Murali Pillai, 48, the People's Action Party (PAP) candidate for the Bukit Batok SMC by-election, has been many things to many people.

To the Chinese residents in Bukit Batok, he is better known as "Ah Mu". To those who know him formally, they will probably address him by his full name - Muralidharan Pillai.

To his Aljunied GRC activists, he was the "giant-slayer" who apparently beat WP's star catch Chen Show Mao in GE2015, and in PM Lee's words, "if Paya Lebar (in Aljunied GRC) had been a single (member) constituency, Murali would be the MP by now". To his Bukit Batok activists, he was the grassroots volunteer who served Bukit Batok for 16 years.

And to his opponent from Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)? He will just be the 83rd PAP representative in parliament and a part-time MP should he get elected.

This week, with the quiet Bukit Batok suburb and the soft-spoken Murali in the spotlight, we learnt more about the main man in white as we reached mid-way point of the nine-day by-election campaign.

Can we get a half-time report? At least that was our aim when we first requested for an interview with Murali.

He agreed and offered to spend May 2nd afternoon at one of the void decks (Blk 142, Bukit Batok Street 11) with us.

Little did we know that we will be peppered with more sports analogies, more football anecdotes, and how much he is a team player.

Why did you decide to enter politics and join the PAP, especially with the fact that your late father was involved with Barisan Sosialis?

"Well, I didn’t volunteer to join PAP. It came through a process. I was asked by the late Dr. Ong Chit Chung (Bukit Batok MP) to help a resident in a criminal pro-bono trial. So I did it and thankfully it went reasonably OK and he (Ong Chit Chung) hosted a lunch.

Over lunch, he introduced what were the activities of the PAP Bukit Batok branch—I remember it was a Friday—and then he said, 'Why don’t you come down and meet me at the branch in the evening?' I politely said 'Yes,' and then when I went back home, I told my wife, 'Dr. Ong asked me to go the branch, and I just politely said yes. I’m not sure whether I want to go.' My wife said, 'Hey, you told an MP you know, you better go.' So that kind of made me decide definitely to go.

Initially, I was a bit of two minds but my wife really set me straight. I decided to go and then I took out the street directory, 'Where is Bukit Batok Street 11?'

I navigated here, and it was only when I came here that I realised what the PAP branch does. Prior to this, I didn’t really get a good understanding and then I realised, day in, day out, people are being helped. No issue is too mundane, be it leaky toilets, pipes, or neighbours who can’t get along; every issue is looked at methodically and if there is a problem in delivering a solution, a good explanation is given on the trade-offs. That’s how I really got interested and realised that people’s lives are being improved.

So that was my main motivation (to help people) and I took on the role of a legal clinic coordinator and that was the start and after that, it brought many, many other things."

And why PAP?

"Well it’s because this party—not saying it’s the perfect party—but the values are the values that I can align myself with: multi-racial and multi-religious harmony.

Very critical, and that is something that as a person of a minority race, I fully endorse, I fully appreciate. Beyond that, a level playing field—meritocracy—but I also see a real determination to help the people who are less well-off so that we can create a just and fair society. That kind of values really attracted me to choose PAP and I think that PAP offers the best chance of a future for Singaporeans. So that’s really why I chose PAP."

Our interview was interrupted a few times as Bukit Batok residents pass us by. Murali did not hesitate to go up and chit-chat with them when they approached him.

May 2 was a May Day holiday and Bukit Batok residents, like many Singaporeans, were going about with their marketing chores, and visiting their family members.

In a moment that perhaps highlights the influence of the ruling party in the area, a young girl saw Murali and shouted "PAP, PAP" a couple of times. That brought a smile to Murali's face.

One thing that readers might be interested in: Sports.

What position did you play when you were young? Who is the best local player in our dream team era - consisting players like Fandi Ahmad, V Sundramoorthy and Malek Awab?

Murali shared that he doesn't just play football and "hockey as well".

"I call Sundram Anbu (love in Tamil). As far as I recall, I was playing in the defence (Murali was a right-back). Sundram was a silky striker. Always from defence, I will try to pass the ball to him. Bypass the midfield, pass the ball to him and he will do the necessary. That was the kind of strategy we had. Now and then I will come up (laughs), but most of the time I’m a defender."

The "best player" question was when Murali copped out. He told Mothership.sg that he was "hard put to choose between them" because they "are all very good players. That’s why they are called the dream team."

It was also the moment that Murali launched his "team" narrative on us. He said,

"Because it’s a team, it’s not a team of individuals. It’s a team and the great thing about the team is you know together they are much better than the individual abilities, the individual strengths. Something that is demonstrated by the dream team".

When we probed further on who Murali would pay to watch, he would reveal something that none of us knew - he is (horror of horrors) a Liverpool fan.

"Let me just say that I am a Liverpool fan. You know, and for Liverpool, the theme is 'You'll never walk alone'.  There is always a focus on the team.

I can tell you there are many people who are very skillful. In fact, back in Sembawang, there are people more skillful than Anbu (Sundram). But they never make the cut. Because they just take the ball, dribble on their own and have their own fun. But that’s not going to contribute to the team effort. It’s a balance of everything – skill, acumen, team tactics. All these things go into effectiveness."

Using this football analogy, what role do you see yourself playing in this PAP team?

"Hmmm…That’s an interesting point."

Noticing the pause, we asked him whether he sees himself as a defender too.

"Well, I think it’s a great analogy and I have not put much thought into it.

I suspect I see myself more as a bit of a mid-field player, to connect the defence to the strike force. I see that as my role."

Now that you have come to the mid-point of the campaign - about three and a half days of campaigning left - can you share with us your assessment of your own campaign so far?

"I have been fortunate to receive the warmth and support from a good number of residents...They have given me good opportunities to explain the manifesto and the new plans.

I received quite a good number of feedback on how to improve things and this is something that we would have to work on."

Murali added that improvement is "always a continual process" and his determination is "not to just sweep anything under the carpet".

And his aim for Bukit Batok residents?

He "hopes to work on each and every piece of feedback and suggestion, and always going back to the residents" and explain to them why he has taken action or not taken action for various reasons.

Otherwise, he explained that the "strong relationship" between PAP and the residents "would be affected. This is something which I am certainly very very keen to preserve."

How about his campaign so far?

Murali replied that he was still "explaining the policies, the details that our residents can properly assess the merits of the plan that I have outlined for them."

He hoped that "come 7 of May, hopefully, they will give me the full support."

On whether he sees a change in attitude of the residents towards him, Murali said,

"I can say, generally speaking, they are quite welcoming, when I seek the opportunity to speak to them on the manifesto, for my plans, even just to introduce myself. I’m really grateful for that.

Beyond that, I would say that in politics, somebody said a long time ago, one week is a long time, and in this Internet age, I think one day can be a long time (grins).

I am very clear in my mind that there is a certain level of fluidity. Every day, we have to make sure that we keep our ears on the ground and also to address any issues that may come up.

Beyond that, it has got to do with helping each other. Many of the programmes that we have started – the job placement program, the health cooperative program, are programs which leverage on the community effort."

And how about his take on the PAP leaders' involvement in his campaign? 

"I have been asked this question twice now. My assessment is still the same. Ultimately, it’s about me convincing the Bukit Batok residents. That’s critical.

This is a by-election and I am the candidate. This is an SMC. So I bear the responsibility.

I need to convince the Bukit Batok residents of my plans and I hope that they will vote for PAP, vote for me to support the plans.

I really hope to get a strong mandate from them."

Additional reporting by Matthias Ang.

Photos by Lim Weixiang for Mothership.sg.

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