On July 5, the People's Action Party team contesting Marine Parade GRC issued their speeches during the Constituency Broadcast.
The PAP team, led by Speaker Tan Chaun-Jin, also comprises Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong, Seah Kian Peng, and newcomers Tan See Leng and Mohd Fahmi Aliman.
Their full speeches are as follows:
Tan Chuan-Jin
[Tan began by greeting the audience in Malay, Mandarin and Tamil]
Good evening friends, residents of Marine Parade GRC, I am Tan Chuan-Jin. Thank you very much for your support over these many years.
For my team and I, it has been a tremendous privilege to serve you, our residents.
You will be familiar with Seah Kian Peng and Edwin Tong. But we are now joined by Dr Tan See Leng and Mohd Fahmi Aliman.
But we do have to bid farewell to ESM Goh Chok Tong and Professor Fatima Lateef. We are especially thankful to ESM Goh who has been in Marine Parade since 1976, that was when I was in primary one!
But despite the changes, our commitment to serve you, the residents, remains unchanged.
I remember when I first started as an MP. I had a resident who had some drug issues and complex problems. We were working with her continuously. She didn't give up, my volunteers didn't give up, our agencies didn't give up. We continued to do what we can.
After a few years, we didn't see her. Recently, she came back. She looked different, she looked better. And she told me she was very pleased to approach me for help again.
She was now holding supervisory responsibilities in a cleaning job, but because of her previous records, she couldn't gain access to some of the facilities. She asked if we could help.
I can tell you for my team and I, we were incredibly touched to see her in this state. We were more than happy to help. And we were glad we were able to do so.
I think in Marine Parade GRC, we are fully committed to making sure that in everything we do, our people, you, our residents, remain at the centre of everything we do.
I'll now hand you over to Edwin to share with you his thoughts and ideas. Edwin.
Edwin Tong
Good evening, friends and residents of Marine Parade GRC. Thank you for listening to us. My name is Edwin Tong. I was first elected into Parliament in 2011. And in 2018, I was appointed Senior Minister of State in the Ministries of Law and Health.
Since 2015, I have been serving the residents of Joo Chiat. It's been a tremendous privilege to have done so. And I am standing in because I wish to continue with this work.
My colleagues and I are committed to doing our best to improve your lives, to enhance your living spaces, and to make Joo Chiat truly a better home for all. Over the last term, much has been done. And I look forward to doing even more. Let me say a little more about this.
The MRT is coming to Joo Chiat for the first time. In fact, two stations in the Thomson-East Coast will be at Joo Chiat. It will improve connectivity and ease of travel.
There will be a new Polyclinic. It will have a broad range of medical services, to cater to our people, especially our ageing population, and it will be ready by the end of this year.
We are also upgrading the Siglap and Frankel estates. It is something I am particularly proud of. I raised it in Parliament, lobbied the government a few times over the last couple of years. And I am very happy to say we will now be proceeding with the upgrading.
It will refresh and rejuvenate refresh Siglap and Frankel. And we will do it collaboratively with you. Working with you to understand how you live and play and then designed the proposed changes around that.
We've also recently opened the upgraded Sparkletots at Joo Chiat, spacious, modern with a lot more outdoor facilities.
But more importantly, our children, from whatever background, can now have access to quality preschool and childcare in a good environment and have enhanced, better facilities.
Finally, I believe that building a home for all is not just about hardware. It is not just about the parks and the MRT spaces, it is about the people. It is about the people we live with. We should all not just live within a community, but as a community, so that people of diverse races, cultures, backgrounds can all come together, live as one, and be proud to call Joo Chiat our home.
So help us with your mandate, please support us. We will continue to do our best to serve you. Please vote my team, please vote the PAP.
请支持人民行动党，请投我们一票。谢谢。
Thank you very much, I'll now hand over you to Kian Peng.
Seah Kian Peng
Thank you, Edwin. I am Seah Kian Peng. It has been a privilege to serve you since 2006.
Over the years, our GRC has renewed many time(s). InBraddell Heights, we have access to good amenities and infrastructure. When the Circle Line first started operating, 3 of the 5 stations were, Bartley, Serangoon & Lorong Chuan stations. It made a world of difference.
The next big project is a new Polyclinic and a kidney dialysis centre. This is great news especially for the older residents.
But, as what Chuan-Jin and Edwin have said, while infrastructure is important, at the end of the day, it’s the people that matter. You and I, we are building a special kind of community in Marine Parade GRC. One that looks out and takes care of its people.
And which is why in our GRC, we have a range of WeCare programmes to help the vulnerable in our midst, be it providing free meals, food rations, befriending services or tuition and rehab sessions.
For me, family and duty of care is key to everything. Which is why in Parliament, I speak out on these causes.
I remember 14 years ago when I first became a MP, one of the first things I raised was I wanted for fathers to spend time when their babies are born.
In 2006, there was no paternity leave for fathers. I raised this for six consecutive years. I'm glad there has been much progress since and now, fathers get to enjoy 14 days of paternity leave.
