Wearing out the shoe leather pays dividends for Tin Pei Ling
PAP candidate for MacPherson SMC Tin Pei Ling (second from left) conducting house visits at Block 123 Geylang East Central on Sunday. Ms Tin, who first stepped forward for election in 2011, says campaigning on the ground is more than just about canvassing support. Photo: Koh Mui Fong
SINGAPORE — It was a busy Sunday breakfast crowd at the hawker centre at Block 117, Aljunied Avenue 2, and it took Ms Tin Pei Ling four hours before she finished meeting and greeting residents and hawkers there.
Every few steps, someone would accost her for a picture. The older folk — the majority demographic in her MacPherson single seat ward — were noticeably endearing towards her; asking about her newborn, and one even offered to share his breakfast of chee cheong fun with her.
Immediately after, she hopped into a car driven by her husband to attend a community event held nearby before heading back to her party branch office for a quick bite.
Then, the People’s Action Party’s candidate for MacPherson Single Member Constituency was on her way again, to Block 123, Geylang Central East, for house visits, with her band of activists keeping her well-hydrated in the afternoon heat.
Along the way, a group of middle-aged men drinking at a coffeeshop teased their young incumbent MP, calling out in jest in Mandarin, “Pretty lady!”. Making an unplanned stop in her packed schedule, Ms Tin took time to greet them, as well as several of the stallholders.
While she generally gets a warm reception from residents wherever she goes in the estate, there are pockets of disgruntlement. When TODAY trailed her on her campaigning activities last Sunday, one resident refused her offer of a handshake from across a table. He insisted she walk over to his side. Unfazed, the smile never left Ms Tin’s face as she listened to him complain about an unresolved immigration issue he had brought to her Meet-the-People session.
Even with her voice growing hoarser by the hour, Ms Tin still kept up a gruelling pace, except when a resident raised personal problems with her. The 32-year-old, who had to endure doubts about her maturity and ability to serve residents when she took part in her maiden electoral contest in 2011, would then stop to listen, while her activists furiously took down notes to follow-up on later.
During a break, Ms Tin was asked how she handled pounding the streets a day after her baby boy turned one month old. “I do look at his photos and try to relieve my feelings of missing him ... Yes, I believe I’m missing out because every day he changes and it’s just his first month,” she said, holding back tears.
Steeling herself, she continued: “But this is important ... It’s about Singapore and it’s also about me building a future for him and his generation. So to me, there’s a sense of mission.”
She added: “At the end of the day, it’s because I have conviction and I believe in what I’m doing ... And in this case, serving the community, doing something beyond myself, is very meaningful.”
From consoling a grieving mother who lost her son in a traffic accident to trying to help a single mum get a flat, campaigning on the ground is more than just about canvassing support, said Ms Tin. Besides voicing out on municipal issues in Parliament, such as rusty lift frames and demand for childcare centres in mature estates, she has also spoken up on national issues such as MediShield Life and the Central Provident Fund.
The work never ends, she added, because there are always residents who need help with issues they are grappling with. Her ward, which was carved out of Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency, has 46,000 residents, with around one-third of them above the age of 60.
Asked about the apparent mutual affection between her and the elderly residents especially, Ms Tin said: “They are like my extended family members so I think naturally there’s this connection there.”
If she gets a second term in Parliament, Ms Tin said she wants to champion greater support for working mothers and young families.
During her secondary school days, she helped out at her father’s coffee shop in Ghim Moh. In her third year at the National University of Singapore, Ms Tin’s father suffered a heart attack and she had to take over the running of the business. She even left school for six months to become the family’s breadwinner.
“At first I tried to (study at the same time), I found it really difficult. I tried to persevere and tried to cope with both. But in the end, because of the demands of running a coffee shop — because I really had to be there physically from morning till midnight — it was very stressful,” she said.
Her family sold the business just as she graduated and started work full-time.
The experience changed her in some ways, said Ms Tin.
“The biggest take-way I had ... is that I fully appreciate the hardship, the challenges that hawkers have to face. I can (also) fully appreciate how difficult it must be for students who have to work at the same time while they’re studying,” she said.
When she first stepped forward for election in 2011, Ms Tin faced relentless mocking from netizens, because of the Kate Spade handbag saga and an old video clip of her.
A photo of her posing with the handbag, which was a gift from her husband, had led to accusations of materialism and privilege. Netizens also roasted her for immaturity over the video clip which showed her stomping her feet in embarrassment when she was asked to be interviewed on a youth medal she received at the party awards.
Since then, her dedication to her duties and hard work on the ground has not gone unnoticed, going by what residents interviewed say.
A resident who met Ms Tin during her hawker centre visit that day said: “My mother is very touched that she is working so hard after giving birth. She remembers yesterday (Saturday) was her child’s full month and we wish her all the best in this election.”
Mr Gary Tan, 31, who has lived in MacPherson all his life, added: “I think she has grown over the past few years ... I guess looking around the estate, things have been going on pretty well so I think she must be doing a good job.”
Another resident who wanted to be known only as Madam Goh, 46, also remarked on the improvements in the estate in the last four years. “I would say she’s very dedicated. Whatever she can, she will do. If (issues) cannot be solved, she would think of other ways,” said the housewife living in Block 123, Geylang Central East.
