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http://forums.delphiforums.com/3in1kopitiam/messages?msg=56620.1
http://www.emmanueldaniel.com/?p=369
At the meeting, a certain Dr Tan Cheng Bock, who had become increasingly vocal in the email track, kept volunteering himself to coordinate with the SDC on behalf of the residents. I vaguely knew his name as being an old-timer member of parliament and, if I was not mistaken, one of three “mayors” – a now discarded policy to create yet another layer of something over the heads of the elected representatives.
He was obviously a well-meaning old man, but man, he sounded like a national day parade all through the evening, with phrases like “we should all work together to build a (sic) harmonious living” and so on. But by this time, the residents were in fact grateful that someone with the background that he had was volunteering – it could not have come at a better time.
As the meeting drew to a close, Dr Tan said some strange things. He said that in the time he was in government he had seen city planning close hand and that he will closely study some of the points raised together with the SDC. I looked around the room, and it was obvious that nobody at the SDC was planning on inviting him to study anything with them. He forgot he was no longer in government.
He then asked the SDC to build a cohesive “community” for the residents. Now why would they do that? He was talking to the same property developer that was not relenting on a stupid $7 entry charge for visitors for the past two hours. Also, developers don’t build communities, residents do.
A few days after that meeting, Dr Adrian Tan Cheng Bock wrote into the email track to introduce himself. “I fought and won 6 general elections. 1980 to 2006,” he said. “Singaporeans know me as the former Member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah. I had the distinction of winning the highest no. of votes in my last General Election in 2001 capturing 88% of the total votes…I decide to stay in Sentosa for my retirement years but I will come out of my retirement and help settle this issue.”
I must say that it did flash across my mind that if he was really so influential, why did he need to advertise himself as if nobody remembered him.
At the town hall meeting, his internal compass about exactly what he was fighting for, who his friends were, who the enemy was, and where the battlefield was being fought, was so completely messed up by his innate desire to be liked by everyone. But he more than made up for these shortcomings by coming across as being sincere, and that probably corroborated with his strong approval rating in the 2001 polls. He was not a leader, but certainly a grassroots man.
Unfortunately, Dr Adrian Tan Cheng Bock was a tragic character in this plot. His subsequent efforts were disastrous. When he did secure what he thought was a meeting with the board members of the SDC, he frantically asked as many residents to write-in to support his position, and many did. It was not the board that met him, and the answer to his request to waive the entrance fees was still a simple “no”.
http://www.emmanueldaniel.com/?p=369
At the meeting, a certain Dr Tan Cheng Bock, who had become increasingly vocal in the email track, kept volunteering himself to coordinate with the SDC on behalf of the residents. I vaguely knew his name as being an old-timer member of parliament and, if I was not mistaken, one of three “mayors” – a now discarded policy to create yet another layer of something over the heads of the elected representatives.
He was obviously a well-meaning old man, but man, he sounded like a national day parade all through the evening, with phrases like “we should all work together to build a (sic) harmonious living” and so on. But by this time, the residents were in fact grateful that someone with the background that he had was volunteering – it could not have come at a better time.
As the meeting drew to a close, Dr Tan said some strange things. He said that in the time he was in government he had seen city planning close hand and that he will closely study some of the points raised together with the SDC. I looked around the room, and it was obvious that nobody at the SDC was planning on inviting him to study anything with them. He forgot he was no longer in government.
He then asked the SDC to build a cohesive “community” for the residents. Now why would they do that? He was talking to the same property developer that was not relenting on a stupid $7 entry charge for visitors for the past two hours. Also, developers don’t build communities, residents do.
A few days after that meeting, Dr Adrian Tan Cheng Bock wrote into the email track to introduce himself. “I fought and won 6 general elections. 1980 to 2006,” he said. “Singaporeans know me as the former Member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah. I had the distinction of winning the highest no. of votes in my last General Election in 2001 capturing 88% of the total votes…I decide to stay in Sentosa for my retirement years but I will come out of my retirement and help settle this issue.”
I must say that it did flash across my mind that if he was really so influential, why did he need to advertise himself as if nobody remembered him.
At the town hall meeting, his internal compass about exactly what he was fighting for, who his friends were, who the enemy was, and where the battlefield was being fought, was so completely messed up by his innate desire to be liked by everyone. But he more than made up for these shortcomings by coming across as being sincere, and that probably corroborated with his strong approval rating in the 2001 polls. He was not a leader, but certainly a grassroots man.
Unfortunately, Dr Adrian Tan Cheng Bock was a tragic character in this plot. His subsequent efforts were disastrous. When he did secure what he thought was a meeting with the board members of the SDC, he frantically asked as many residents to write-in to support his position, and many did. It was not the board that met him, and the answer to his request to waive the entrance fees was still a simple “no”.
