Paul Tambyah gave S$2,000 without question to help elderly during 2013 haze period, volunteer shares

As Singapore approaches the end of the campaigning period for the 2020 General Election, many Singaporeans have shared anecdotes of their encounter with various politicians and candidates running for Parliament.

Donated S$2,000 to volunteer, no questions asked

One Good Samaritan, Benjamin Loh shared his encounter with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chairman Paul Tambyah seven years ago in June 2013, when Singapore was hit by a bout of haze, crossing 400 PSI at one point.Loh, along with roughly 30 other youths, had planned to reach out to around 750 elderly people living at Toa Payoh Lorong 5 within 48 hours, to distribute masks to them.

"I knew the challenging living conditions when my late grandparents were living there and they were most vulnerable without masks and the haze raging," Loh explained.

However, Loh realised that he had rallied the group of youths without ensuring that he had the financial capability to fund the masks for the elderly at the time.

As he grew desperate, Loh dug into a resource portal where various people could pledge resources and put up requests for community ground-up efforts.

"I saw a pledge (with details I can't recall now) from a gentleman called Paul Tambyah pledging cash for those who needed it," Loh wrote.

"I was skeptical at first. But out of desperation, I sent him an email and requested for SGD $2,000 after doing up some basic sums."

To Loh's surprise, Tambyah wired S$2,000 to him the next morning without setting any conditions or requesting for verification.

Photo via Benjamin Loh/FB

Loh clarified that Tambyah had to leave for Geneva and possibly didn't have the time to call or meet him.

"With Dr. Paul Tambyah's help, we managed to do our small part for the elderly, went door to door to do outreach education in dialect and also, brought that bit of warmth and hope for them in form of chrysanthemum tea and masks for them."

Loh added that they managed to pull off the project after spending around S$1,800, and refunded the rest of the money to Tambyah.

Loh's post included email receipts of the correspondence with Tambyah from 2013.

Tambyah is one of Singapore's top disease experts, and is set to be the President of International Society of Infectious Diseases in 2022.

He is running for Parliament in Bukit Panjang Single-Member Constituency, against the People's Action Party (PAP) candidate Liang Eng Hwa.

Top image via Paul Tambyah/FB, Benjamin Loh/FB