Walkabout in Tampines on 24.05.2015

NSP visited Tampines again this morning in their walkabouts. The familiar sound of a workout song drew me to the empty space near Blk 201C where a group of people, young and old, were doing zumba with a Health Promotion Board banner on the "National Healthy Lifestyle" campaign standing at a corner. The market was alive with the Sunday crowd and the stalls were doing a roaring business.

An elderly man sauntered up to me and expressed his pessimism about the future of alternative parties. He did not think they could do much especially when the ruling party has become so rich and strong. Another elderly resident approached me to highlight the concerns of people in his age group. He was troubled about the spiralling housing costs and could not accept that flat prices have reached hundreds of thousands when salaries for ordinary folks have not increased by the same.

One other elderly resident shared with me about the Pioneer Generation Package. He said he has given feedback to the PGP ambassadors and queried the partial coverage of medicine. He felt that all types of medicine should be covered and wanted to see the change.

There were also concerns about the weakening of our value system and how things will turn out for Singapore when our traditional values are not effectively transmitted. All the feedback from the ground was instructive.

Walking the ground is necessary for all those who aspire to understand the issues that ordinary folks are concerned with. At the end of the day, isn't politics about people?