Sparing a thought for the people behind the management of your estate

Town Councils were formed in 1989 to empower local elected representatives and residents to run their own estates. The formation of Town Councils is based on the Town Council Act, which was passed by Parliament on 29 June 1988. Today, there are 15 Town Councils managing the HDB housing estates in Singapore. The elected representatives will form part of the council/ committee to look into the management of the respective estates. Town Councils are integral to the lives of Singaporeans living in HDB estates. We can pay for our Services and Conservancy charges at any town council office in our constituency. Applications to use the facilities under the care of the town council for purposes ranging from recreation to personal affairs can also be done at a town council office.

Just as residents expects the town council to demonstrate professionalism in their work, compassion and a healthy dose of flexibility in the execution and decision-making process, residents should also be more accommodating and exercise more patience and understanding with the town council and their staff. Managing an estate and looking into the varied aspects of estate maintenance are not easy to begin with. Sometimes, if we put ourselves in the shoes of the estate cleaner, the property officer, the call-centre staff or the administrative personnel, we may be able to better appreciate the intricacies of their work. Just as we want others to spare a thought for our daily struggles and frustrations at our respective workplaces, we as residents should exercise more prudence and understanding in our dealings with the town council and their staff. Town councils are not run by a political party, but by a team of professionals and abled managers. They are employed under a contract and are not beholden to the political interests of any party. Notwithstanding these bureaucratic arrangements, it must be noted that just as we are fathers and mothers to our children, and sons and daughters to our parents with all the encompassing responsibilities and financial obligations to them, town council staff should also be treated with the respect and dignity due to them and residents should view them not as parts of a bureaucratic machinery but as individuals trying their utmost, doing their part, and performing their responsibilities in view of the many constraints that the town council face, constrains that more often than not, residents do not see and may not understand, resulting in judgments being passed with less than adequate understanding of the circumstances.

Municipal issues such as cleanliness and immediate matters in the constituency that needs to be addressed such as a lift breakdown cannot be resolved by comparing this cleaner with that cleaner, this property officer with the last property officer, this member of parliament with the previous member of parliament and this party with that party. It is not helpful at all, and in fact creates unnecessary divisions and set unwarranted expectations. To me, if there is an issue, let’s us look at how we can be constructive and go about resolving them in the shortest possible time, without creating too much inconvenience to the affected resident and other stakeholders in the community.

I am not saying that the town council staff can afford to do less and residents should expect less from the town council but residents can and should be more forgiving, understanding and cooperative. More importantly, we as residents should not go away with the idea that we can order the town council to do whatever we want in accordance to what we think is right. Just as we are free to provide any feedback and make requests of the town council, similarly the town council has the right to say no to us with the proper explanation or justification. As residents, we should listen more to the grounds on which the town council makes its decision and if we are not satisfied with the outcome, do not give up, but work closely with the town council continually on the relevant issue. Let us also bear in mind that for matters pertaining to estate management, issues between different residents of different state of minds at different points in their lives with different religious and social beliefs are bound to crop up and can be very tricky. These issues have to be managed in a professional and sensitive manner, according each resident the fairness and service that he/ she duly should receive.

More importantly, we as residents have a stake in your own estate too. We can make a difference to our own estate by being more considerate – do not litter, use facilities with care to keep them in good condition, be responsible to other stakeholders etc. These simple efforts on our part can and will make a difference to our living environment. Our Town Council needs our cooperation and support to improve the community in which we live in and we all have a stake in. This is our Town Council!

The next time you come across an estate cleaner or town council staff, do not forget to offer them a word of gratitude or even go as far as offering them a packet of drink. I am certain this will mean a lot to them as they continue with their routine to service your community. This is Our Town Council!

Thank you to all the staff and officers of the 15 town councils in Singapore. Thank you for making a tangible difference in the lives of Singaporeans. It has not been easy for you guys, but thanks for being there and bearing with our incessant demands and feedback.

Thank you.

