Nee Soon GRC MP K Shanmugam shared how one of his fellow MPs, Derrick Goh, came across an unruly resident during a meet the people session.
Here is what he said
Our experience at Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) is generally positive – people see us when they need assistance. Sometimes they are upset, but when we explain the policies, they understand, even if not completely happy. But every once in a while we will come across someone who is quite unreasonable.
Recently, one of my fellow GRC MPs, Derrick Goh Soon Hee, came across such a person in his area, Nee Soon Link.
His residents have generally given positive feedback on Nee Soon. They have noted the steady and continued improvements at Nee Soon Link. I have been monitoring the progress of our newest division and I know Derrick as the new MP there, has been working hard for our residents.
But on Oct 10, there was an unfortunate incident.
A resident, Paul, was recently allocated a new flat nearby. He came to MPS and angrily shouted out two demands:
1. That a covered walkway, about 1km long, be built from his new Melody Spring BTO to N4 mall using a specific route along XCL Academy. He wants this because he claims that it is too inconvenient to walk through the existing estate, with covered walkway (which will take an additional 5 minutes) to reach N4 mall. Covered walkways are often built by Town Councils, using residents’ monies. We need to be careful about how we use the monies. Paul’s request that we build another walkway, (because that will shorten his walk by 5 mins) is unreasonable. To build another walkway is not proper use of residents’ monies, and if we took this approach, eventually the amounts that residents have to pay will increase.
2. Insisted that a bus service to Khatib MRT and Chong Pang to start by Dec 2022 this year even though a new bus service 801 was added recently. He refused to listen to volunteers who tried to tell him how MyTransport.SG app could be used to reduce waiting time.
At the MPS, Paul made his demands in a threatening manner, in the full view of other residents and volunteers there. He loudly threatened to shame and harass the MP on social media if his demands were not met by year end.
This behaviour is quite unacceptable. Unfortunately, some are resorting to such behaviour.