- Joined
- Jul 10, 2008
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- 5,655
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Many of you are pretty interested in what is going on in Aljunied GRC, as a resident here i'll give you guys some of the insights of what has been going on since 7th May when WP took Aljunied GRC down from PAP.
1. Life has returned to normal, the sense of euphoria that was felt has since died down and everybody is back to minding their own business again. Nothing drastic has happened, the streets are still swept, garbage collected, walls painted and maintenance on going. Its pretty much your average HDB town but with an insignificant foreign presence unlike nearby AMK or Tampines.
2. PAP/PA/RC activities have been reduced significantly. There used to be a lot of activities organized by the RCs/PA and the first tell tale sign is the 'choping' of carpark lots (up to 5 for one MP+entourage) and the parties/gatherings at the void decks. I have seen as many as zero since 7th May 2011 in my division alone. However this does not mean that they are dead, it is simply from the lack of leadership at the moment and until the PAP decides what to do, the RC will just be standing by for fresh orders from the top.
3. One of the dumbest money wasting idea from the PAP managed town council is the raising of billboards/banners during festive seasons. Thank goodness this is a thing of the past and apparently WP does not believe it works nor send messages to anybody half interested in reading it.
4. Presence of MPs on the ground - on Sundays, it is not uncommon anymore to find the entire team walking in the neighborhood to say hello and talking to the residents here. The atmosphere is casual and the MPs and their entourage are dressed casually. There is no selling of 'The Hammer', just a Sunday walk around to talk to the residents.
5. House to house visits. This is now a regular feature whereby the MP and their team will visit every individual houses during the evenings. Due to the large number of apartments, do not expect to see your MP knocking on your door every month, Aljunied GRC can be unimaginably big and these house to house visits are very time consuming but offers a great opportunity to gather feedback from the residents firsthand and not via your RC team (who by the way usually do not do this unless its GE season).
6. On the worrying side- ever since the PAP MPs were booted out, a lot of underprivileged families have seen their cases and appeals to the relevant government agencies and social assistance gone cold. Unfortunately the PAP grassroots people have not handed down the old cases/follow ups to the WP people and hence they have to see the MPs with their old stories and complaints again. If there is a mechanism for the PAP grassroots to continue serving the residents despite losing Aljunied GRC, it has not manifested as of 25th Dec 2011 (Merry Xmas everyone!)
7. Please remember that there is a significant number of PAP supporters in Aljunied GRC and the hardcore supporters make their hostility well known. So far nobody has threatened to burn any of the WP MPs and let's hope it will stay this way. The onus is now on the WP to prove themselves capable of managing Aljunied GRC well and to set an example to future opposition wards. Aljunied GRC is far from secured in the next GE, the challenges are still many and the work not finished.
Good night and Merry Xmas/Happy New Year.
1. Life has returned to normal, the sense of euphoria that was felt has since died down and everybody is back to minding their own business again. Nothing drastic has happened, the streets are still swept, garbage collected, walls painted and maintenance on going. Its pretty much your average HDB town but with an insignificant foreign presence unlike nearby AMK or Tampines.
2. PAP/PA/RC activities have been reduced significantly. There used to be a lot of activities organized by the RCs/PA and the first tell tale sign is the 'choping' of carpark lots (up to 5 for one MP+entourage) and the parties/gatherings at the void decks. I have seen as many as zero since 7th May 2011 in my division alone. However this does not mean that they are dead, it is simply from the lack of leadership at the moment and until the PAP decides what to do, the RC will just be standing by for fresh orders from the top.
3. One of the dumbest money wasting idea from the PAP managed town council is the raising of billboards/banners during festive seasons. Thank goodness this is a thing of the past and apparently WP does not believe it works nor send messages to anybody half interested in reading it.
4. Presence of MPs on the ground - on Sundays, it is not uncommon anymore to find the entire team walking in the neighborhood to say hello and talking to the residents here. The atmosphere is casual and the MPs and their entourage are dressed casually. There is no selling of 'The Hammer', just a Sunday walk around to talk to the residents.
5. House to house visits. This is now a regular feature whereby the MP and their team will visit every individual houses during the evenings. Due to the large number of apartments, do not expect to see your MP knocking on your door every month, Aljunied GRC can be unimaginably big and these house to house visits are very time consuming but offers a great opportunity to gather feedback from the residents firsthand and not via your RC team (who by the way usually do not do this unless its GE season).
6. On the worrying side- ever since the PAP MPs were booted out, a lot of underprivileged families have seen their cases and appeals to the relevant government agencies and social assistance gone cold. Unfortunately the PAP grassroots people have not handed down the old cases/follow ups to the WP people and hence they have to see the MPs with their old stories and complaints again. If there is a mechanism for the PAP grassroots to continue serving the residents despite losing Aljunied GRC, it has not manifested as of 25th Dec 2011 (Merry Xmas everyone!)
7. Please remember that there is a significant number of PAP supporters in Aljunied GRC and the hardcore supporters make their hostility well known. So far nobody has threatened to burn any of the WP MPs and let's hope it will stay this way. The onus is now on the WP to prove themselves capable of managing Aljunied GRC well and to set an example to future opposition wards. Aljunied GRC is far from secured in the next GE, the challenges are still many and the work not finished.
Good night and Merry Xmas/Happy New Year.
