If you were to take a quick scroll through Desmond Tan's Instagram account, what you'll find is a few unpolished but precious moments from the freshly sworn-in Member of Parliament's (MP) history, years before he entered politics.
In fact, before he was introduced as a candidate at GE2020, Tan had last posted in 2017.
The account, he told Mothership with a laugh, had mostly been used to stalk his children's social media.
However, now he sees it as a platform to connect with disillusioned youths and gain an understanding of what their concerns are.
"I had to sit down in front of my son and he had to go through a tutorial session," Tan said.
"He told me exactly how to do a Boomerang, how to do the (Instagram) Story, Live, IGTV."
Evidently, the tutorial's materials did not include a lesson on scrubbing one's social media accounts, as some politicians might be tempted to do.
Instead, what is preserved is a reminder that before taking up the mantle of MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol and Minister of State, Tan was first a proud husband and father to three kids.
That same respect for one's history was on display again as Tan spoke about the Aug. 24 swearing-in ceremony for Singapore's 14th Parliament.
The Covid-19 pandemic and safe-distancing measures meant that for the first time, the opening of Parliament was held in two separate locations.
And while he was to take his oath a stone's throw away from Parliament House at the Arts House (which was the old Parliament building), Tan told Mothership that his surroundings instilled a greater sense of the moment in him.
Seeing the names of leaders gone by at the former home of Singapore’s government filled him with “awe of what our founding politicians have done for the country”.
“How many laws and how many bills have been passed in that in the room that has affected and impacted millions of lives, including my own.”
His maiden speech
The 50-year-old will soon be delivering his maiden speech in Parliament, taking his first steps towards making an impact on Singapore’s legislature.
As a Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry for Sustainability and the Environment, Tan said his speech would undoubtedly touch on his responsibilities in those areas.
But also on his mind will be the interests of his constituents in Pasir Ris.
“Hearing from them, understanding what our people are going through on the ground, provides you a very important context of what we say in Parliament,” he said.
“Otherwise, whatever law we pass or whatever policies we decide, if it doesn’t meet the needs of the people, then you will not be as effective.”
Walking the ground
Since he was elected in July, Tan has been spending a lot of time walking the ground and getting to know his residents; he has house visits three times a week as well as meetings with volunteers on the weekends.
This, he said, had given him an appreciation of the town’s people and infrastructure.
Chief amongst his concerns for Pasir Ris, he told Mothership, is what Tan termed “the sandwich generation” — residents between the ages of 40 and 60 who have to support ageing parents while looking after their children.
For this demographic, which makes up the majority of Pasir Ris’ residents, the loss of a job and the subsequent search can prove extremely demoralising and stressful.
Another concern unique to the area is the preservation of Pasir Ris’ greenery — an issue that young people seemed particularly passionate about according to Tan and one that he will be taking seriously.
“I think that’s a very important aspect to remember that while Covid-19 is a crisis of a generation actually, the climate change is a crisis of multiple generations, right?”
"Nobody is left behind"
Yet, Tan is perhaps most passionate about the issue of social mobility.
It's an issue that he has been speaking about since his introduction as a PAP candidate during the general election, and influenced by his own life experiences.
The son of a working-class family, Tan went from squeezing with 12 relatives in a 3 bedroom flat to achieving the rank of brigadier general in the army and later became the chief executive director of the People’s Association.
“While we develop economically, develop as a city and a country, we want to make sure that nobody is left behind,” he said, before admitting that it is “getting more challenging”.
“To me this Covid-19 situation, it gives me a lot to think about. We are at quite a critical juncture in deciding the future that we want to have.”
Our interview with Tan — covering his maiden speech in Parliament, his work with residents, and his hope to reach out to young people — can be read below:
What have you been up to in the last few weeks?
Well, I’ve been spending a lot of time in Pasir Ris. Essentially trying to appreciate the ground, to walk the ground to get to know the residents, to meet them in house visits. And also to try and understand the DNA, the culture of Pasir Ris town. So that’s one big part of what I’ve been doing since coming on board.
Just to give you a sense of what my routine will be like: I do house visits three times a week and on the weekends, I typically meet new volunteers. I’ve also been sort of recruiting new residents to join me as a volunteer in my community. And of course we also visit some of the marketplaces, food courts, and coffee shops.
So to me, it’s very important to spend that time to appreciate what Pasir Ris is all about, from the infrastructure estate point of view, as well as from the people’s point of view. And more so on the people because now we are going through this Covid-19 situation.
I think people are going through different challenges and having different issues that they are dealing with. So, I would say that this is a very important journey to embark on to appreciate the situation better.
What do you feel is the special character of Pasir Ris?