Filed under: Aljunied GRC, Singapore, Town Councils

Reforms not Rhetoric: A response to Prime Minister’s New Year Message 2012

“Much as we [PAP] would like to, it is not possible to please everyone completely. If all sides refuse to budge, Singapore will be gridlocked and nothing will move. Hence, we need to uphold a spirit of give and take, and actively search for creative and practical outcomes that serve the common good. And, after the final decision has been made, I hope that all parties will rally behind this collective decision.” (Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, New Year Message, 1 January 2012)

A ‘new normal’ is to say the least normal. A ‘new normal’ is still a normal political state of affairs. What Singapore really needs is a ‘New Deal’ as I have previously written extensively on. In the 12^th Parliament, the brutal fact of the matter is, the PAP has 81 seats while the largest alternative presence in the form of the Workers’ Party has 6 seats. The cynic will say that Parliament remains a rubber stamp for government agenda and he is not wrong in that respect.

The person of  the year in Singapore in 2011 should be the residents of Aljunied GRC after their admirable feat of kick starting that political reform process on 8 May 2011. The onus for tangible institutional reforms remains firmly on the plate of the PAP. Similarly, the biggest obstacle to systemic reforms lies not in the political wrangling and grandstanding of the alternative party in Parliament but on the intransigence of the ruling PAP in its attitude towards alternative and credible ideas during the policy-making process, masking their own ideas under the facade of the  “common good” and the “collective [majority] decision.”

The Workers’ Party’s Secretary-General, Mr. Low Thia Khiang has categorically allay the fears of Prime Minister’s Lee Hsien Loong by stating on the morning of the Party’s election victory in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Hougang Single-Member Constituency (SMC) that “Singaporeans have looked up to the Workers’ Party as a rational, responsible and credible party. They have responded to the approach of politics, which I have taken, that we should not oppose for the sake of (opposing), although we are the opposition. He went on to state that “[he] also do not believe that we should do grand standing by trying to show people that we are very confrontational just because we are the opposition; we will confront when necessary.

With this in mind, Mr. Howard Lee rightly encapsulates the political direction that Singapore should take, to “get out of politics and into policy.” In his piece for TheOnlineCitizen on 10 October 2011, He wrote that:

It should now be a time for our elected representatives to roll up their sleeves and get down to doing what they have been elected to do. In other words, it is time to get out of politics and into policy. This should be realised in changes and updates to existing policies that Singaporeans so wanted to see, which I believe drove the decisions that many voters made in this election year.

As Legislative Assistant to Mr. Low Thia Khiang, with much of my spare time being devoted to ground work and looking into the requests of the constituents, I can fully comprehend what the Prime Minister is trying to get at when he says that “Much as we would like to, it is not possible to please everyone completely.” However, I was very intrigued by his idea that “If all sides refuses to budge, Singapore will be gridlocked and nothing will move.” Simply put, in the current context that we are in, there will not be any parliamentary and policy gridlock. Period.

With this in mind, while Prime Minister Lee’s New Year Message is a step in the right direction, I hope that he recognises that more often than not, it is the PAP who refuses to “uphold a spirit of give and take” and accepts “creative and practical outcomes that serve the common good.” Certainly, when a “final decision has been made, all parties [should] rally behind the decision” but it is only possible if and only if that decision is in sync with the pulse of the population and speaks to the aspirations, hopes and dreams of the ordinary Singaporean like no other, or at the least the majority of Singaporeans. What the PAP thinks is good for Singapore may not be what Singaporeans rationally want from their government. There is a disconnect. It is not about ideas or ideology. It is also less about winning the political argument. It is more fundamental and systemic than that and it revolves around that disconnect between governance as envisioned by the PAP and the harsh realities on the ground.

It is ridiculously clumsy to seek out the “common good” when the voice of the individual voter has been diluted by the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system and the current first-past-the post  arrangement. A parliamentary election that is organised under the Prime Minister’s office does not ensure political neutrality and it does not foster the development of a tighter collective will and common good. For better representation of the common good through voter diversity, Singapore should work towards an alternative system of proportional representation so that party votes can be reflected at the national level. The power of Parliament as the people’s representatives should be unfettered and thus the Office of the Elected Presidency should be abolished. Political reforms should be one of the priorities of this government if Prime Minister Lee is serious and genuine about a transformed and reformed PAP in the context of a ‘new normal’.

