PROFILE /
PERSEVERANCE, HER PHILOSOPHY TO SERVE LEE HUI YING |
30.9.2011
|
She has been called a “bulldog” in Parliament and is known to be a pesky, persistent Member of Parliament when speaking up for her constituents. Yet, Lee Bee Wah has won many brutal battles in debates with her cabinet colleagues, bringing improvement to the everyday lives of the people she represents.
For someone who has never aimed to be a politician, Lee certainly wins in persistence when taking on serious issues of the day.
She took four years to convince the Transport Minister to construct lifts at the overhead bridge that leads into the train station. “I am not a yes man and I always believe in bringing residents’ concerns to Parliament,” the current MP for the Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency said.
This passion to listen to the common man is even more valuable to her party, the People’s Action Party, after it got about 60 percent of the votes – the least ever for the party – during the last election in May.
Through engaging people from all walks of life, Lee feels that there is a need to be “more consultative” when involving the younger generation. She promises that the government “will do as many explanations as we can, do as much sharing as we can, to be as open as we can”.
“Inevitably, we will be less efficient in decision-making but it is a process that we need to go through to satisfy and not seen as bulldozing our way,” she added.
Her story started in 2005.
She was initially recommended by the Singapore’s Institute of Engineers to be a Nominated Member of Parliament. Upon learning this, her friend and PAP MP Inderjit Singh suggested to her that she serve the grassroots and aim to be an elected MP instead.
She then decided to join the PAP ticket in 2006, contested in the Ang Mo Kio GRC, and won. In 2011, she came onboard the new PAP team at Nee Soon GRC and was elected into Parliament with 58.4 percent of the votes.
Her vision as a politician is simple. “I just want to do my part to contribute back to society,” she said.
As a beneficiary who has received bursary awards from the South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society and the Lee Foundation during her schooling days, she strives to pay it forward by helping residents in financial need, especially needy students. “For me, I managed to get out of poverty because of education,” she stressed, adding that helping needy students to complete their tertiary education is one of her main priorities as a MP.
During her past six years in politics, she has been communicating with Nee Soon South residents through different avenues. House visits, coffee shop visits, dialogue sessions and writing monthly messages are the various platforms that she has used to reach out to different demographic groups of the community.
Yvonne Chia, a Peking University undergraduate, is one of the many residents who got to know Lee through her house visits. “She came knocking at my door during house visit and asked if I was interested to volunteer at her Meet-the-People’s session,” she recalled. Looking back and speaking about her past four and a half years of experience as a petition letter writer at MPS sessions, Chia said, “I came in with no expectations and went out with thoughts that there are still many areas that I can contribute in.” In Chia’s eyes, Lee is a “ground” person and always willing to lend a helping hand.
Lee also embraces the use of Facebook and Twitter to interact with young residents. Kwan Mei Yen, a first-year undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, managed to alert her travelling woes to Lee though a Facebook post. She commented that she takes more than an hour to commute from home to school. Lee responded shortly that she would inform the authorities about Kwan’s concerns. Lee’s quick response impressed Kwan greatly, as she was surprised “to see a MP who is willing to communicate and listen to youngsters".
Lee also aims to tackle the issue of rising housing prices, which have been affecting undergraduates who wish to marry and purchase a flat. As the chairman for the Government Parliamentary Committee in national development and the environment, Lee has reassured undergraduates that “there will be many more flats available and the price will stabilise so no need to hurry into buying a flat when you are not ready”.
She also stressed that flats should be built based on the objective of the Housing and Development Board, which is to keep housing costs affordable. Lee has brought this up during Parliament debates several times that HDB should refrain from building iconic housing like the Pinnacle@Duxton to avoid the “jacking up of prices.”
When Lee was asked to envision Singapore’s political landscape in ten years’ time, she replied after a long pause, “If we are not careful, PAP may not be the government.” Judging from the dip in popularity as seen in the recent election, the PAP government needs to be on its toes and Lee feels that lending a listening ear to all citizens is of utmost importance.