The one word that best describes it is 'kampong'. I find that Pasir Ris has a kampong feel. One, because in terms of the geography, it is one of the few towns that is blessed with a long stretch of beach line.
There’s a coastline as a nice beach and then there’s a park next to it, two canals that runs through the estate and then also a mangrove swamp so it gives a feel, not just you know urban buildings and stuff, but you do get a sense that there are quite a lot of natural greenery and water that I believe Pasir Ris residents really appreciate.
In fact, since coming on board, I received a lot of requests from residents and feedback to try and maintain the greenery because that’s something very unique and as a result of greenery and apart you see quite a natural habitat for some of the wildlife, including hornbills and kingfishers, otters, pheasants, you actually see chicken running around sometimes at the at the park and in some estates as well — I have seen chicken running around. So it gives a very unique urban kampong feeling for people who live there.
And as a result, I find that Pasir Ris residents are very calm, very welcoming. In fact, during my house visits they rarely raise any issues and concerns to me. We still have more to improve the estate, but very little.
On that topic could you share with us some of the unique challenges when it comes to the people of Pasir Ris or the infrastructure?
Pasir Ris town has been around for just over 30 years. Infrastructure wise I think there are some aspects probably towards the eastern side — which is where Pasir Ris started — that requires some redevelopment. So there is an exciting remaking of heartland for Pasir Ris Town Centre that’s already commencing and that’s like an eight to 10-year kind of remaking plan.
In terms of the issues that most of the residents are facing, you have to look first of all at the demographics.
In Pasir Ris we have people who moved in about 20 to 30 years ago and they’ve been living there since then; the first tenant and first occupiers of the flat. They moved in when they got married, and now they’re in their 50s and they have their own children. Some have ageing parents living with them.
So I would say the demographic is majority between 40 to 60 and the challenges that they face, especially going through Covid-19, is one that I call "the sandwich generation" — having to manage and support their ageing parents in terms of the health care and mobility and to protect them. At the same time having children that are not that young; they are teenagers and above and some of them are even going to the workplace.
For this group in particular, the sandwich generation, when some of them lose their job, it’s quite challenging for them and many have come to me to seek help and to ask for referrals and advice on how they can go about it. You can imagine some of them still have their mortgage, their parents to support, and their children to feed.
So that’s why I brought this job placement centre called Project Success into Pasir Ris town and it’s physically now in the Pasir Ris-Elias Community Club. It’s essentially a job placement centre to support the residents in job matching, to help them look for a job.
The point is about making sure we’re supporting our residents who are going through this challenging time.
And also actually increasingly I get quite a number of young people writing to me about the environment. How they would like to see more efforts to preserve the nature and to reduce carbon emissions and single use plastics.
As a result, I started a group to look at sustainability in Pasir Ris.
Image by Rachel Ng
This is a group of Pasir Ris residents?
Yes, correct.
Quite a number are young, but not just young people. Quite a number are working adults and happy to contribute. They’ve noticed that there are some new BTOs coming up and they are concerned about its effect on the environment and so on. So they want to play a part to see how we can improve the design of our buildings in our new town hubs.
That is a lot of things that you’ve taken in and done since you were elected. Do you have any memories from your interactions with residents that stand out?
Quite a number actually. One in particular, which I posted about it on my Facebook, is about this resident, a father whom I met during my walkabout.
He just stopped me to ask if I could help him. And then I found out that he has a son with autism, who has finished all his schooling, he finished even his national service (NS) — although he's not required, he opted to serve.
But since finishing NS he had quite some trouble looking for jobs. Of course, the job market is not fantastic during this period. Having autism also makes it a little bit difficult.
After speaking to him, I told him that I’ll try to see how I can help. I linked him up with SG Enable, and I linked him up with some of the employers whom I know personally, Pan Pacific Group, who actually employs quite a number of special needs people.
After one month, I was very happy to find out he actually landed a traineeship down there. He’s already started learning to do baking and cooking three times a week as part of a trial and traineeship. I think he’s doing well and his father was very grateful for the lead.
Moving to your maiden speech in parliament, how are you feeling about it?
Well, it’s exciting given that I’ve never made a speech in Parliament, this will be my first time.
But a few days ago, Monday, we had our swearing in. I was at the Arts House and it’s quite special because then you get to see the old Parliament House, right? And you see all the names of the pioneers who are there. It gives you quite a sense of awe of what our founding politicians have done for the country, and how many laws and how many bills have been passed in the room that has affected and impacted millions of lives, including my own.
I also feel a sense of responsibility to make sure that I represent my people who have elected me and to speak up for them in areas that matter to our residents.
