed a job in as a cashier in a food court in January. Soon, he found himself having to pay fot the cash shortfall resulting from his oversights. He was getting paid less than the $800 salary that he was supposed to be getting and took some money from the tills to top up his ez link card and to cover the shortfalls. He was arrested in May and spent 2 days in remand. Shortly after he was released on bail, his employer cancelled his work permit and evicted him from his lodging.

His bailor friend provided him with a place to shower but by 6 pm everyday, he has to leave before his friend's wife returns home. They are newly married and it was not appropriate for him to bunk in. So for the past couple of weeks, this boy has been sleeping everywhere and anywhere. One night, while he was sleeping out in the open at Siloso beach, someone stole his watch and ipad.

I met him at the foot of the block of flats where his friend lives. He looked lean and has been fasting. He speaks in English but slowly and told me that the police are still investigating his case.They have asked him to report next month and he has no income anymore. With only $7 left in his wallet, he does not know where his next meal will come from after that is spent. My friend Lai Lan, who brought his plight to my attention, has liaised with the Malaysian embassy but does not know if they have written yet to the police to expedite the case. She intends to follow up.

He says he has taken not more than $250 in total but his boss has forcefully taken $400 from his wallet before he was evicted. He felt helpless at the injustice he has suffered and hopes to go home as soon as possible. But he is now stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no job, no money and no roof over his head. At only 18 years old and marooned in a foreign land, one cannot help but feel sorry for him. And his parents would be worried sick.

The immediate concern was to provide him with shelter to keep him safe and warm. Nor Lella Mardiiiah, a volunteer with Project Awareness, kindly agreed to provide him shelter. But before leaving for the shelter, we brought him for dinner, shop for his toiletries and rations, top-up his mobile pre-paid card and pass him $50 cash. Having settled him in at the shelter I asked him to show me his family photo but unfortunately the only photo he has was in the ipad that was stolen from him. I told him to contact his parents and he could finally assure them that he was safe. 

After so many weeks, he finally has a fresh change of clothes and a bed to sleep in. Before leaving him at close to midnight, he shook my hands and I finally saw it. His big smile.

Resignation as Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party

On 25 January 2015, I was elected as the Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP). On 15 June 2015, I resigned from my position. Many have asked me for my reasons and out of respect for the party and its President, I had to wait for their official statement to be released before I am free to answer all the queries and concerns.

The party's official statement has now been released and the reasons are stated clearly in the statement. I am thankful to the party for allowing me to carry out a number of initiatives, such as NSP Unity Day, NSP Sports Day, NSP Retreat, NSP Kindness Day, SG50 video production, upgrading of the party's social media and the formation of the Youth Wing. If there is a single reason why I choose to finally step down after putting in so much time, energy and resources in such a relatively short time, I can only say it is due to incompatibility issues.

As stated in the party's statement, I will continue to focus on my social and community work and my charitable pursuits. These are the involvements that led me into politics with the hope of being able to influence the policies of the day in a positive way. I will continue to play my roles as volunteer, counsellor, mediator and community worker. And my role as the people's politician will indubitably continue as well.

Thank you to the members and supporters at National Solidarity Party (NSP) for all your supports during my tour as Secretary-General, and thank you to the President of NSP Mr Sebastian Teo for your trust and encouragement too. My supporters and readers, with each of your support, my journey in politics will continue.

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有记者朋友问我一些问题，就让我在这里回答他所提问的问题：

1）为什么要请辞？

请辞的念头开始时候是有点困扰，可是经过细心观察和深思考候，就长痛不如短痛决定请辞。但在某个层面上，这确实是一个痛心的决定。

2）随着大选脚步越来越近，这时离党可能带来负面效果，这层因素您曾考虑吗？

我想对我对党来说，负面的效果是避开不的，但是如果我们一直怕这个和怕那个的，那我们根本做不了应该做的事，而且托尼带水很可能会威胁到前景。曾经看过这么一个说法，成功的人不是赢在起点而是赢在转折点，我坚信时机对了我们就要改。

3）接下来的政治动向？

大选是越来越近，那是我们都很关注的事情。我的政治观念以人民利益为主，而我是因为从志愿工作旅程受到启发而决定踏入政坛。接下来，我还是会继续投入志愿工作再另做打算！“乘风破浪会有时，直卦云帆及沧海”，这只是我政治生涯的一个转折点而已。

Eunos Flat Cleaning on 6 June 2015

They came with brooms, mops, brushes and pails in response to the call by Project Awareness for volunteers to help clean up Mr. Lim's flat. 

The fumigation has been completed and it's time to scrub the badly stained floors, walls and ceilings before the painting work can begin. The furniture had to be moved out and there were dead insects and cockroach eggs everywhere. Lizards scurried around and Mr. Lim helped to move his belongings to the corridor.

The rooms were in a terrible state of disrepair. The kitchen sink had corroded and the volunteers went about their chores without fuss. The RC volunteers came shortly thereafter. They appeared to be taken aback at the sight but soon found the courage to enter the flat to help.

I was surprised that they were mostly elderly folks but their volunteering spirit was truly commendable. Some began to help peeling out the broken vinyl floor tiles in the bedrooms whilst others helped in scrubbing the walls.

With the hard work from everyone, the cleaning was completed right after noon. The painters came later and by evening, the flat was painted. But there's some other work to be done on another day.