Another area is providing care for parents. In 2010, I led a group of MPs and NMPs to amend the Maintenance of Parents Act. We did this through a private members bill. We wanted to provide peace of mind to elderly parents. This is something which is dear to me. And beyond money, security of family ties has made a positive difference to the lives of many elderly parents, to their sons and daughters.
There's much more work to be done. Which is why we ask you to vote us so that we can continue to make a difference, continue to make Marine Parade GRC a home where there's a place and a heart for everyone.
Let me hand over to See Leng to speak about this more. Thank you.
Tan See Leng
尊敬的居民， 我是陈诗龙。
感谢你们多年来对吴资政和马琳百列团队的支持。
我会继续他们的奋斗以保障我们的生活，保护我们的工作和确保我们的未来。
我很体谅低收入家庭的需求。我希望能够为中低收入家庭做出积极贡献，并且使他们能够不断提升自己，实现自己的梦想和抱负。
随着人口的迅速老龄化，我会为看护者提供充分的社会福利，经济和物质的支持
以便能给他们更好地具备来照顾自己心爱的老年人，的亲人。
我也会与你们居民加紧密切的接触。 通过聆听了解你们的想法，你们的关注，你们的期望。
此外，我还计划帮助你们更好地导航众多可用的政府计划，以确保你们的需求得到充分照顾，而且更能够实现你们的理想。
请支持我们，并给我们投上您的神圣的一票！我们会建立一个具有凝聚力，包容性，关怀和携带性的新加坡。 谢谢
Dear fellow citizens, I am Tan See Leng. Thank you for your support to ESM Goh and his team in Marine Parade through the last 40-odd years. I hope to build on the great work done that has been done by them to save our lives, protect our jobs and ensure our future.
I deeply empathise with the needs of the lower-income families, and I will endeavour to do my utmost to reach out to the middle and lower income residents to help them upgrade themselves and fulfil their hopes and ambitions.
With a rapidly ageing population comes the need for more caregivers to care for our elderly and our loved ones. I will ensure that there is adequate support for our caregivers to better care for them
The Caregiver Support initiative is one that I've planned for almost a year and it will be rolled out in the next couple of weeks.
It will initially provide four aspects. One, respite care, two, a Social Support Network platform, three, training programs, and four, financial assistance for low income families. On top of that there will be subsequent phases where we will introduce more initiatives to help you, our residents.
I will reach continually to all of you, young to old, by listening, actively engaging you, and to understand your concerns, your expectations and help you better navigate to access the different government schemes to better your lives, to make sure that your needs are taken care of. And we will work hard to ensure that as a community we will be better able to perform.
Please vote for us, the PAP. Together, we will build an inclusive and caring society. Thank you. Over to you, Fahmi.
Mohd Fahmi Aliman
Thank you See Leng. Good evening, residents. My name is Fahmi.
I am a firm believer of life-long learning. I want to create awareness for all to learn, relearn and stay relevant and competitive.
Since joining NTUC, I have all the opportunities to learn and to understand the support, the grants and schemes that are available for the residents to take advantage, to improve themselves. Learn new skills, and upgrade themselves. I want the residents of Geylang Serai have this access conveniently.
I hope to be the conduit for the residents and workers to understand that opportunities there available for them to take advantage of. At the national level, and at the agency level, so that they can continually upgrade their skills and learn new things through job fairs, career fairs, and leveraging on Wisma Geylang Serai to organise job-placement centres for the residents.
I have a personal interest and passion to see this through. Through the We Care framework, I will organise focus group discussions for the residents to air out what are the things that we can work together, enhance support for the vulnerable families, improve the accessibility for the disabled and elderly, and make Geylang Serai a greener and more sustainable place to live.
At the same time, maintaining Geylang Serai as the cultural icon of Singapore. Please allow me to say a few words in Malay.
Saya sungguh berbesar hati dapat berkerja bersama Dr Maliki Osman dalam wadah M kuasa tiga dan di Wisma Geylang Serai. Banyak rancangan yang sudah dilakarkan untuk membaharui dan memberi kenaikan kepada Geylang Serai.
Visi projek ini adalah untuk memantapkan watak Budaya Melayu di tempat ini. Hasil yang diinginkan adalah jalur budaya Melayu yang kuat didorongi oleh kerjasama dari semua agensi.
Marilah kita teru bekerjasama untuk mempertingkatkan taraf kehidupan kita menjaga pekerjaan dan membina masa depan yang lebih cerah. Terima kasih.
Tan Chuan-Jin
Terima kasih, Fahmi. For the five of us, our central focus is you, our residents. We care at Marine Parade GRC. We'll work hard to engage you and seek your feedback.
We will explore new ways to bring people together as a community. We'll outreach to those who are vulnerable and to help them. In fact, we ask you to join us to help others. As we help others, we change. As more of us change, society changes along with us. And we can build a fundamentally different and better society here at Marine Parade GRC, and in Singapore.
We ask for your strongest support so that Kian Peng, Edwin, See Leng, Fahmi and myself can continue to serve you, our resident. Our commitment is to care for all, our lives, our jobs and our future. Do give us your support. Please vote for us, please vote PAP. Thank you very much.
Top image from PAP HQ.