The Prime Minister in his New Year’s message highlighted that the issue of population “is a particularly complex and critical challenge”. I agree with him. I would also like to point out that the Workers’ Party in its “Towards a First World Parliament” Manifesto has dedicated an entire section to population and immigration, proposing a total of 13 policy proposals to move this country in the right direction. Similarly, the Workers’ Party proposed that ministers’ remuneration should be benchmarked internationally against the political office of developed countries and their remuneration should also take into account of all associated benefits under the total remuneration or total employment costs.

Will the PAP be willing to consider these rational and constructive solutions for the practical benefits that it can bring even though the proposals or ideas may have originated from the Workers’ Party?

Only time will tell whether Prime Minister Lee’s New Year Message is a potential vision for political reforms and policy changes or a rhetorical, warm and fuzzy piece of writing that contributes little to a country that is full of promise and potential, and one which I am proud to call home.

With that, I wish all Singaporeans a very healthy and rewarding 2012.

Thank you.

Filed under: Aljunied GRC, PAP, Parliament, Politics, Singapore, Workers' Party

This is a little note of gratitude.

This is a little note of gratitude. 

I started this journey with a few, until you came along.

Regardless of your station in life, you step forward and stood up to be counted.

From all four corners, we came together for a common purpose.

To serve the residents of Aljunied GRC together

At the end of a SMS or an email, you volunteered your time and energies

Weekday or weekends, it was not a problem.

You came along and with the little you have, you gave your all.

Thank you.

Tabula rasa, a blank slate was all I have.

Possibilities was abound, Hope was in the air.

In you I see commitment, commitment even in the most mundane of tasks.

In you I see responsibility, responsibility towards your fellow volunteers and each individual face in the crowd.

In you I see initiative, initiative to build a dynamic and enriching community.

In you I see passion, passion to be involved with no returns in sight.

In you i see a priceless you.

Thank you.

I provided the opportunity for you to serve, you taught me humility.

Thank you.

—

To all the committee members and volunteers of Bedok Reservoir-Punggol division, Aljunied GRC, 

This is my little note of gratitude that I have written specially for you.

I am really glad that you are together on this journey with me. I am so proud of you. Thank you for your hard work, your perseverance and your unrelenting commitment to the team week in and week out. The journey that we are on was never easy to begin with. Your efforts while often not directly recognised, goes a long way in sharing my worries and responsibilities and helping each resident to fulfill their respective aspirations for the community. Words cannot articulate the sense of gratitude I hold in me, and simple words of mine do not do justice to the contributions you have made to strengthening the team in Bedok Reservoir-Punggol.

You gave me a chance to know you and learn from you. Every opportunity that I share with you is a constant exercise in servant leadership and a lesson in humility.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Regards,

Bernard Chen Jiaxi

12 December 2011, 00 09hrs

Filed under: Aljunied GRC

Constructive Disobedience

Oscar Wilde in his book, “The Soul of Man under Socialism” has this to say about disobedience

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who reads history, is man’s original virtue. It is  through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made.

Singapore today needs constructive disobedience. By constructive disobedience, I mean disobedience not for the sake of disobedience, opposition not for the sake of opposition, Attempts to continually review the national consensus as one common citizenry and to rescript the dominant narrative that has tied this country down for the past 46 years so that Singapore can continue to hold the initiative in a globalised world and a challenging environment to further Singapore’s national interest and meet the dreams and aspirations of ordinary Singaporeans should be embraced and encouraged.

At the age of 21, I joined the Workers’ Party, a party in opposition since 1957 when it was first founded by Mr. David Marshall, Singapore’s first Chief Minister. I joined the Workers’ Party not because I am anti-PAP but because I am pro-Singapore. I joined the Workers’ Party not because I hate the PAP but because I want to serve the people of Singapore. I joined the Workers’ Party not because I want to disobey and rebel but because I want to contribute, to contribute to the nation-building process, to give back to this country for what this country has given me and to make this country a better home than the one I inherited from my parents. As a matter of fact, you can be a Singaporean and still join the ranks of the Workers’ Party.

Supporters and the members of the PAP are Singaporeans, so are the supporters and members of the Workers’ Party. In our own special way, while we may have differing visions and aspirations and policies for the country, we shared a common citizenship and are nationalists, patriots and leaders in our own right. But it is exactly the differing visions, aspirations and policies that make Singapore stronger, a home that rides not merely on its many infrastructural and material achievements but a recognition, tacit though it may be to appreciate the people around us, to redefine what is truly important to us as one people and to reclaim the history and heritage of this home for our children. That is why I joined the Workers’ Party. I am first a Singaporean son, then a Workers’ Party member.

