PAP's Cynthia Phua And Her Most Famous Moment as an
Aljunied MP
Today I will tell you a story. It is a sad story, so sad that it is
almost like a Taiwanese soap opera. Unfortunately, it is not
fiction, but an entirely true story. (And here are the links to prove it).
Once upon a time, there was a woman who lived in Aljunied (we don't
know her real name, so let's just call her Julie). She was 53 years
old, and she had a 17-year-old son (again we don't know his real
name - let's call him Ah Teck).
Julie was poorly educated. She had only studied up to Primary 6.
She worked as a part-time cleaner, earning $400 a month to support
herself and Ah Teck. Meanwhile, Ah Teck had low IQ and was
attending a special school for mentally handicapped kids. He also
had thalassemia, a blood disorder.
Ah Teck's father had run away several years ago and could no longer
be found. So there was absolutely no financial help from him.
One day in January 2009, Julie was at work. She was standing on a
chair to clean a fan. Suddenly, she slipped and fell. She broke her
wrist. Thereafter she lost her job, for she could no longer perform
her cleaning duties.
The money soon ran out and they could not pay their HDB mortgage
installments. So Julie and Ah Teck were about to lose their home -
the HDB was taking action to repossess it. The HDB agreed to rent
her another flat. But Julie did not even have $138 to pay for the
rental deposit.
So Julie and Ah Teck decided to go to see their MP in Aljunied.
They hoped that the MP would sign an appeal letter for them, to
waive the $138 rental deposit. They went to the town council and
had a chance to meet with Aljunied MP Cynthia Phua (yes, the same
Cynthia Phua now running for Aljunied again, together with George
Yeo).
What went on in the office, we will never know for sure. Cynthia
claimed that the conversation was cordial and went well. Her fellow
PAP MP Lim Hwee Hua even claimed that Cynthia behaved in a manner
that was "very helpful" and "very motherly". But we hear a
different side of the story from Julie, and it goes like
this:
Whatever Cynthia Phua had actually said, we know that Ah Teck
must have felt very humiliated and insulted. Perhaps it was not
merely the words, but the tone, the demeanour, the body language.
Whatever the case may be, we know that Ah Teck must have felt very
humiliated, for right after he walked out of Cynthia's office, he
lost his temper. Ah Teck picked up a foldable chair, and slammed it
twice on a door.
There was a small commotion, other people restrained the boy and
calmed him down. And then Julie and Ah Teck went home.
Things might have ended there, but they did not. Cynthia made a
police report. Later that night, the police arrived and arrested Ah
Teck. He was released on bail the next morning and faced criminal
charges.
Two days later, Julie went to see the MP again, clutching a
handwritten letter of apology from her son. We are told that in
this letter, Ah Teck wrote the following
words: "'Please fodgive me for what I dad I am
sinelely truely I'm sorry". (Note that Ah Teck
has low IQ - that would be why his writing skills are so
poor).
But there was no forgiveness. There was no kindness. PAP MP Lim
Hwee Hua rejected the apology and refused to ask the police to
withdraw the case.
Hwee Hua further claimed that Ah Teck's chair "could have killed
somebody". (Personally, I think that the only things you can kill
by hitting a door with a chair is either the door or the
chair).
Charges were pressed and the hapless Ah Teck was required to appear
in court on a certain date.
What happened next is not publicly known (probably because the boy
was underage - juvenile court proceedings are generally shielded
from the public eye and reporters are kept out of the courtroom).
So the story ends here - because we really don't know what happened
next.
But I hope that Ah Teck didn't get some criminal conviction that
would mar his record and make his already-bleak future even more
difficult.
I hope that both Julie and Ah Teck had the good fortune to meet a
judge who could understand and empathise with their daily struggles
for money and a roof over their heads, and the circumstances that
led to Ah Teck losing his temper.
And I hope that the judge was kinder and more compassionate to Ah
Teck, than the Aljunied PAP MPs had been.
Since the General Elections are here again, I also hope that you
will reflect on the above incident. Especially if you are in the
Aljunied GRC, please vote wisely - for MPs who are kind and
compassionate, and who genuinely want to help their residents.
