SINGAPORE: A fashion accessory that belonged to a
Member of Parliament (MP) will soon be auctioned
off.
MP for Marine Parade GRC, Ms Tin Pei Ling, has
donated her Kate Spade bag to AWARE's fundraiser.
The bag had received much publicity after a photo of
her posing with the box circulated on the internet after she was
introduced as a candidate in the General Election last year.
The iconic bag, still in mint condition, will go under the hammer
at AWARE's auction next month.
The auction price for the bag starts at S$500.
Ms Tin said AWARE had approached her in June this year and she felt
it was worthwhile to do something meaningful for a worthy
cause.
She explained: "I thought that since the bag received so much
publicity during the last General Election, I felt it could be put
to good use to draw attention to a worthy social cause.
"In this context, in the course of my work in the community, I do
meet a lot of women, from single mothers, sometimes abused wives
and even the elderly. I feel for them and I think they need our
help and support.
"Therefore I thought it would be worthwhile to contribute towards
AWARE's efforts like their crisis helpline, their befriender
services, legal clinic and even counselling services".
Asked if the publicity about the bag would be revived again since
it is being put up for an auction, Ms Tin said: "I think there will
be some public attention but I hope this attention can be drawn to
the worthy social causes we are trying to push out here and that is
to try and reach out and help women who really need our support out
there in the community."
The AWARE auction is part of the AWARE Awards, Singapore's first
gender equality awards.
Money raised from the auction will go towards funding AWARE's
Support Services.
This year's AWARE fundraiser is known as the Supersonic Big Ball,
which will be held on 10 September at the Grand Copthorne
Waterfront Hotel.
- CNA/ck