Have you gotten any advice from the older MPs or the ministers about your speech?
Yes definitely, we have a lot of accessible advice from our seniors and also from the Government Whip. There are two parts, one is the proceedings — how do you carry yourself, how to follow the procedures. That's something that we had to go through — an orientation — to learn about it.
There’s also the second part, which is how do you go about representing people in terms of content? You can talk to people — the seniors, the former MPs and all that. Being a political office holder I also have a responsibility to my ministries in terms of the content.
But more importantly, it comes back to the groundwork, comes back to what I’m doing in Pasir Ris. Hearing from them, understanding what our people are going through on the ground provides you with a very important context of what we say in Parliament.
Otherwise, whatever law we pass or whatever policies we decide, if it doesn’t meet the needs of the people, then you will not be as effective. So in terms of personal preparation, I see my groundwork in Pasir Ris as a form of preparation for my Parliament work — these two are inseparable.
Can you give us an idea of the issues that you will be touching on in your speech?
Actually there are maybe two or three issues that I’m deciding on, I’m still kinda finalising it.
One of them is something that I mentioned during my introduction as a candidate, that I am passionate about and I want to protect and preserve for Singapore.
It’s the point about social mobility, about the fact that while we develop economically, develop as a city and a country, we want to make sure that nobody is left behind. To me this Covid-19 situation, it gives me a lot to think about. We are at quite a critical juncture in deciding the future that we want to have.
Regardless of our starting point, we should have the same opportunity to succeed in this country and I’m an example of it… but its getting more challenging.
The other area is about sustainability, you know, keeping Pasir Ris green and clean, and not just Pasir Ris but I think Singapore. I think that's a very important aspect to remember that while Covid-19 is a crisis of a generation, actually climate change is a crisis of multiple generations, right?
So given where I am, I’m also hoping to say something in terms of how do we empower our people. How do we work with our residents and contribute to this green effort?
Another point I’m thinking about is building trust among people and between government and people. These are the three areas I’m thinking about.
What kind of impact do you hope your speech will have? What do you hope Singaporeans will remember?
One of them is that actually while we are going through this crisis, there are positive things that we should look at. We shouldn't just look at a crisis immediately. So there's a short term challenge that we are going through, but we have to position ourselves and look at the long term. We have to decide for ourselves what kind of future we want to have.
I also want to encourage youth — they’ll be one of the target audiences — I want to encourage them to step up, and do something, whether in the social mobility area, or in sustainability and environment.
In the last two or three weeks, in the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment, I’ve had the chance to engage quite a number of youth who are very passionate about this topic. So I hope to be able to also speak for them and work with them to try and see how we can improve this effort of making Singapore more green, more sustainable going forward.
On that topic, you’re entering politics at quite an interesting time in Singapore’s history. There’s a sense that some of the youth might feel disaffected with the government and the ruling party. What would you do differently going forward?
I have youths at home, one of them in his 20s and the other is 19. So I've been talking to them quite a fair bit, and they do give me a lot of very useful feedback.
I think the takeaway for me is that it's not just all about policy, you know, when it comes to young people. Yes, they'll be concerned with some of the policies with environment, social mobility, social justice, and so on. But I think the ability to connect with the generation is important.
What I’ve been learning in the last few months is how to connect with our younger generations.
For a start, I was not so much into Instagram before. So it's quite funny that I had to sit down in front of my son and he had to go through a tutorial session. He told me exactly how to do a boomerang, how to do the story, live, IGTV. So I spent a few hours going through it with him.
I’ve always had an Instagram account, but I never really used it, except to stalk them (laughs).
It's not so much about whether I have a message to communicate, but just making the effort to to understand what younger people are going through. How do they use Instagram? Why is Instagram so important to them?
TikTok even. I’ve never come across TikTok until three months ago. My nine-year-old daughter was the one who taught me about TikTok. I haven’t done anything on TikTok yet, but I’m just understanding how the mechanics work.
Can we look forward to seeing you on TikTok in the future then?
(Laughs) I told my son initially "over my dead body", but now I say "never say never".
But I think it's about making the first step to connect, to go into this space because I have been so comfortable in my own space.
I am comfortable on Facebook. I do face to face — I enjoy face to face connection.
But maybe that's not what the young people want. They want to see people of authority reaching out using their communication methods and just making the effort to connect with them on their platforms. So I always feel that if you cannot make the connection, you cannot think about communication.
I think that’s something that as a politician, I have to learn and as a leader and I'm constantly learning as well.
And that's what I do in the jobs that I've done, like in the army. I make an effort to know them, and that's making a connection.
Then after that, you can talk about how you communicate to them.
Image by Rachel Ng
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