In this Petir exclusive, we follow two newly elected MPs, Cai Yinzhou (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), Valerie Lee (Pasir-Ris Changi GRC) and their team of volunteers as they continued a time-honoured PAP tradition.
Often, it’s a simple set up of tables and chairs at a void deck. Occasionally, rooms that hold happy, squealing kindergarten children in the day, are repurposed into workspaces at night.
Each week, PAP volunteers from branches all over Singapore, set up their respective Meet-the-People (MPS) session, a 60-year-old tradition of the PAP government to reach out and help Singaporeans. It also offers residents a direct line of access to their elected representative.
“Most of our residents come to see the MP as a last resort,” said Mr Abdul Rahman bin Mohamed, a veteran party volunteer at PAP’s branch in Toa Payoh Central.
An hour before the start of MPS, volunteers arrive to set up the venue. Tables and chairs are arranged into different stations, along with a registration booth by the entrance.
The energy and camaraderie of the volunteers is palpable. Many of them have served at the same branch for years, if not decades.
Drafting letters, managing queues, and translating languages. Everybody is there to chip in, helping in different ways.
There was Mr Kenneth Lim, a lifelong Toa Payoh resident who followed the footsteps of his mother, herself a volunteer. To date, he has been with the branch, serving his community for nearly 15 years.
Not forgetting the legendary Mr Rahman, who started volunteering with the Toa Payoh branch in 1986.
“Since the time of [Former Toa Payoh MP] Eric Cheong!” he remarked.
By 6.45 pm, a queue of residents had formed outside the Sparkletots preschool at Toa Payoh Central.
Among them was Madam Soh Siew Geok, who had travelled from Yishun to see Mr Cai Yinzhou, the newly elected MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
“I like to get his signature,” she told a volunteer in Chinese.
Mdm Soh proudly showed us her labour of love—an autograph book filled with signatures of various MPs, past and present.
Over at Pasir Ris Blk 216, newly elected MP Valerie Lee is helming a new branch for the Changi division.
Some of the volunteers here are new. Many more were drawn from the Siglap and Pasir Ris East branches.
There is an excited buzz in the air, almost like a school orientation camp in the first week, with a few seasoned volunteers passing out instructions to newer volunteers and others figuring out the stations they are manning.
But that hardly matters, as the volunteers are united by one common goal – to serve their community and help those in need.
Watching Mr Cai and Ms Lee interact with their residents, it is hard to imagine them as rookie MPs.
With a can-do spirit, both MPs are in their element. Moving from one table to another, they attend personally to every resident, trying to understand the problems they faced.
Ultimately, the earnestness of both MPs and volunteers is what makes MPS a time-honoured tradition.
MPS has also become a sanctuary where Singaporeans have a direct avenue to seek help from their MPs.
Housing issues, employment matters and financial difficulties. These have consistently been some of the most common problems.
So, how can MPs and volunteers help? By asking the right questions, understanding each resident’s individual stories, offering a listening ear and a helping hand.
At MPS, every resident matters. MPs and volunteers pay detailed attention to each case, drilling down to the most important points they need to highlight in the appeal letters they write to government agencies on behalf of the resident. This ensures the best chance of success.
Recognising this, Ms Lee has tapped on a volunteer with some 17 years of MPS experience to conduct a masterclass in HDB appeals.
That will help us better serve our residents, she said.
Some residents require immediate help. That can come in the form of emergency grocery rations or shelter for vulnerable individuals. Volunteers are trained to recognise and react quickly to these cases.
It is not uncommon for groups of volunteers to be on their phones into the wee hours of the night, liaising with social services and charities to get immediate relief for an emergency case. That is why disruptions to MPS can significantly impact the work of our volunteers and deprive residents of help at particularly vulnerable moments.
As time passes and strong bonds are built, MPs and volunteers often become well-acquainted with residents, following up on their issues during house visits.
The work continues after the official end of MPS. Tables and chairs are put away. Then, a debrief, a sort of MPS within the MPS, if you will. The volunteers discuss the issues that have come up and the MP updates volunteers on new developments. It is close to 11 pm before the doors are shut.
For many volunteers, there is school or work the next day. But that has not deterred them from coming, rain or shine, week after week, dedicating their time to a cause they believe in.
As Bryan, a young volunteer in his 20s, summed it up, “It’s about serving the residents.”
Kampungs may have turned into HDBs. But MPS is where the kampung spirit continues to thrive.
