Bring us home, PAP team urges Aljunied residents
Supporters at the PAP rally for Aljunied GRC at Defu Lane yesterday. The PAP candidates stressed their desire to serve in the area. Photo: Wee Teck Hian
SINGAPORE — The People’s Action Party team tasked with reclaiming Aljunied Group Representation Constituency from the Workers’ Party took its case to residents of the area last night, saying the time has come for change, and asking for support so they could be “brought home”.
Stressing their desire to serve in the area — despite being hounded and harassed during the 2011 campaign — the candidates said they had picked up a better vibe this time around, were confident that residents would give them a fair hearing, and also offered their plans for the constituency.
Both Mr K Muralidharan Pillai and Mr Victor Lye said they continued to work the ground in Aljunied despite being given short shrift and threatened during the 2011 campaign.
The former has been serving in the Paya Lebar ward since 2012. He recalled how a rental flat resident refused rice brought to his home and said he would “only accept Workers’ Party rice”. That was not all. Verbal abuse also followed, Mr Muralidharan, a partner at Rajah & Tann, one of Singapore’s biggest law firms, said. Eventually, more sinister forms of intimidation, such as the placing of joss sticks and offerings — usually used for funerals — outside the PAP branch office, ensued.
Despite this, Mr Muralidharan said: “I told myself that these people need help. And I was willing to send a signal to them that I’m prepared to help them. Some of them want to intimidate me and I want to tell them I won’t be intimidated. So I rolled up my sleeves and I tried my best to gain the trust of these people.”
To that end, he and his team raisedfunds to roll out several social programmes, including mobile clinics and subsidised tuition for children from low-income families. As a result, the abuse is now a memory, he said. “So I must give full credit to Aljunied residents; they know when a person is sincere, they know when a person is trustworthy and they also know when a person is a ‘wayang king’.”
Mr Lye also touched on the team’s refusal to be cowed by intimidation. Saying he has served in the constituency since 1999, he added that “we are not going to run away. We have been in Aljunied so many years. It is our home and we will not be intimidated”.
“I appeal to voters, look into your hearts, vote for people who have their hearts in the right place no matter what the other titles are that they carry. Look at the people who care for you, who walk the ground and serve you. Bring us home to Aljunied,” he said.
A third member of the team, Mr Shamsul Kahar, who took over as Kaki Bukit branch chairman last month, said some residents had expressed hope for improvements in the estate.
Some have even told him they had been neglected since 2011, he said. “So I ask you, voters of Aljunied, my team hears your feedback and concerns, we hear you loud and clear. We want you to know that we care for you. Most importantly, you need to know that the team and PAP have not abandoned you since 2011. We have been here all along.”
Mr Chua Eng Leong, meanwhile, outlined plans for young families, youths and caregivers in the Eunos ward that has been tasked with serving. To support young families with both parents wanting to pursue careers, he promised more infant care and childcare services, as well as student care programmes for school-going children. Emphasising that youths are the “pioneers of the next generation”, Mr Chua said he would champion enrichment, exposure and mentoring programmes for them.
Eldercare services and caregiver support groups will also be introduced to better address challenges faced by caregivers and provide them with the support they need as they care for loved ones, he added. “These are three important things I will do for you,” he promised. “We have all been walking with you over the last few years. At the PAP, we are not a wayang party. We are an action party. We know the issues on the ground and we also know that you want a more responsive team to look after your needs.”
