MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling’s Hypes Her Assistance But Makes No Mention Of The Failures

<Reader’s Contributions>

Dear Editorial,

It came to my attention through friends and fellow congregants of 2 post relating to my seeking help from PAP MacPherson branch, 1 from Ms “J Ten” and another from Ms Tin. Both are great women, passionate about assisting others and this can sometimes bring about miscommunication and misinterpretation of the other’s intent, worsened by third party grassroots involvement.

However, the focus now is on Ms Tin’s ‘clarification’ which I feel, hypes her assistance but makes no mention of the failures behind them. This was precisely the reason Ms “J Ten” accompanied me to explain the issues with more clarity to the grassroots being a double masters student herself.

In her post, Ms Tin mentions I was known to her since 2011 when she took over from the previous MP and inherited loads of unresolved issues of MacPhersonians. My son and I would head to her MPS not merely to seek assistance but to also appeal to various government agencies on policy matters as this cripples Ms Tin’s ability to help anyone when the government refuses to listen to her or the people. I launch appeals with the intent of benefiting all Singaporeans in mind and this is known to Ms Tin and her team. While I did obtain $80 NTUC vouchers from her CCC fund twice annually, I seldom appeal for FA from SSO Geylang Serai as they consider anyone earning $1000 or above to be “high income earners” and it will be virtually impossible to obtain anything from them. Mr Gilbert Goh who is active in MacPherson had highlighted my predicament and this was never disputed by Ms Tin or the SSO.

In August after the election, MacPherson CC obtained approval to utilise PA funds to change my rusty rubbish chute, a matter I had feedback since May 2019 before my hospitalization of 3 months. The issue arose due to an uncooperative resident living above our units, pouring loads of water thrice daily down the chute which caused corrosion and leakage. This is also experienced by my neighbours but I am more vocal than they are, hence I deduce it would be better political milage for the PA to change my chute than to have a whole row of them replaced. My late husband and I also rarely receive financial aid from either “SECDC” or SSO Geylang Serai, only once or twice when I was hospitalized last year and exhausted my 60 day leave limit. I still have a letter of my late husband from a Ms Kua Mei Yin of SECDC, rejecting Mr Matthias Yao’s request for FA when my husband was suffering from kidney failure, liver disease and heart troubles. It was my son who obtained FA from them ranging from $100-$400 when he had a traffic accident and produced medical certification from CGH. We have never approached any other organisations.

This year during circuit breaker, I faced the possibility of work termination and was extremely anxious. I thus, emailed Ms Tin and she wrote to SSO and the Agency for Integrated Care. Needless to mention, SSO immediately rejected her appeal but AIC delivered some groceries. My further correspondence with Ms Tin did not yield a reply and Mr Gilbert Goh/Ms Mandy who were privy of this soon took over care of myself during the circuit breaker period.

While TTSH did render MediFund to myself, I am unable to utilise it at other institutions like SingHealth as they do not recognise the verification of Medical Social Workers not belonging to their field. This was 1 of the changes I had sought through Ms Tin since 2012, the centralization of MediFund for the benefit of the elderly. I do not have further follow-up appointment at TTSH but am still receiving ongoing treatment for other chronic ailment at SGH and Polyclinic. I have never obtained any anything from Ms Tin’s MacPherson Care Fund.

I continue to call for Ms Tin to fight for better employment of elderly like myself as the re-employment legislation is pretty toothless. Elderly who reach 62 are still at risk of termination without retrenchment benefits and I have still not heard anything concrete from the Tripartite Alliance Ltd to address this.

Finally, the account provided by “CY” against Ms “J Ten” contains falsehoods and I will leave it to Ms “J Ten” if she wishes to dispute “CY’s” account with photographs. What I witnessed that is particularly troubling from this incident is: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes” as I noticed “CY’s” audacity to disparage another Indian elderly who had backed Ms “J Ten’s” feedback. He is not here to defend himself and is probably unaware that an allegation had been levelled against him.

Hence, I hope the grassroots who receive vast benefits from the PA will stop being little emperors and empresses in between the people and their MP, deciding who gets to see their representative and who doesn’t. This is already the 3rd batch of new grassroots serving MacPherson.

Have a good weekend and G-d bless!

Yours faithfully,
Mdm Tan