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[h=1]Tony Tan gets warm welcome in Aljunied GRC[/h]
Published on Aug 14, 2011
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Dr Tony Tan greeting people yesterday at Kovan Hougang Market and Food Centre. He said he plans to go on walkabouts regularly to get to know Singaporeans and their concerns. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
<!--end of story image, if any-->By Zakir Hussain
<!--start of story text-->During a walkabout in Kovan City yesterday morning, Dr Tony Tan received a warm welcome from residents and stall holders.
Several walked up to greet him, whipped out their mobile phones to snap photos and wished him well for the Aug 27 presidential polls.
Members of Dr Tan's campaign team had been unsure about the reception he would receive as Kovan City is in Aljunied GRC. By some reports, it is where the Workers' Party enjoyed strong support in the recent General Election.
Mr Kui Tee Lok, 51, who runs a watch shop near the market and food centre, said of Dr Tan's visit: 'This is the presidential election, it's a different matter.
'I think many people still respect him for his experience and what he has done for the country. He will be able to make wise decisions in the job.'
Dr Tan, 71, is a former deputy prime minister. He stepped down from politics in 2006.
He said he was grateful for their encouragement and planned to go on walkabouts regularly to get to know Singaporeans and their concerns.
'It's through this direct one-to- one interaction that people speak from the heart. I can always read reports, but it's not the same as coming down to the ground and finding out the issues which Singaporeans face.
'At the end of the day, it's all about bread-and-butter issues, things which affect them directly - how to make a living, how to cope with rising prices. Everybody wants the same thing - they want to have a job, they want to bring up their families, they want to look after their children. I think that this is what we should work hard to make possible for Singaporeans,' he said.
He reiterated that the presidency is not a second centre of power but said the president 'has influence by virtue of his office and his prestige'.
Thus, the president can convey people's concerns to the Government, he said. He can also become directly involved in some areas, especially in the area of community help for the disadvantaged.
'The president - by his example, by his conduct, and the causes which he champions and encourages - can galvanise the whole community, bind Singaporeans together, to get through hardships,' he said.
He said one of the best charities he had worked with was The Straits Times' School Pocket Money Fund, which gives poor school children money to buy food at recess time.
=> Does SG children donch even have enough money to buy food a testimony of the gross failure of the FAP? If you want more BS from the FAP, go ahead to vote for the Traitor who reserve uni places for FTrash while losing billions of Sporeans' hard earned $ in GeeAyeSee - and whose White Horse son served a special kind of NS!
Published on Aug 14, 2011
- <LI id=btn_pe_print>http://www.straitstimes.com/print/The-Big-Story/The-Big-Story-1/Story/STIStory_702004.html
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Purchase this article for republicationBuy SPH photos<!--close .storyLeft--><!--start of story image, if any-->
<!--end of story image, if any-->By Zakir Hussain
<!--start of story text-->During a walkabout in Kovan City yesterday morning, Dr Tony Tan received a warm welcome from residents and stall holders.
Several walked up to greet him, whipped out their mobile phones to snap photos and wished him well for the Aug 27 presidential polls.
Members of Dr Tan's campaign team had been unsure about the reception he would receive as Kovan City is in Aljunied GRC. By some reports, it is where the Workers' Party enjoyed strong support in the recent General Election.
Mr Kui Tee Lok, 51, who runs a watch shop near the market and food centre, said of Dr Tan's visit: 'This is the presidential election, it's a different matter.
'I think many people still respect him for his experience and what he has done for the country. He will be able to make wise decisions in the job.'
Dr Tan, 71, is a former deputy prime minister. He stepped down from politics in 2006.
He said he was grateful for their encouragement and planned to go on walkabouts regularly to get to know Singaporeans and their concerns.
'It's through this direct one-to- one interaction that people speak from the heart. I can always read reports, but it's not the same as coming down to the ground and finding out the issues which Singaporeans face.
'At the end of the day, it's all about bread-and-butter issues, things which affect them directly - how to make a living, how to cope with rising prices. Everybody wants the same thing - they want to have a job, they want to bring up their families, they want to look after their children. I think that this is what we should work hard to make possible for Singaporeans,' he said.
He reiterated that the presidency is not a second centre of power but said the president 'has influence by virtue of his office and his prestige'.
Thus, the president can convey people's concerns to the Government, he said. He can also become directly involved in some areas, especially in the area of community help for the disadvantaged.
'The president - by his example, by his conduct, and the causes which he champions and encourages - can galvanise the whole community, bind Singaporeans together, to get through hardships,' he said.
He said one of the best charities he had worked with was The Straits Times' School Pocket Money Fund, which gives poor school children money to buy food at recess time.
=> Does SG children donch even have enough money to buy food a testimony of the gross failure of the FAP? If you want more BS from the FAP, go ahead to vote for the Traitor who reserve uni places for FTrash while losing billions of Sporeans' hard earned $ in GeeAyeSee - and whose White Horse son served a special kind of NS!