On 7 May 2011, the residents of Hougang and Aljunied voted not with their hearts but with their heads for a more compassionate and dynamic Singapore. They did the right thing as sons and daughters of Singapore and paved the way towards a First World Parliament. The residents of Hougang and Aljunied may have been chastised for making a wrong decision by the incumbent, but we cannot deny their contributions to the nation-building process of this country. Indeed, I applaud and salute the efforts of these constructive “rebels” of Aljunied and I thank them for their every vote for a constructive, rational, responsible and respectable party to represent their interests in Parliament.

For the voters in Aljunied and Hougang who voted for the PAP, you have exercised your constitutional right as a Singaporean. You were loyal to Singapore. You had a choice and made your choice. You voted not for orthodoxy and familiarity but for progress. Similarly, many voted for the Workers’ Party less because of change but more for happiness, prosperity and progress for this country. Together, as one common constituency, the voters of Aljunied voted for Singapore.

Constructive disobedience, responsible opposition, rational challenging of the status quo and respectable politics can and should be virtues of Singapore. As Singapore grows in stature and matures as a nation, I am proud to have done my small part for Singapore, as a constructive and responsible “rebel”. When you next see a constructive and responsible rebel, instead of frowning upon them, do take a step forward and extend your appreciation towards them for their contributions towards Singapore.

My name is Bernard Chen Jiaxi. I am first a Singaporean son, then a Workers’ Party member. Will you take this Singaporean journey together with me?

Filed under: Aljunied GRC, History, PAP, Politics, Singapore, Workers' Party

From PAP Eunos Branch Office to Eunos Community Club . . .

I came across this notice while I was at Block 616, Bedok Reservoir Road tonight

Our Meet-the-People Session will be suspended until further notice. 

For urgent matter, please proceed to the Eunos Community Club

And so says the People’s Action Party (PAP) Branch Office at Block 616, Bedok Reservoir Road. This Branch office was where Mr. Zainal Abidin Rasheed conducted his weekly Meet-the-People Sessions before 7 May 2011.

So interestingly, after the electoral defeat that the PAP Aljunied GRC team suffered at the May 2011 polls, the PAP Branch Office referred residents with likely issues pertaining to HDB rental, fines, permanent residency, long-term visit passes, financial assistance etc (common issues at the weekly Meet-the-People Sessions) to the Eunos Community Centre directly opposite. How effective would it be given that the Community Club is more interested in ‘promoting racial harmony and social cohesion through the various cultural, educational, recreational, sporting, social and other community-based activities organised specially for residents’?

Shouldn’t it be more effective and practical to refer residents who needs help to their elected Member-of-Parliament (Eunos division, Aljunied GRC), Mr. Pritam Singh of the Workers’ Party, who concidentally conducts his weekly Monday Meet-the-People Sessions at Block 615, Bedok Reservoir Road, the HDB block just besides the Branch office?

Any PAP members and/or grassroots leaders in Eunos division, Aljunied GRC care to provide an explanation to this peculiar notice on their noticeboard? I certainly hope that it is not politics at play here. The interests of the residents should be placed above any partisan agenda of individual political parties. I believe the PAP should understand that. Residents of Aljunied GRC and Singaporeans would be very disappointed if that is not the case.

From PAP Eunos Branch Office to Eunos Community Club. Hmm . . .

The PAP would certainly be applauded if they had done the right and gracious thing and make a conscious effort to refer residents with constituency issues to Mr. Pritam Singh, Workers’ Party Member-of-Parliament for Aljunied GRC (Eunos division) and which would go a long way in reclaiming the ground they had lost at the last General Elections.

Or am I being too naive and idealistic over here?

P.S. When I was doing my house visits outreach with the Workers’ Party at Aljunied GRC between 2006 – 2011, I often suggest residents to look for their MPs at their weekly Meet-the People Session.

The motto of the People’s Association reads like this: Bringing People Together. Bringing People Together (Motto of the People’s Association) is about being able to transcend the political divide and do what is best for the Singaporeans.

Filed under: Aljunied GRC, PAP, Grassroots