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.

Lives have been lost to an unexpected natural calamity

5 June 2015 was meant to be a day of celebration. The 28th SEA games opening ceremony was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. that evening but 12 hours earlier, at 7.15 a.m, something untoward happened at Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia.

A group of primary school students from Tanjong Katong Primary School were making their way up Mount Kinabalu when an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck. At the end of that 30-second moment when the earth shook, six students, one teacher and an adventure guide perished. To-date, one student and a teacher are still unaccounted for.

The pain of losing these young children, who were mostly 12 years in age and their teachers, struck at our heartstrings. Our nation mourned their loss with our state flag flying at half mast on 8 June 2015. Sadly, this was the second national mourning in less than 3 months this year.

I visited Tanjong Katong Primary School on the morning of 8 June 2015 to pay my tribute. The messages pinned onto 3 large notice boards speak volumes of the impact of the loss. Singapore is one of the most costly places in the world to raise a child and Singaporean parents are exceptionally doting on their children. It was simply heart-wrenching to forcefully take these children away forever from their parents without even a word of goodbye. 

Those with children will probably be more sensitive to the acute pain of the grieving parents. My heart sank and rose again umpteen times. This fateful trip has drawn both sympathy and ire. There are those who question the wisdom of such trips for primary school children whilst there are others who see that the benefit of such activities outweigh the risks involved.

Whatever it is, lives have been lost to an unexpected natural calamity but there are certainly lessons to be drawn somehow. For those who never saw the light of day again when the earth shook on 5 June 2015, may they rest in eternal peace.