Lee hopes that “more Singaporeans will come together and continuously want to make Singapore stronger”.
“Let’s together build up this country rather than being divisive because unity is strength,” she said.
For someone who has never aimed to be a politician, Lee certainly wins in persistence when taking on serious issues of the day.
She took four years to convince the Transport Minister to construct lifts at the overhead bridge that leads into the train station. “I am not a yes man and I always believe in bringing residents’ concerns to Parliament,” the current MP for the Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency said.
This passion to listen to the common man is even more valuable to her party, the People’s Action Party, after it got about 60 percent of the votes – the least ever for the party – during the last election in May.
Through engaging people from all walks of life, Lee feels that there is a need to be “more consultative” when involving the younger generation. She promises that the government “will do as many explanations as we can, do as much sharing as we can, to be as open as we can”.
“Inevitably, we will be less efficient in decision-making but it is a process that we need to go through to satisfy and not seen as bulldozing our way,” she added.
Her story started in 2005.
She was initially recommended by the Singapore’s Institute of Engineers to be a Nominated Member of Parliament. Upon learning this, her friend and PAP MP Inderjit Singh suggested to her that she serve the grassroots and aim to be an elected MP instead.
She then decided to join the PAP ticket in 2006, contested in the Ang Mo Kio GRC, and won. In 2011, she came onboard the new PAP team at Nee Soon GRC and was elected into Parliament with 58.4 percent of the votes.
Her vision as a politician is simple. “I just want to do my part to contribute back to society,” she said.
As a beneficiary who has received bursary awards from the South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society and the Lee Foundation during her schooling days, she strives to pay it forward by helping residents in financial need, especially needy students. “For me, I managed to get out of poverty because of education,” she stressed, adding that helping needy students to complete their tertiary education is one of her main priorities as a MP.
During her past six years in politics, she has been communicating with Nee Soon South residents through different avenues. House visits, coffee shop visits, dialogue sessions and writing monthly messages are the various platforms that she has used to reach out to different demographic groups of the community.
Yvonne Chia, a Peking University undergraduate, is one of the many residents who got to know Lee through her house visits. “She came knocking at my door during house visit and asked if I was interested to volunteer at her Meet-the-People’s session,” she recalled. Looking back and speaking about her past four and a half years of experience as a petition letter writer at MPS sessions, Chia said, “I came in with no expectations and went out with thoughts that there are still many areas that I can contribute in.” In Chia’s eyes, Lee is a “ground” person and always willing to lend a helping hand.
Lee also embraces the use of Facebook and Twitter to interact with young residents. Kwan Mei Yen, a first-year undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, managed to alert her travelling woes to Lee though a Facebook post. She commented that she takes more than an hour to commute from home to school. Lee responded shortly that she would inform the authorities about Kwan’s concerns. Lee’s quick response impressed Kwan greatly, as she was surprised “to see a MP who is willing to communicate and listen to youngsters".
Lee also aims to tackle the issue of rising housing prices, which have been affecting undergraduates who wish to marry and purchase a flat. As the chairman for the Government Parliamentary Committee in national development and the environment, Lee has reassured undergraduates that “there will be many more flats available and the price will stabilise so no need to hurry into buying a flat when you are not ready”.
She also stressed that flats should be built based on the objective of the Housing and Development Board, which is to keep housing costs affordable. Lee has brought this up during Parliament debates several times that HDB should refrain from building iconic housing like the Pinnacle@Duxton to avoid the “jacking up of prices.”
When Lee was asked to envision Singapore’s political landscape in ten years’ time, she replied after a long pause, “If we are not careful, PAP may not be the government.” Judging from the dip in popularity as seen in the recent election, the PAP government needs to be on its toes and Lee feels that lending a listening ear to all citizens is of utmost importance.
Lee hopes that “more Singaporeans will come together and continuously want to make Singapore stronger”.
“Let’s together build up this country rather than being divisive because unity is strength,” she said.