Doing what’s right. Even when there are no right answers: Stories from our Activists

The People’s Action Party (PAP) commemorates its 70th anniversary this year. In the fifth instalment of a seven-part series, Petir highlights Heidi Mah, who believes in respectful and wholehearted service. 

Heidi Mah: Hi, I’m Heidi. I’m 29 and I’ve been part of the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng [KAKS] team [Jalan Besar GRC] for slightly more than 10 years. 

One of the most affecting volunteering experiences for me happened eight years ago. I was still a young writer for Meet-The-People sessions, still in university. I always took pride in trying to understand the different policies to be able to help residents with different requests.  

During one of the sessions, this elderly man came in. He smelled strongly of urine. 

He also had a very difficult request. Basically, he believed that his neighbour was stealing money from him at night, and therefore he wanted the money to be back in his bank account.  

It was obvious that, from his physical appearance and the way that he interacted, that he was not in the best state of mind. 

It was challenging to also assist with his request, beyond just asking SSO [Social Service Offices] to check in on his welfare and make sure that his basic necessities are met. At that point in time, I felt demoralised. 

Then Comrade Alvin Tan (he was volunteering with KAKS and is now with MoCa [Moulmein-Cairnhill]) came in. Comrade Tan helped the old man get a fresh pair of pants, walking alongside him out of the branch to find one. 

And that was really a lesson that hit home hard for me. Because it taught me that really there are sometimes no right answers, or no right policy answers, to certain situations. 

Sometimes, the best kind of help that we can offer to others in the moment is sometimes to empathise and be willing to walk alongside them. 

Regardless of the causes that we choose to advocate for — volunteering at animal shelters or soup kitchens or starting out a passion project to improve Singapore’s community — my hope is that we’re able to support each other wholeheartedly and respectfully.