Finally! Simple2remember has returned! Officially, let's start the 2nd post this year - with the inspiring experience just now at Chua Chu Kang until 11.15pm (and mind you, i live in Yishun.) Of course, expect more updates and previous interesting experiences which i have yet to share.Today was the first Meet-the-People-Session (MPS) where the 3 RJC students were attached to Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Zaqy Mohamad for the first time. The 3 students-me (James), Rae and Desmond met at 6.45pm at Chua Chu Kang MRT station and reported to the PAP Keat Hong Branch at Blk 353 Choa Chu Kang Central #01-313 Singapore 680353 at 7pm.
For the first few moments of meeting up with a few of the senior volunteers who help out regularly at the MPSs, we chatted about our schools, background and how we can learn from each other over a catered dinner. Mr Zaqy Mohamad came at about 7.20pm and interacted with us for a brief 20 minutes, where he talked to us about the mechanism of the MPS, purpose and importance of it, different kinds of situations we might encounter, as well as a new format that he wished to try out that night for the MPS. Mr Zaqy is an amicable man who shared with us generously on his thoughts and views on many matters ranging from the problems faced by middle-income families to globalization and shifting economies.
Typically, a constituent has to wait 2 times per MPS- once to meet up with a petition writer who pens the letter on behalf of the MP, and another to meet the MP one-to-one to inform the MP of his/her problems. Mr Zaqy’s revised format for that night was to skip the second queuing procedure and he overcomes it by walking from table to table, speaking to the constituent about his/her problems, and reaching a conclusion and after-action right on the spot. In this way, the constituent only needs to queue once. Personally, I feel that this is an efficient approach which could save a lot of waiting time even though I myself have not experienced the first format of MPS before. However, one disadvantage would be that the MP would have to walk around from place to place, probably getting tired more easily since he has to do the walking physically, and organize many things on the spot. For Mr Zaqy’s case, we can see that he was very enthusiastic and passionate about helping out his constituents, never revealing any sense of lethargy all night.
The experience tonight was an extremely fruitful one. The 3 of us were given the privileged opportunity to seat right beside petition writers (one petition writer to one of us) and we were able to find out first-hand, more about the common problems faced by the constituents and interact with them directly. I was even given the chance to take over the petition writer for several occasions and draft the petition letters myself! For today, me and my attached petition writer-Mr Cheong encountered a ___________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________(
haha sorry i can't leak out the individual details =P) ___________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___. I did the petition letters for the last 4 mentioned cases by myself, with the guidance of Mr Cheong!
Through this MPS experience, and the words of Mr Zaqy Mohamad, I found out that we should always be clear on what the resident needs to appeal for, for what he actually needs may be different from what he is saying. For example, in the case of the _____________________ __________________________________________________________________ _____(
alright if you really wanna know more about what's on these lines, appraoch me!)___ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
Also, I learnt that we should always consider other forms of help a resident may need. For example, if a resident has arrears, he/she may also need financial assistance too. In this case, we should check his/her income, household situation etc to see if he/she qualifies for financial aid and help him/her with the application. This learning point was illustrated in my encountered with the ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________(
sorry can't leak out! Find me if you wanna know more!=P)______________ __________________________________________________________________
The MPS is important in the sense that it provides a good means of communicating first-hand with the residents and allows a direct understanding of the problems they face and thus, arrangements can be made to help ease their pains and difficulties. After all, the MP was voted by the people to represent their voices in parliament and to take care of their general well-being.
The 3 of us stayed to help out and gain tremendous amount of new knowledge at the MPS until 11.15pm, when we reluctantly bid goodbye to Mr Zaqy Mohamad and the volunteers as we had to be home earlier to prepare for school the next day. Overall, the MPS session tonight was a pleasurable experience and indeed, we had learnt much new things and developed a new perspective towards the government and residents’ needs.
That's all folks tonight! or should it be "this morning"? Alright, James is even more motivated now to work in the civil service and probably even as a MP in the future (Yea i know people will start saying things like "tell me when that happens cos i'll migrate" and "oh no, Singapore will collaspe!" ................................... But one day i'll show you guys! Humph!). So, you've got to work hard, James. The future is still ahead! Jia You!(more updates coming up...)
