Don’t resort to threats and verbal abuse when giving feedback: Sun Xueling
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Punggol West MP Sun Xueling called for greater civility when trying to get a point across, in response to a complaint e-mail.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE – There is no need to resort to threats and verbal abuse when giving feedback about grievances, said MP for Punggol West Sun Xueling, referring to an e-mail sent by a resident on May 28.
She shared the e-mail, which contained racist overtones, in a Facebook post on Saturday, in which the sender complained about three issues.
These concerned the presence of heavy vehicles in the vicinity of Punggol Way and Sumang Walk, maintenance issues at Block 261B Punggol Way, as well as problems with how a road in the area was designed.
The sender’s personal information was blanked out.
The e-mail, which included vulgarities, had also been sent to Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim, and was carbon-copied to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, as well as several other government figures and agencies.
In her Facebook post, Ms Sun also included a follow-up e-mail sent by Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council on June 1, after a contractor was deployed to look into the complaint about maintenance.
In response to the June 1 e-mail, the sender asked if the town council’s property officer had visited the site to check on the repair works, adding: “Please do something or get yourself replaced very, very soon.”
On her Facebook page, Ms Sun said that she hoped for civility when people try to get a point across. She also outlined the steps that the town council had already taken upon receiving the complaints.
She told The Straits Times on Sunday: “It is my job as an MP to follow up on feedback from residents and to strive to deliver after gathering inputs from the government agencies.”
Ms Sun, who is Minister of State for Home Affairs, and Social and Family Development, added: “The e-mail I shared... calls truck drivers names, is racist in tone, and verbally abuses a town council property officer who is just doing his job.”
She added that while she understands the different challenges people face, she hopes that society can be gracious and people can treat one another with respect.
“Front-liners and customer-facing officers are fellow Singaporeans trying to do their jobs.”
